Heading back to Scotland with my bike. I was there last month but
had to alter my route considerably due to heavy rain, flooding and
snow. I cycled into Preston and caught the 08:03 train to Glasgow
which was on time. Last month it was late. There was a signalling
delay on route so it was about 5mins late when we arrived in
Glasgow. I cycled south along Union Street until I came to the river
Clyde where I turned left to follow the cycle track along the north
Bank. I soon came to an impressive wall mural painting of a snarling
tiger’s face.
Preston Railway Station almost deserted
Glasgow Central Railway Station
Glasgow Central Railway Station
Face by the Clyde
I continued on the north bank to the People's Palace
Park where I follow the cycle track to the old St Andrew's
Suspension Bridge. This was originally built to provide easy access
for workers as they had previously to use a very busy ferry.
St Andrews Suspension Bridge
St
Andrew's Suspension Bridge built 1854-55 to replace a busy ferry
conveying workers from Bridgeton & Calton to Hutchesontown. A
wrought iron structure with single span of 67m. Repaired and
refurbished 1996-98 by Glasgow City Council funded by the European
Union.
St Andrews Suspension Bridge
I crossed over the river and continued along the south bank which
soon became the west bank due to the rivers meandering. There has
been a lot of subsidence damage to the cycle track and I left that
route and followed the roads for a while. I returned to the river
along a cycle track which has recently been improved but a lot of
building work was going on adjacent.
Cuningar Park
It took me to the Shawfield Footbridge which looks relatively new but unfortunately
the surface had a lot of smashed bottles on it. I turned right to
the Clyde Walkway which I followed for quite a while to the Cuningar
footbridge which although was dedicated to foot and cycle traffic
had no direct connection with the Clyde walkway I had to make a
detour through adjacent roads to join it. Once over I was in Cuningar Park where I turned right to head back to the roads and the
A724. I turned left to follow the Cambuslang Road which took me back
over the River Clyde where I rejoined the cycle track and continued
to the next Bridge. I followed the interesting cycle track to the
north of Cambuslang heading east and along the line of an old
railway. The weather was fairly overcast with a variable easterly
wind which I had to ride in from time to time.
I reached the next footbridge to the west of Uddingston then the cycle track circles
around the playing fields of the Grammar School. I reached the road
and turn right to follow Castle Avenue and south to the branch Road
to Bothwell Castle. I visited this on my last trip but didn't pay to
go in as there wasn't sufficient time. Today was the same and I had
a look at the shop which was closed due to staff off at lunchtime.
Bothwell Castle
There was some rain so I decided to wait under the entrance arch to
shelter for a while. The rain was light and intermittent. I returned
to Castle Avenue and continued round to Blantyre Mill Road which was
shown as closed but was open to cycles. I descended to the David
Livingstone Memorial Footbridge and after crossing tried to look at
the David Livingstone Centre. Unfortunately the main entrance was barriered
off as it was closed for extensive renovations.
David Livingstone Memorial Bridge
I
continued up the road and into Blantyre and Blantyre Bridge and a
monument. In Honour of the Covenanters. Battle of Bothwell
Bridge 22 June 1679.
Battle of Bothwell
Bridge 22 June 1679
Battle of Bothwell
Bridge 22 June 1679
Rowers on Strathclyde Loch
I turned left to follow the cycle track along the A74 which took me
east to the large new interchange round the M74. There is an
interesting cycle route through this new road layout and the
footbridges got me across and to the entrance road to Strathclyde
Country Park. I followed the cycle track along the side of
Strathclyde Loch where there were teams of rowers were training. I
followed bit round to another Bridge another Footbridge over the
River Clyde where I crossed and then soon turned left to follow
the cycle track towards the A723. It was here where I couldn't get
through the last time due to the track being under about 1 m of
water. Today it was clear and the water was around 2 m lower than
the cycle track.
Cycle track today
Cycle track 13th Mar 2019
I was able to follow it through a park area and
onto an old stone bridge with a cobbled surface over the Avon water.
I cycled across and followed the cycle track through Chatelherault
Country Park. I made a detour round the hall buildings round to the
west car park and passed the walled garden area.
David Livingstone, Sir William Wallace and Robert Owen
Chatelherault Country Park
Chatelherault Country Park
The cafe
It looked an
interesting place to visit and once again I didn't have time to call
in. I left to the east and continued to the A72 road where the path
is also a cycle track. I was so glad there was a cycle track as the
road was extremely busy. I followed it until the cycle track left to
the right where I rode round a park area to exits into Larkhall. On
Caledonian Road I stopped to call at the Co-op Foods shop to buy
water at 19 pence per 2 lt.
Terrible pile of rubbish outside Larkhall
The weather had now improved and was
quite warm so I took my top cycle jacket off and packed it away. I
left to the west and descended steeply down to Avon Water where I
crossed the Millheugh Bridge. I immediately turn left onto Millheugh
Road which is narrow and in a bad condition. As I climbed the hill I
stopped to look at a pile of rubbish which had been dumped off the
road and spilled down the steep bank towards Avon water. The climb
up the road is extremely steep so I decided to push the bike unlike
the last time where I cycled up. Once up I had a pleasant ride
through the countryside towards Stonehouse which is where I was
looking for somewhere to pitch my tent. It was very disappointing to
see large amounts of rubbish dumped by the road and in lay-bys. The
last time I came here there I camped in a field before the village.
This time I descended to the river and crossed over then wheeled my
bike into Alexander Hamilton Memorial Park. There was a play area
and plenty of flat grass but it was too visible so I followed a path
along the River to a flat area where I couldn't be seen from the
road. However there were several footpaths around and people were
out walking and dog walking. It wasn't ideal but there was nowhere
else.
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