Oldcly one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

There’s a shopping centre where I started at Clydebank and it looks as if there is full time access through here. My walk started with a lively kilted accordian busker, which was fun. I was very soon on canal towpath and it was a doddle. It was all tarmacked, there were cyclists and mobility scooters as well as walkers and runners. There were slight inclines at some points. The water level was a bit low and a fallen tree half-blocked the channel. At Dalmuir, there was the world's first “drop lock”. The canal is at the same level on both sides of the road, but the level is similar to the road level. Boats need to go into the lock, and the water level will be dropped by 8 feet (by Scottish Canals staff) so that the boat can sail under the road, then the lock is refilled ready for the next boat. It takes 40 minutes. No wonder this section of the canal looked underused!
Most of the route had quite a rural feel and there were moorhens and herons. Soon the phenomenal Erskine Bridge came into view. The route left the canal here to follow the road under Erskine Bridge to the end point.
An easy 5* route, I’d say. Pleasant with lots of interest.

A nice and simple canal walk, with good surfaces and accessible to all.

With shops and nearby transport links at both ends, it's a pleasant short walk, despite being in some of Glasgow's most industrial outskirts.

I walked this route as my first slow ways route and as I live nearby I was confident this would be a straightforward start and traffic free (so also stress free).

The route starts at Old Kilpatrick train station and takes you to Clydebank train station where there's plenty of opportunities to grab a bite to eat in the shopping centre area.

I completed this route in 1hr at a quick pace and opted to walk the route back home again instead of taking the train.

This was a very easy route to walk, with very little room for error in taking the wrong turn and only a handful of road crossings. There were various benches along the way to make a pitstop if required.

I would definitely recommend this route for cyclists and those in wheelchairs as it is flat and tarmacked the whole way. It would also be a good route to take your dog as it's away from the road, there's no livestock, only having to be mindful of passing cyclists and some bird life on the canal.

A beautiful and easy to follow route along the canal, and so very flat. Do have a look at the clock as you pass through Clydebank Shopping Centre - I don't think it runs anymore but it was once animated with various moving statues and opening panels when it struck the hour. I never realised how towering the Erskine Bridge is. It's very high up!.

Review of SlowWays Route Oldcly (Old Kilpatrick to Clydebank).
I reviewed this route on a warm, sunny day in May 2021. The route is very straightforward, following a canal towpath for most of its length.
The beginning of the route is a tended grassy area adjacent to the A814. Following the A814 south and east from here, the Forth and Clyde Canal is visible over to the right. After a couple of hundred metres and after passing under the Erskine Bridge towering above, an interesting mechanical bridge enables the walker to access the south side of the canal and the towpath heading towards Clydebank. This towpath is followed all the way to a road crossing at Dalmuir. Well before that, it is worth looking out for the little huts and decks which local people have built to use as “sitooteries” overlooking the canal.
After crossing Dumbarton Road at Dalmuir (there is a pedestrian crossing here) the canal towpath is re-joined and followed to the Clyde Shopping Centre. The walker should leave the canal here to head south and emerge at the main Clydebank Railway Station and the end of the route.
This is a lovely route, the majority of which is off-road. It is easy to follow, level and very scenic.

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