Glasgow - Along the Clyde Travel Guides | Glasgow | Sub Regions | Glasgow - Along the Clyde

This chilly grey river has, for centuries, played a vital role in the life of the city, providing employment and entertainment for generations of Glaswegians. It was on the Clyde that Glasgow’s famous shipyards grew and flourished; on the Clyde that goods were transported and unloaded to be traded by the city’s merchants; and on the Clyde that poor people escaped from the grime of the industrial city. The Clyde has also always been an important link to the wider world and has helped to give Glasgow its cosmopolitan appeal and restless energy. It was the route taken by thousands of Glaswegians seeking a new life in other parts of the world, and also brought migrants to the city.

50 Pacific Quay, T 0141-420 5000, http://www.gsc.org.uk. Science Mall daily 1000-1800. IMAX Theatre Sun-Wed 1100-1700, Thu-Sat 1000-2030 (hours subject to change). Science Mall £6.95, £4.95 concession. IMAX or Glasgow Tower £5.95, £4.45 concession. Discounts available if purchasing tickets to more than 1 attraction. Arriva buses 23 and 24 go to the Science Centre from Jamaica St, or simply walk across the footbridge from the SECC and Armadillo.

After all the years of neglect, it is good to see that Glasgow’s newest, most dazzling development is to be found on the Clyde. The £75 million Glasgow Science Centre, opened in late 2001 on the south side of the Clyde on the former garden festival site. This complex aims to demystify science, bringing it to life with imaginative displays and interactive exhibits covering everything from the human body to the internet. Kids love it – as do their parents.

The heart of the Centre is the Science Mall, with its three floors of themed exhibits. The first floor looks at how we experience the world, the second floor looks at science in action and the third floor looks at how science affects us daily. You can find anything here from laboratories where you can study your own skin or hair through a microscope, to an infrared harp which you play with a beam of light. The Glasgow Tower, the tallest free standing building in Scotland at 300ft, has experienced some engineering problems and at the time of writing it’s shut. Check the website for when it is due to reopen as it's worth a look at each of its floors that have different themes and take a serious look at aspects of science, from the basic rules of nature to cloning and genetic modification.  At the top there’s a viewing cabin and great views over Glasgow and the Clyde.  The Centre also contains an IMAX theatre.

T 0141-248 3000, F 0141-226 3423, http://www.secc.co.uk. To get there, take a train from Central Station to the Exhibition Centre Station (5 mins), otherwise it’s a long walk from the city centre.

Opposite the Science Centre is the Scottish Exhibition and Confe- rence Centre (SECC), built in 1987 on the site of the former Queen’s Dock. It is now the country’s top rock and pop venue. Next door is the controversial Clyde Auditorium, known locally as the 'Armadillo’, which was designed by Sir Norman Foster and built in 1997. It also hosts pop and rock concerts as well as business conferences.

Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour

100 Stobcross Rd, T 0800-328 1373, http://www.thetallship.com. Mar-Oct daily 1000-1700, Nov-Feb daily 1100-1600 £4.50, £3.95 concession. Trains from Central Station to Finnieston/SECC.

Further west, also on the north bank of the Clyde, is a romantic-looking sailing ship, the SS Glenlee – otherwise known as the Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour. Launched in 1896, this three-masted ship was built on the Clyde and is one of only five Clydebuilt sailing ships that remain afloat in the world. She circumnavigated the globe four times and carried cargo as varied as coal, grain and even guano – which was transported from Chile to the European ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to be used as fertiliser. The ammonia fumes from the guano were so pungent they corroded the lining of sailors’ noses and even killed the ship’s cat occasionally. The Glenlee was saved from the scrapyard in 1992 and has now been restored. Exhibitions on board provide a vivid insight into the daily lives of the sailors and the conditions on-board ship in 1896 (not fragrant – especially when carrying all that guano).

King's Inch Rd, Braehead, T 0141-886 1013, http://www.scottishmaritime museum.org. Mon-Thu and Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1100-1700. £3.50, £1.75 concession. Clydebuilt is at junction 25a (westbound) off the M8 or can be reached on the Clyde waterbus .

