Glasgow South Accommodation

Activity Holidays Biggar, Lanark, Hamilton, Blantyre, East Kilbride, Scotland UK

South of Glasgow into the Clyde Valley you'll arrive at Blantyre, famous particularly as the birthplace of explorer and missionary David Livingstone. Explore Livingstone humble beginnings at the Livingstone Centre in Blantyre, with his birthplace mill tenement house on-site plus an exhibition containing many of his personal possessions including diaries, notebooks and clothing. Further south, Hamilton is home to Hamilton Park Horse Racing, a popular Scottish horse racing track. Alongside Hamilton, the Strathclyde Country Park offers a diverse range of outdoor activities both on land and on the water. Pushing down into South Lanarkshire, ancient burgh and market town Lanark has numerous links with William Wallace and in June annually holds one of Scotland's oldest traditions, the Lanark Lanimers.

East Kilbride is Scotland's sixth largest city and home to Scotland's largest indoor shopping centre which includes and indoor ice rink, also now has an exciting arts centre. Just outside the city sits the superb Scottish Museum of Rural Life, set on the site of a 1950s farm. The history of farming and rural life from 1750 to the present is laid bare here. Finally, the attractive market town of Biggar is a bustling centre bordering stunning Tweedale in the Borders, with easy access to mountain biking in on some of the 7 Stanes trails in the Borders Forests. Within Biggar itself there's a host of attractions including an old gas works, a puppet theatre and a choice of country pubs and divine restaurants. Biggar makes a superb central base for exploring both Lanarkshire and the Scottish Borders, and is only a short drive from both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Hamilton Hotels Horse Racing Scotland, Clyde Valley South Glasgow

Just to the south of Glasgow (10 miles), Hamilton is a centre for horse racing. Hamilton Park Race course has 18 lively racemeetings through the summer alonge, and makes for a great family day out. There's a number of themed race meets here too including office Party Nigh, Taste of the Orient and more. Check the Hamilton Park Horse Racing website right for fixtures and details. Book tickets on-line via the website, or contact Hamilton Park on Tel. 01698 283806.

In the centre of Hamilton the newly opened Hamilton Town House is a hub for the arts and serves as a performance venue amongst other things. Indeed much of Hamilton's town centre has been revived to great effect in recent years, offering a choice of good shops, restaurants, bars, a big cinema and good nightlife. Popular country parks are in the area, namely Chatelherault Country Park with hunting lodge, summer house, cafe, exhibitions and house tours all available, as well as kids play areas. Chatelherault Country Park, Carlisle Road, Ferniegair, Hamilton, ML3 7UE. Tel. 01698 426213.

If you're interested in mausoleums, then the biggest of all mausoleums in Britain is here in Hamilton. Dating from the Mid-19th century and built by the 10th Duke of Hamilton who was obviously intent on out-doing, you'll find Hamilton Mausoleum on Muir Street. Also on Muir Street sits the Low Parks Museum with a collection of Cameronians Scottish Rifles, plus a choice of local history and local industry exhibitions.

Hamilton also offers easy access to the Strathclyde Country Park which covers around 400 ha of the Clyde Valley between Junctions 5 and 6 of the M74 motorway. Outdoor leisure activities are certainly on the menu here at the Strathclyde Country Park, with a watersports centre on-site, plus a choice of woodland trails, rowing, windsurfing, dinghy sailing, canoeing, angling, horse riding, orienteering, mountain biking and more. See the park's weblink right for details, and see also M&D's Family Theme Park website right. This fun family theme park has over 40 rides and attractions, and sits within the Strathclyde Country Park. Checkout Amazonia on the theme park site, Scotland's only indoor tropical rainforest! Dare devil rides include The Tsunami, Tornado and White Water.

Activity Holiday Biggar South Lanarkshire

Based in Biggar you've the best of several worlds. Easily accessed off the M74 motorway (just 12 miles away), and close to the Unesco New Lanark Mills site, the Scottish Borders and within easy reach of both Glasgow and Edinburgh, Biggar offers a choice of acccommodation, restaurants, pubs and tourist attractions in its own right as well.

Actually, for a small Scottish town you won't do much better than Biggar for a host of off-the-wall attractions. Inclusive in the list is the Gladstone Court Museum with various Victorian recreations, the old Biggar Gasworks Museum dating from 1839. It's rather special as its one of the few remaining old coal powered gasworks in the country. Other attractions include a Puppet Theatrethe Greenhill Covenanters' Museum and Brownsbank Cottage, onetime home of Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid (see also Langholm tourist information in Dumfries & Gallow for more on Hugh MacDiarmid on this website). Biggar also offers some superb award winning dining options, including the atmospheric Shieldhill Castle Restaurant (see website right for details).

Biggar's location near the Scottish Borders and Peebles makes it prime territory for outdoor activity holidays. Top activities include the nearby Glentress and Innerleithen mountain bike trails, part of the 7 Stanes network of trails (see weblink right for details). The ancient peak of Tinto Hill (meaning hill of fire) is a few miles to the west of Biggar, and was once an important site for the Druids who held festivals here. (see the Walking Scotland Tinto Hill walk guide linked right).

