New Lanark village

I have been long thinking about visiting New Lanark  and I finally went there , at the peak of Autumn . Not only to see historic mill village , but have a look at spectacular Falls of Clyde  .The power of the Falls has been long used for industrial purposes , to get the cotton  mill running and nowadays used by the  hydro-electric power station .

The cotton-spinning  company was founded in 1784 by entrepreneur from Glasgow , David Dale. There were built four mills along with large houses for over 2000 workers .The whole mill village has been declared as the World Heritage Site and visitors can find out about factory's past . At the time it was the biggest cotton-spinning business in Britain .

The series of cascades on River Clyde stretches among the woods far  from the historic mill . There is 5 km long walk upstream to the uppermost waterfall .

The first of upper waterfalls , Corra Linn .

 The golden foliage was a perfect frame for the  torrents mingling below.

Bonnigton Linn , the uppermost waterfall on River Clyde .

The final cascades seen from the other side of River Clyde (after crossing the bridge behind Bonnigton Linn ) looks like a little Niagara Falls . I thought there that if I had lost my footing and slipped down the steep bank, I wouldn't have probably survived the slid on the rocky steps  .

Back at the historic village , I admired the waterwheel , once used to drive factory . The wheel wasn't propelled directly by the river's stream , but by waters of canal diverted from the River Clyde .

New Lanark village is famous not only as a fine example of historic industrial mill , this is a place where Robert Owen started developing his ideology .Owen is wide known as a first socialist philosopher , and in New Lanark he developed his vision of a new society. Having bought the mill in 1799 from his father-in-law , David Dale , he ordered to build a couple of buildings to improve lives of his workers . Owen created public paths for leisure , schools for infants and adults , library.  He established the rule that children under the age of 10 weren't allowed to work. It was usual practise at the time that kids started working at the age of 5 .

                                                             The school house in New Lanark

                                         Robert Owen's house (in the centre of the picture above) .

New Lanark is worth visiting  not only for it's UNESCO status , but because it is really an awesome place .