A short walk in
Hamilton’s Cadzow Glen.
Rudy visited Hamilton on a weekday lunchtime which meant lots of schoolchildren eating their lunch in the streets near the train station. It was a big decision for a wee rescue dog to leave behind so much potential dropped food scraps and head for a proper explore – lucky someone brought treats!
Cadzow Glen
We chose to walk between the two Hamilton railway stations via Cadzow Glen a small Local Nature Reserve which runs through the centre of town. “Cadzow” was the original name of Hamilton until the 15th Century.
After a short 40 metre section of street level path a set of wooden steps leads down into the glen proper. The path is mostly unsurfaced (but still very solid) along with short bits of boardwalk. Rudy was able to run ahead “pathfinding” and check back without any worries of taking a wrong turn.
Cadzow Burn
The mature woodland along the banks of Cadzow Burn running through the bottom of the glen makes for a secluded little walk despite being in the town centre.
The only side route to explore took us to this strange abandoned overbridge, we couldn’t find any details of why such a grand effort was put into a footbridge across the glen here but it made for a nice picnic spot away from the path.
The northern part of the glen is laid out more formally with open grass areas under the impressive Cadzow Street Bridge. The transition from wooded glen to formal park took us by surprise and we wish we’d chose to picnic at one of the table & benches here instead of earlier!
Hamilton Town
Hamilton was the county town of historic Lanarkshire and is still home to the headquarters of South Lanarkshire Council. Only 11miles from Glasgow the town’s population of 54,000 ranks it as the 8th largest settlement in Scotland.
The Friends of Cadzow Glen website is at friendsofcadzowglen.wordpress.com/
Or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/FriendsofCadzowGlen/