Three grans on parts of Clyde Walkway Stages 3 and 4

Our first glimpse of the Clyde after walking down the Garrion Stream
from Cardies Bridge

Little She Bear (hereafter known as Bear; she's a scout like the famous Bear Grylls and her given name means little she bear, so it's entirely appropriate) and I departed from the Boggy Brae at about a quarter past eight in the morning. We had a car ride round the loch and two train rides* before we met up with LanarkshireGran ('Lana' for ease of typing!) at Carluke Station. She had booked a taxi to take all three of us to where we were going to start our walk at Cardies Bridge over the Garrion Stream at NS798515. Safely delivered there we hoiked on our rucksacks and walked to the end of the bridge only to be splashed from head to foot by a car that didn't slow down as it drove through the massive puddle in the middle of the bridge. Thanks, dude! We laughed it off – at least it wasn't raining; we had left drenching rain behind us – and carried on off the bridge to avoid another mud shower!

*Bear and I had to change railway stations in Glasgow. For once, I was the one who knew the way (sense of direction, me? Ha!) as it's a short walk down Buchanan Street and right turn onto Gordon Street that I've done many times in both directions. Bear had not been in Central Station for a long time and was slightly awed by the size of it. We are fairly out in the sticks on our boggy lochside and not frequent visitors to the city so it's easy to forget the size and busy-ness of the place. I remember Toadlet, aged nine, when we were on our way to visit DerbyshireDaughter in London (before she moved to Derbyshire), being overawed by Central Station's size and bustle. She was probably seeing as many people within the space of a few minutes as she had seen in months in her local village and town.

Here is Lana near the start of our walk with Bear in green ahead. We met some dog walkers along this bit and we enjoyed some little bridges over wee burns and some old trees. Lana told us that some of the woodland here is part of the old forest that used to fill the central belt of Scotland.

I like how this large beech tree had apparently
adapted its root placings to the shape of the bank
where it found itself.

An old, old yew tree

There is a woodland dedication stone near here, erected in January 2008, "in honour of Irene Barbour Weir", by her husband George Weir. It hopes people will enjoy the tranquility and spirituality of the "Irene's Wood" and ask that "no damage or cruelty is carried out...against the flora and fauna of these woods."

We were intrigued by the patterns on large old trees with flaky bark and loved seeing red Elf Cups. They are edible apparently but I never have eaten them.

This one might be an elf king or queen's cup, I reckon ;)

mole country

We walked through some rolling fields with plenty evidence of moles. I don't know whether that mole field above is the work of one or several moles but it looks like a mole village.

We spotted this lovely beech tree, which I'd like to see again in its autumn glory, and a 'snag' of a tree, before we found a perfect picnic spot.

Lana and Bear on a log and, since there on no pics of me on my camera I begged one from Lana. She sent one of me negotiating some mud. We did a lot of that.

plum blossom

Towards the end of our walk we encountered some buds that we didn't recognise and some lovely plum blossom. 

When we reached Crossford we walked along the road for a bit to Silverbirch Garden Centre for tea and cake. Very good cake but we forgot to take pics. Cake addicts, us? Never!

Lana's husband picked us up from the garden centre and very kindly drove Bear and me back to Carluke Station to begin our homeward journey, but not before a slight diversion to a triangulation pillar plaqued in honour of Major-General William Roy "from whose military map of Scotland made in 1747-1755 grew the ordnance survey of Breat Britain." We all love OS maps so it was a fitting end to our plod.

"Here stood Miltonhead..."

<< This pic is for triangulation pillar and benchmark geeks. We all know some 😄. 

When I was checking info about the Clyde Walkway I discovered that our walk was officially part of Stage 3 and part of Stage 4. See screen graps of maps below. We had missed out Stage 2 because we though some of it might have been closed but we will do that and the rests of 3 & 4 in our own sweet time. Depending when the bluebells and wild garlic can be expected to be in flower at New Lanark, we might to that part next.

Meanwhile, long live the delightful bumbling and burbling of gran walks!

Bear's mum, who is visiting from the north German island of Pellworm where Bear grew up, decided not to join us on this walk after all because back on the Boggy Brae and two fields along at Bear's abode it was tipping down with rain. Bear's mum had another option: to spend some time with her great-granddaughter.