EK News Article by Eric Kent: The local walk undertaken in very cold and icy conditions underfoot by 36 hardy souls com-menced close to the Raith Roundabout just within Strathclyde park at Raith Haugh and the walk continued from there up near to the edge of Larkhall  and then back to Chatelherault a distance of eight miles. As we walked away from the coach we had an inkling of the days conditions it was extremely cold and a lot of the snow had turned to ice making the walking conditions difficult. We walked along the South side of Strathclyde Loch walk with very few people out braving the wintery conditions on this normally very busy area early on a Sunday morning.

Strathclyde Loch was artificially created in the 1970s, flooding the area of Bothwellhaugh, including the former mining village of the same name. Approximately 1¼ miles (2 km) of the River Clyde was straightened to run immediately to the west of the loch next to the then new M74 motorway. We noticed a number of Herons on the River Clyde which is not surprising as there is a large heronry at the Raith Haugh area. The Loch was frozen over and the Ducks and Swan were looking miserable on the ice or on one area of open water at one of the loch overflow run offs in to the River Clyde. At the water sports centre we crossed the river and walked along the wooded path between the river and the motorway until we reached the A723 road bridge over the River Clyde which links Hamilton and Motherwell. We passed under the bridge which in normal conditions has a fine pathway all the way through to the other side. Due to the Ice flows which built up over the last few weeks they had dammed the river and built up an artificial water level which had then frozen. The milder weather had broken up the Ice and the river was running clear of ice but the ice residue at the edge of the water was six to eight feet higher and the large slabs of ice were between 75 and 150mm thick. These ice slabs were piled up over the walkway making it impossible to pass through under bridge. Above the walkway there was a narrow wall and with some luck and helping each other were all eventually managed to get safely by the icy obstacles presented by nature. Shortly after this we reached the point where the River Clyde and the River Avon.  Leaving the River Clyde at this point we followed the north bank of the River Avon under the M74 Motorway Bridge and followed the well marked path on the South Haugh until we reached the old Avon Bridge at the edge of Ferniegair. Avon Bridge was built before the 16th century and enlarged about the beginning of the present (18th) century and was the main route between Hamilton and Larkhall at that period. After crossing the old Avon Bridge we slid our way over the heavy ice past the old estate buildings and entered the upper entrance of the Chatelherault Estate. As we climbed up from the river the large area of parkland with the Chatelherault Hunting Lodge and the remains of the formal gardens gradually appeared and looked impressive in the background. As were got closer to Chatelherault we passed a group of the famous White Cattle, a rare breed of cattle which once roamed freely in the northern forests of Britain, but their ancestry is unclear. This herd of cattle are the remnants of these ancient wild cattle which roamed Scotland in the past and they have been in the custody of the Duke’s of Hamilton for many years. In the late 1960′s the main section of the herd was moved to the Duke of Hamilton’s estate in East Lothian. We had lunch at the restaurant in the visitor centre at the rear of the Hunting Lodge and the group was impressed with the standard of food that was offered. Chatelherault Country Park is just to the east of Glasgow in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.  The name The name Chatelherault is derived from the French town of Châtellerault from which a French dukedom (Duc de Châtellerault) was conferred on James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, in 1550.  The title was in-herited by the Dukes of Hamilton. Chatelherault, the beautiful hunting lodge of the former Hamilton Palace, these used to be linked together by an avenue of lime trees.  The lodge was designed by William Adam, and completed in 1734.  Historic Scotland renovated the lodge in the 1990s, including the fine Georgian plasterwork, and a visitor centre was built to the rear.

The walk continued after lunch down to the Dukes Bridge over the River Avon. The route at this point was close to impassable due to the heavy ice covering the bridge and the slopes leading up past Cadzow Castle but with caution we all managed to pass by the ice obstacles safely. The Castle was the occasional residence of David I (1124-53), and his successors down to Robert the Bruce (1306-29). The castle was probably rebuilt by the second Earl of Arran c.1542-48. The remains of the Great Hall, Kitchen, and Chapel can be still be seen. The next section of the walk passed by the famous Cadzow Oaks, some of the oldest trees in the UK thought to date back as much as 600 years the conditions here were good for walking and we made good progress all the way to the Green Bridge close to Larkhall. Crossing the bridge was awkward due to the ice again but one of the most difficult periods of the walk was on the stepped incline up to the top of the Avon valley due to the heavy Ice on the steps and the surrounding areas of the path.  The walking group worked well together and we all managed by helping each other to get the group to the top safely with no major falls. The remainder of the walk back to Chatelherault along the edge of the valley was easy walking with weather related problems.