A mixture of work and the chance to see my cousin DJ in Glasgow gave me an opportunity to open my WHS account for 2013. A great weekend mixed with lowered expectations actually made this a rather rewarding visit.

Having looked at maps before my visit I had always seen the town’s layout as a little odd, but upon reaching the crest of the valley in which it sits it all suddenly made sense. It is actually quite a picturesque setting, sitting as it does in a valley carved out by the Clyde. The river forms Britain’s largest waterfalls just downstream from the town and at this point the water is fast flowing which was the key factor in the building of the mill here.

Several people I had spoken to in Glasgow before my visit had all visited New Lanark on school trips as kids and (like Els and Kyle) I did feel that the majority of the visiting experience was aimed at the local school children. Having said that the ‘futuristic hanging fairground ride’ was fairly engaging and did decent job of introducing basic concepts about life in the Mill. It can be rather tough to find uses for these large ex industrial buildings and presence of an ‘Edinburgh Woollen Mill’ outlet showed that it was a challenge that had not been tackled too well here. A visit to the former school was reasonably interesting, though I would say it would perhaps be best to skip the well-intentioned but rather twee video there unless you have some kids in tow. I also enjoyed the recent addition of the lottery funded roof garden, replete with labyrinth ending on a World Heritage Symbol.

A visit to Robert Owen's house actually provided the one bit of interpretation that was aimed at a more adult audience and one that I found rather interesting. It showed how New Lanark was used as a test bed for Owen's ideas of a more balanced and caring form of capitalism. It was different to the moral and religious paternalism on show at Saltaire and has actually had a longer lasting effect. Developments here lay the foundations for and supported such concepts as trade unions, the co-operative movement, reform socialism and the welfare state, things that are still relevant/ omnipresent in modern European states and have effects around the world. The fact that the mill was highly profitable was used as an illustration that these weren't just Utopian dreams but actually practical ways of improving people's lives.

I visited New Lanark after a weekend in Glasgow which turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. I thought it was a rather impressive city, with much to recommend it even in relation to its more illustrious neighbour Edinburgh. And as ever Christer (below) is right to recommend spending a wee bit of time exploring its pubs and bars, or if that doesn't take your fancy then it has a fine array of museums and galleries to keep you entertained as well as the works of its architectural superstar Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

I rather enjoyed this little weekend trip, and New Lanark is a rather interesting site which has a relevance and influence on many aspects of modern life.

[Site 5: Experience 5]