Airhol one

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Review of Slow Ways Route Airhol 1 (Airdrie to Holytown)
I reviewed this route in two halves, a couple of months apart, but have combined my two reviews into this one. The route starts at Airdrie Train Station and zig-zags uphill through residential streets before eventually turning onto a wide and well-surfaced cycle track. This track is followed for a while but the route then heads off over quite rough ground via a network of unsurfaced and potentially quite muddy paths. The route map is perfectly clear here and I had no trouble finding my way, but this section is more isolated than the rest of the route so care is required. Eventually the path emerges on Paddock Street. Directly opposite is the beginning of the North Calder Heritage Trail which the route follows for the next 2km. This is an attractive and reasonably well-surfaced path which is easy to follow by keeping the abandoned canal on your left and the North Calder river on your right. Eventually a footbridge leading off to the right is reached. Crossing this leads to a stepped section through woodland which eventually emerges on the busy B802. The next section is the least enjoyable of the route as it follows this and another main road (Bo’ness Road) through a series of roundabouts to the edge of Holytown. The road is very busy (and noisy) but there is a good, wide pavement. Arriving in Holytown I found the mapped route closed off by a temporary barrier at NS76996069. Keeping to the route would have required a steep descent down a grassy bank to the playing field below so is therefore probably best avoided. I diverted slightly to the west, heading down Melrose Avenue and picking up the original route on Dornoch Road (at NS76916034). The remainder of the route is through a large housing estate, along Shirrel Road and down Stevenston Street. It is then a short distance to Holytown Station and the end of the route.
I found the route easy to follow for a walker (wearing boots!) but a cyclist may not enjoy the narrow and muddy section. The middle section along the canal is very attractive but the more urban sections at either end are not particularly enjoyable. Nevertheless the route safely links the two communities and usefully bridges the M8 motorway (which can be a barrier to walkers and cyclists moving around this part of North Lanarkshire).

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