Further west still, at Braehead, is Clydebuilt, a museum charting the close relationship between Glasgow and the Clyde. There’s an audiovisual presentation on the history of shipbuilding and displays on a whole range of themes related to the river, from the cotton and tobacco trades, to emigration and immigration. There are also plenty of hands-on activities for kids and temporary exhibitions throughout the year. The museum is very close to Braehead Shopping Centre which has all the usual high street outlets as well as cafés, and skating and curling rinks.

The Clyde Walkway is a 40-mile walking route which is being developed to link the centre of Glasgow to the Falls of Clyde at Lanark, via the Clyde Valley . Sections of the waterfront walk are still rather empty and depressing but the central part, between Victoria Bridge and the SECC, is interesting and takes in some of the more distinguished bridges and much of Glasgow’s proud maritime heritage.

Start the walk at Victoria Bridge, built in 1854 to replace the 14th-century Old Glasgow Bridge, and continue past the graceful Suspension Bridge, built in 1851 as a grand entrance to the ‘new town’ on the south bank. You can cross from here to Carlton Place, whose impressive Georgian façades have been restored and which were designed to front the never-completed ‘new town’.

Back on the north bank is Customs House Quay and, further west beyond George V Bridge, Broomielaw Quay. From here, Henry Bell’s Comet inaugurated the world’s first commercial passenger steamboat service. This was also the departure point for many Scottish emigrants to North America, and later, for thousands of holidaying locals heading ‘doon the watter’ to the Firth of Clyde seaside resorts.

Further west, at Anderston Quay, is the PS Waverley Terminal. The PS Waverley is the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer and still operates on the Clyde . Between here and the SECC is the huge 53 m-high Finnieston Crane, which was once used for lifting railway locomotives at a time when Glasgow was the largest builder of these in the world outside North America. Close by is the Rotunda (1890-96) which was once the northern terminal of the complex of tunnels which took horse-traffic and pedestrians under the river, until the building of a new road-tunnel in the 1960s. The Rotunda has been restored as a restaurant complex. Soon you come to the SECC and the Clyde Auditorium, or the ‘Armadillo’ sitting opposite the silvery new Glasgow Science Centre. A short distance west is the Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour .

Alternatively head east from Victoria Bridge along Bridgegate, or Briggait , then cut back on to Saltmarket and enter Glasgow Green via the huge arch opposite the old Sheriff Court. Head across the Green, under King’s Bridge and alongside Fletcher’s Haugh, where Bonnie Prince Charlie reviewed his Jacobite troops in January 1746 after their long march north and only a few months before defeat at Culloden. The Walkway then goes under Shawfield Road at Rutherglen Bridge and follows the river. The path begins to narrow then passes under a railway bridge and a road bridge, before following the river in a U-turn, with Celtic Park football ground visible ahead. The path runs in a straight line between the river and the boundary fence of Belvedere Hospital, then reaches more attractive open countryside and runs along the top of a wooded embankment.

As you pass below some pylons, keep to the path as it curves away from the river. It rejoins the river and then crosses the Tollcross Burn before curving round to the right. It goes under a stone railway bridge, then a road bridge and then continues southwards and swings eastwards. The crossing point of the river is now Cambuslang Bridge following the closure of the disused Carmyle railway viaduct. Cross the bridge and turn left along Bridge Street till you reach a roundabout. Go straight across and follow Westburn Road, with the golf course on the right and factories on the left. After 500 yards, past the turning for Westburn Farm Road, Westburn Road branches left. Continue along it for a half a mile further then turn left along Newton Avenue. Follow this road as it crosses Newton Burn and about 400 yards on, where the road turns sharply to the right, you can rejoin the Walkway, which heads north towards the river.

The path shadows the river for about a mile, then you leave the Clyde where it joins a smaller river, the Rotten Calder. Here the path turns south and follows the Rotten Calder for some 400 yards to where a footbridge crosses it by a railway bridge. Cross a stile and turn right onto a farm road which goes under the railway line, before climbing steadily uphill to join the Blantyre Road (B758).

Turn right and head up this road for 50 yards till you see the path again on the other side of the road. From here the path is easy to follow. About half a mile further on the path rejoins the river. Cross the footbridge into Uddingston and then turn right and follow the path along the riverbank. It heads through a pleasant wooded area for about a mile. As it follows a bend in the river it then climbs to the top of a gorge to reach a gate. Go through the gate and you’re at Bothwell Castle, which marks the the end of the walk. There are regular trains from Uddingston station to Glasgow Central station .

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