Blantyre Scotland, Bothwell Castle & the David Livingstone Centre

Blantyre, situated between Glasgow and Hamilton, was he birthplace of the Victorian missionary-explorer David Livingstone. The town pays due homage to its famous son with a visitor centre and memorial site. Surrounding the National Trust for Scotland owned Livingstone Centre are 20 acres of pretty parkland and woodland gardens. Easily access off the M74 motorway, junction 5 via the A725 and A724, the David Livingstone Centre houses an important collection of David Livingstones personal items such as navigational equipment, diaries and notebooks and his distinctive red shirt (he's thought to have been wearing this when Henry Morton Stanley found him uttering the legendary words 'Dr Livingstone I presume?'. A visit here give you a sense of the poor and cramped conditions under which Livingstone was brought up. His birthhouse is one of a block of mill worker 1 bedroom tenement houses. Livingstone worked in the Blantyre Mills as a piecer.

David Livingstone Centre, 165 Station Road, Blantyre, Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley G72 9BY. Tel. 0844 4932207. Interestingly, David Dale, one of the founders of the New Lanark Mill complex, also built and owned mills here in Blantyre. Dale's provision of education to mill workers were progressive for the day, and in Blantyre in the 1800s when Lingstone worked as a piecer he received some of his education via the mill. (see New Lanark Mills section here on iknow Scotland).

From the Livingstone Centre in Blantyre you can walk along the river to another of Blantyre's top attractions and one of Scotland's most striking castles - Bothwell Castle. Bothwell Castle dtes from the 13th century and as well as being particularly striking as Scottish castles go, it's also one of the largest.

Find Bothwell Castle at Uddingstone just off the B7071. Tel. 01698 816894 for details, or checkout the Historic Scotland weblink right for opening times and details.

East Kilbride Scotland & the Museum of Scottish Country Life

East Kilbride south of Glasgow is one to watch. It's a city (Scotland's sixth largest) which is seeing considerable investment in recent years, with a thriving new arts centre, the renowned National Museum of Rural Life (previously Scottish Country life) at nearby Kittochside and if you like shopping you might rather like East Kilbride, home to Scotland's biggest undercover shopping and leisure complex at the EK Shopping Centre. This shopping centre is so big it can accommodate a large ice rink under its roof! A cinema is on-site too. Check the EK shopping centre weblink right for shop listings.

Just before you come into East Kilbride on the A725 you'll see signs for the Museum of Rural Life, a fascinating insight into Scottish farming and rural life from 1750 to the present. The site at Kittochside was actually a working farm in the 1950s, and remains much as it was then, untouched by modern intensive farming methods. The museum consists of three main galleries focusing on Land, People and Tools. Everything from extreme hardship endured by those working on the land through the ages, to the progression of technology and tools which increased output is covered. On-site are is also a huge collection of historic tractors and combine harvesters, plus a picture gallery, theatre, education centre, cafe and shop.

National Museum of Rural Life, Wester Kittochside Philipshill Road, off Stewartfield Way, East Kilbride, G76 9HR. Tel. 0131 247 4377 (weblink right).

East Kilbride Arts Centre, 51-53 Old Coach Road, East Mains, East Kilbride, G74 4DU. Tel. 01355 261000.

Lanark Market Town, William Wallace History & the Lanark Lanimers

The picturesque village of Lanark, (a good base for exploring nearby New Lanark World Heritage Site, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire) is an ancient burgh, given royal burgh status in 1140. The Scots Parliament held their first meeting here in 978 and Lanark is credited as the location where William Wallace began his rebellion against the English. Wallace spent time here in Lanark, and after murdering the Sheriff of Lanark Wallace began to gather a small army culminating in the massacre of an English garrison in May 1297. The statue of Wallace dating from 1822 on the side of the Georgian St Nicholas church in Lanark depicts him with a beard. William Wallace has recently received more attention worldwide, due in large part to the depiction of him in Mel Gibson's Braveheart the Movie. Lanark is certainly a Scottish location integral to any William Wallace biography.

Within the town a number of historic sites hint at Lanark's long history. St Kentigern's church dates from 1180 and its been suggested that Wallace may have married Marion Braidfute here. He certainly attended the church. To see the oldest bell in the world, cast in 1130 visit the church of St Nicholas in Lanark where it's on show. Lanark has a long history as a market town, and Livestock sales, dairy, store, eggs and more are sold weekly on Market Monday in Lanark. (see Lanark Market weblink right for details).

Every June Lanark bursts into life for one of Scotland's oldest traditions dating back to 1140, the Lanimer marches and celebrations. A Lanimer queen is crowned undeer the William Wallace statue on St Nicholas Church, evening and day ride outs are taken and other celebrations of Balls, a Tattoo and more all form part of the celebrations. Checkout the Lanark Lanimers weblink right for more information on Lanark's ancient annual Lanimer.

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