Clyde Bridges Heritage Trail

 13 February 2026

A day of brilliant blue sky and, out of the shade, a bitingly cold wind. Just right for doing a city walk! I took the subway to Govan and walked across the Govan to Partick footbridge (opened in 2024) and crossed the Riverside Museum car park to the start of the Trail which was hard standing throughout. The Govan Partick bridge and the Museum.....

I started on the north side of the river but crossed to the south side at various points to get the best of the views. The first bridge upstream was the Millennium bridge (2002) built by the Glasgow Science Centre to provide easier access to the Centre and the Glasgow Tower, at 127m high the tallest building in the city. The viewing area at the top of the Tower was supposed to rotate but never really worked and the Tower has remained closed for some time. The Millenium bridge with the tower of Glasgow Uni background......

The Science Centre and Tower.....

Another pedestrian/ cyclists bridge, Bell's bridge (1988) is situated east of the Science Centre and was built to link the conference centre area on the north bank with the Glasgow Garden Festival........

Walking along the south bank now past the media village, there were good views across the river to the conference area- the Armadillo, the OVD Hydro and the Crown Plaza hotel......

Also to the Finnieston Crane, now derelict but retained as a symbol of the city's industrial heritage.......

Continuing up river, the Clyde Arc, or the Squinty bridge as it is better known as, was next. It was built as a multi- purpose crossing in 2006......

There is a great view from this bridge, west to the Finnieston crane and the Armadillo and Hydro and east to the Kingston bridge, the next one to be visited.....

The Kingston bridge (1970) is the main bridge for motorway traffic heading north/south. It is one of the busiest motorway bridges in the country.....

Upstream again, the Tradeston bridge (2009) referred to as the Squiggly bridge is a pedestrian bridge linking Tradeston with the financial district on the south bank.....

A short distance further on I recrossed the river by the multi purpose George V bridge (1928) which ran alongside the Caledonian railway bridge, the main exit from Central station......

By this time I was getting tired so decided that I would do the rest of the walk on another day. So I headed to a coffee shop and then to St Enoch subway station to get me back to the starting point at Queen Street station. A really interesting day!

Rumbling Bridge Gorge and Clackmannan

19 January 2026.

I hadn't visited the gorge of the river Devon before but it turned out to be an excellent short walk. There is space to park a few cars on the south side of the road bridge and there are good paths on both sides of the gorge. The north path is the better one for views into the gorge although like many of these places, the vegetation is a bit of a nuisance when it comes to viewing it. However there are a couple of viewing platforms and the gorge provides a sense of both height and verticality.....

An unusual feature at the start is the view back to the road. The old bridge remains in place underneath the current one.....

There are a number of waterfalls as the river rushes through the gorge......

I diverted on the way back to have a look at Clackmannan. The interest here is the remains of the old Tolbooth , not open to the public, the stone of Mannan which stands beside it and Clackmannan Tower, also not open to the public. The tower dates from the 1300's and was built by a descendant of Robert the Bruce. It is situated on King's Seat Hill, a Tump which I had visited previously. The Tolbooth.....

The stone of Mannan.....

Clackmannan Tower.....

 

Gartmorn Dam Country Park

 12 December 2025

Gartmorn Dam (Loch) east of Alloa is Scotland's oldest reservoir, created initially by the sixth Earl of Mar to aid mining and other industries in the area. There are a few examples of those industries close to the shores but today part of the loch is a nature reserve with a network of paths both lochside and in the extensive woods round about. I had been there before- Gartmorn Hill to the north of the loch used to be a Tump but was removed from the list following a resurvey. The shore path is about 3 miles long on an excellent track/path; just the right distance to measure my return to fitness. And there is a cafe which of course I visited after the walk......

Swans and a few water fowl close to the start of the walk.....

The track and views across the loch from the north shore.....

The remains of a building at the site of the former Sheriffyards Colliery at the north-east corner.....

The loch from the east.....

Views from the south shore with the Ochil Hills in the background. Disappointingly mostly clag covered today so I will have to come back on a clear day for a better view.....

Views from the dam wall......

The cafe......

This is an excellent walk which I suspect is not all that well known outwith the local community.