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Clyde Walkway Stage 1 - lovely in parts

Clyde Walkway Stage 1 - lovely in parts


Postby cruachan06 » Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:48 pm

Route description: Clyde Walkway 1: Glasgow to Cambuslang

Date walked: 01/07/2021

Time taken: 3 hours

Distance: 17 km

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I had intended to do all of the Clyde Walkway and write up a single report, in the end between a long spell inactive with plantar fasciitis it's taken me nearly a year and I've only done 4 stages. It became apparent to me yesterday when I was on Stage 4 why the majority of people do this route as a series of day hikes, but more on that in the appropriate report.

Anyway, we begin last July on a scorching hot day. As it was the school holidays my Mum was looking after my nephew for the day, so I suggested that we get the train to the Riverside Museum (the wee man loved it there, especially the tall ship) and whilst they got they train back from Partick I walked to Cambuslang to do Stage 1. I'd heartily recommend the museum, it's free if you arrive by public transport (only the car park charges a fee) and is a short walk from Partick train and subway station. The Kelvin Walkway is also accessible from here as the museum sits right on the confluence of the Kelvin and Clyde.

From the museum you actually need to walk along the main road for a brief section as there's no path along the river, and in fact when I walked it the ground nearest the river was blocked off as the Covid testing centre was there. Once you reach the Clydeside Distillery (sadly closed when I was there or I'd have popped in) then the path truly begins.

As with all river walks you have a mix of industry (old and new), bridges (old and new) and regeneration.

ImageScience centre, Glasgow tower and Govan Graving Docks

We also get to see Glasgow's steadfast refusal to call things by their given name. :lol: The Finnieston Crane (officially either the Stobcross Crane or Clyde Navigation Trustees Crane #7) and the Squinty Bridge (officially the Clyde Arc) are the first examples.

ImageFinnieston Crane and Squinty Bridge

Followed swiftly by the Armadillo (Clyde Auditorium) and the rest of the Scottish Events Campus, which was offically NHS Louisa Jordan at the time of my walk.

ImageArmadillo, SECC and Hydro

Just past there is the North Rotunda, now a restaurant but once the entry to a tunnel under the Clyde, and it's counterpart on the South bank.

ImageNorth Rotunda

ImageSouth Rotunda

Everyone in Scotland will know the Kingston Bridge (and has probably been stuck on or around it more than once, even if just on the way to the airport). It is, or at least was, Europe's busiest motorway river crossing.

ImageKingston Bridge

Continuing the theme of misnomers, the Tradeston Bridge is better known as the Squiggly Bridge. It was closed for maintenance when I passed though.

ImageSquiggly Bridge

The route now passes very close to Glasgow City Centre and under an array of road and rail bridges including those in to Glasgow Central Station. It's also shared with NCR75 so lots of cyclist around (even more once Glasgow Green is reached). We also pass the Clydeside Ampitheatre (pic was out of focus so I deleted it) and the impressive South Portland Street Suspension Bridge.



ImageSouth Portland Street Suspension Bridge

We also pass the sad remains of the Clutha Vaults, where a helicopter crashed in to the pub and 7 people were killed in 2013.

ImageClutha site

Continuing the old and new theme, the City Union Bridge was the first railway bridge over the Clyde and once carried the line in to St. Enoch station, now demolished and replaced by the St. Enoch shopping centre. Crossrail Glasgow is a proposal to electrify and re-use this line as a solution to the current North-South divide of the railway in Glasgow.

ImageCity Union Bridge (1899)

The route then crosses over Saltmarket and in to Glasgow Green, which has been a public park since the 15th century. The tidal weir was constructed in 1901 to keep the water level high through the park for recreational use, and means that the Clyde's ecosystem changes at this point, being saltwater downriver and freshwater upriver from here.

ImageGlasgow Green tidal weir

There are various routes through the Green, I'd recommend for example visiting the People's Palace and the West Brewery if new to the area, but I stuck to the river side path. As we get further out the Green gives way to industrial estates and becomes much less scenic with a brick wall on one side and the river on the other. Dalmarnock Smartbridge was build for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and carries pipes and cables as well as pedestrians to encourage use of public transport - the Gorbals and surrounding areas on the South side of the river had much of it's rail infrastructure closed in the Beeching cuts so Dalmarnock is the closest station.

ImageDalmarnock Smartbridge

We end the dull section of industrial walls and graffiti at Dalmarnock, passing by (and smelling!) the waste water plant and under the Argyle Line between Rutherglen (to the right of the picture) and Dalmarnock stations.

ImageDalmarnock Railway Bridge

Dalmarnock Bridge then marks the start of the Cuningar Loop.

ImageDalmarnock Bridge

ImageCuningar Loop

After the pleasant and tranquil stretch on the loop you begin to hear the noise of the M74 motorway, which you pass under in to Cambuslang with another long stretch next to industrial areas before arriving at the end of Stage 1 where I went straight on at the bridges and up the hill to Cambuslang station. If you're carrying on here there's a supermarket across the road if you need supplies.

ImageCambuslang Bridges

Overall a nice walk in places, but the 2 long stretches of industrial areas broken up by the Cuningar Loop are pretty dull, and as it's all shared with NCR75 it's all tarmac paths, so pretty brutal on the feet if you are hiking through.
cruachan06
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Posts: 274
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Joined: Jun 22, 2021
Location: South Lanarkshire

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