River Clyde
Image courtesy of George Gastin, wikimedia commons
The River Clyde - Abhainn Chluaidh - is the United Kingdom's ninth longest river and Scotland's third longest river at one hundred and seven miles long and with a catchment area of one thousand, nine hundred and eighty eight square miles.
The river's source is situated in the Lowther Hills in South Lanarkshire where it goes on to flow in a north, westerly direction before arriving at it's mouth, where it forms part of the one thousand, five hundred and forty four square mile basin on the twenty six mile wide Firth of Clyde.
The river flows through Scotland's most populated region as it passes through the towns of Bathwell, Cardcross, Dunbarton, Greenock, Hamilton, Helensburgh, Lanark, Motherwell, Renfrew, Scotland's largest city, Glasgow and the UNESCO World Heritage village of New Lanark.
The river is served by seventy two rail, road and foot bridges, the oldest of which is the South Portland Suspension Bridge built in 1853 and the youngest of which is the Tradeston Bridge, pictured above, located in Glasgow and built in 2009.
The river has thirty eight tributaries, including the Rivers Leven, Kelvin and Nethan, the Black Cart Water, White Cart Water, the Avon Water and the North Calder Water and South Calder Water.
Part of the river's course is followed by the thirty nine mile long Clyde Walkway, situated between Lanark and Dunbarton.
The river also feeds part of the thirty five mile long, Forth and Clyde Canal, situated between Bowling in West Dunbartonshire and the Firth of Forth.The canal is served by thirty nine lochs and was completed in 1769.
Other impressive features of the river include four waterfalls situated at Bonnington Linn, Cora Linn, Dundaff Linn and Stonebyres Linn in South Lanarkshire, the two thousand, five hundred foot long Clyde Tunnel which links the A739 road between Whiteinch and Govan, and the ten and a half mile long Glasgow Subway system built in 1896, the world's third oldest metro system.
The river also passes the historical sites of the ancient Dunbarton Castle, the fifteenth century Newark Castle at Port Glasgow and the twelth century Bothwell Castle in South Lanarkshire.
The river's estuary is situated on the one thousand, five hundred and forty four square mile, Firth of Clyde, which consists of eight lochs, several islands and the Tail of Bank, an anchorage which marks the River Clyde's entrance to it's estuary.
Major towns and places of interest located on the firth include Ayr, Cambeltown, Dumbarton, Dunoon, Gourock, Greenock, Helensburgh, Irvine, Largs, Port Glasgow, Prestwick, Troon and West Kilbride.
The firth's three largest islands are the Islands of Aran, Bute and Cumbrae and along with it's other minor islands, each of them are served by regular ferry services.
The firth's eight lochs include Gare Loch, the site of of HMNB Faslane, home of the United Kingdom's naval nuclear submarine base and Loch Lang, home of the Royal Navy's armament depot situated at RNAD Coulport. There is also a naval establishment situated at Great Harbour in Greenoch.
The firth is served by four lighthouses, situated at Clach Point, Toward Point, Little Cumbrae and Pladda.
SOME RIVER CLYDE WEBSITES
The Clyde Waterfront
Angling on the Clyde
Clyde Port
The Govan Ferry
www.clydecruises.com/govan-ferry
The Glasgow Subway
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