MP gets stuck in helping volunteers as part of major regeneration plan
A heritage group has taken a step forward in its bid to restore a beauty spot to its former glory.
Calderglen Heritage were joined by East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow MP Dr Lisa Cameron as they cleaned-up Calderglen gorge and Torrance Glen.
The beauty spot once welcomed thousands of day trippers to the castle lawn and featured in Parisian tourist guides from the 1800s.
However, the idyllic spot has seen better days and Calderglen Heritage, with the support of various groups and organisations in the area, want to put it back on the map.
Dr Cameron was keen to see the improvements already made, including the concerted effort to clear and reopen the old path at Woodhead, which was abandoned following a spell of prolonged adverse weather 10 years ago.
Volunteers, the Calderglen Heritage board and South Lanarkshire Council Greenspace rangers, made their way to the overgrown castle lawn, where Greenspace were able to secure funds to reinstate and raise paths above the water table.
Members of the community payback team have also worked on a section of the main Calderwood Trail to trim back and dig out the original avenue which led to Calderwood Castle from the north.
Chris Ladds, chair and historian at Calderglen Heritage, said: “In raising the esteem of this area through public awareness, we can help put the old estates of Calderwood and Torrance glens back on the map and reset the clock to a time when the castle lawn, as it was, would be frequented by as many as 3000 day trippers on a summer Saturday.
“Back then this was a rural backwater but now, with thousands of people having Calderglen on their doorstep, this is probably the biggest natural untapped resource in South Lanarkshire.
“It has been a bit of an uphill battle in getting to this stage so far because the facilities run at the country park are managed by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, whereas the gorge itself is part of the wider countryside owned by the council and left to SLC Greenspace to manage.
“Many decades of a lack of awareness of the existence of the gorge landscape from the council has meant that before getting ourselves off the ground, Calderglen Heritage has had to first establish the gorge was there at all and only then start working to improve the situation.”
Chris believes SLC Greenspace management are keen to leave a lasting legacy in the gorge woodlands of South Lanarkshire.
And so they have been part of various partnerships to plant thousands of trees which now adorn the Trough Linn woodlands project east of Newhousemill and last year saw the felling of non-native pines in order to allow the native ancient forest to regrow.
Recent talks between Calderglen Heritage and Greenspace have resulted in an agreement to create a conservation management plan for both the habitats of the gorge woodland alongside the numerous archaeological and designed landscape features.
Chris added: “We have a long journey ahead of us but within the next year we hope to start work to reopen further paths and long-lost viewpoints that allow visitors to marvel at the views of three waterfalls in succession upstream – framed on both sides by cliffs upwards of 80ft high – a sight not seen in well over 60 years.
“If people have not been down to the Calderwood end of the Glen within the past 12 months then they are in for a treat.
“People volunteering their time provides proof of public engagement to funders and so opens further funding doors. We really cannot do it without the volunteer help and we have to thank everybody who has so generously given up their time so far.”