River Clyde
Categories: Glasgow | Rivers of Scotland
The River Clyde (Cluaidh in Scottish Gaelic) is a major river in Scotland. At 106 miles (176 km) long, it is the tenth longest river in the UK, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was arguably the most important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire.
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Course
The Clyde rises in the Lowther Hills in South Lanarkshire. It is formed by the confluence of two streams, the Daer Water (the headwaters of which are dammed to form the Daer Reservoir) and the Potrail Water. The Southern Upland Way crosses both streams before they meet at Watermeetings (grid reference NS953131) to form the River Clyde proper. At this point the Clyde is only six miles (10 km) from Tweed's Well, the source of the River Tweed and eight miles from the Devil's Beef Tub, the source of the River Annan.
From there it snakes northeastward before turning to the west, its flood plain used for many major roads in the area, until it reaches the town of Lanark. On the banks of the Clyde, Victorian industrialists David Dale and Robert Owen built their mills and the model settlement of New Lanark. The mills harness the power of the Falls of Clyde, the most spectacular of which is Cora Linn. A hydroelectric power station still generates electricity here, although the mills are now a museum and World Heritage Site.
From New Lanark, the river turns northwest, before it is joined by the River Avon and flows into the West of Scotland conurbation. Between the towns of Motherwell and Hamilton the course of the river has been altered to create the artificial loch within Strathclyde Park. Part of the original course can still be seen, and lies between the island and the east shore of the loch. The river then flows through, Blanytre and Bothwell, where the ruined Bothwell Castle stands on a defensible promontory.
Past Uddingston and into the southeast of Glasgow the river begins to widen, meandering a course through Rutherglen and into the city centre. Flowing past Glasgow Green, the river is artificially straightened and widened through the centre, and is still navigable as far as Finnieston, where the PS Waverley is docked. From there, it flows past the shipbuilding heartlands, through Govan, Partick, Whiteinch, Scotstoun and Clydebank, all of which housed major shipyards in the past, of which only two remain. The river flows out west of Glasgow, past Renfrew, out to Dumbarton, finally beyond Helensburgh and Port Glasgow to Greenock where it empties into the Firth of Clyde.
Industrial growth
The success of the Clyde at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was driven by the location of Glasgow, being a port facing the Americas. Tobacco and cotton trade begun the drive in the early 18th century. However, the shallow Clyde was not navigable for the largest ocean-going ships and cargo had to be transferred at Greenock or Port Glasgow to smaller ships to sail into Glasgow itself. It was the mid-19th century before engineers decided to take on the mammoth task of dredging the Clyde, removing millions of cubic metres of silt to deepen and widen the channel. The major stumbling block in the project was a massive volcanic plug known as Elderslie Rock. It would be the 1880s before work was finally complete.
The completion of the dredging was well-timed, as steelworking grew in the city the channel finally became navigable all the way up to Glasgow. Shipbuilding replaced trade as the major activity on the river and shipyards was popping up at an exponential rate. Soon, the Clyde gained a reputation for being the best location for shipbuilding in the Empire. Clydebuilt became a mark of true quality, and the river’s shipyards were given contracts for prestigious ocean-going liners as well as warships, including the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth 2 in later years.
Shipbuilding decline
The downfall of the Clyde as a major industrial centre came during and post-World War II. Clydebank in particular was targeted by Nazi bombers and sustained devastating damage. After the war, the rebuilt shipyards of Germany and cheaper labour in central and eastern Europe, as well as the downturn in seafaring, sealed the Clyde’s fate. All but three of the shipyards have long since gone, two of these are owned by Global defence contractor, BAE Systems.
However, Clydeside has gained new draws to replace the ships. Tomato greenhouses and garden centres have grown up on the fertile plains at New Lanark. Tourism has also brought many back to the riverside, especially in Glasgow where the shipyards have given way to housing and amenities on the banks in the city, for instance, the Glasgow Harbour project. The river has been extensively cleaned up, once having a very poor reputation for dirt and sewage, to make it more pleasing to the eye.
Gallery
 St. Andrews footbridge |
 Bells Bridge |
 Millennium Bridge |