The Greenlink Cycle Path is a

cycle path A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

that is a direct route running from

Strathclyde Country Park Strathclyde Country Park is a country park located on the outskirts of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, named after the former Strathclyde region of Scotland. It is often commonly referred to as Strathclyde, or simply Strathy. De ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Town Centre. The path is 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) in length. The Greenlink project was established in 2005, and was part of a 3-year partnership between many organisations, such as

North Lanarkshire Council North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

and Forestry Commission Scotland.

The route

The path begins at the

Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort is a site now located within Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is east of where the South Calder Water flows into Strathclyde Loch. The fort is a scheduled monument. Location Before the floodi ...

in Strathclyde Country Park, and travels through the

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

area of the park, going over the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. The path then goes through

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

golf course and along the south-east of the town, then travelling over the

South Calder Water The South Calder Water, known locally as "The Cawder", or simply "Calder", is a river in Scotland. It runs west from the high plateau between Shotts and Fauldhouse to its joining with the much larger River Clyde. The high plateau is also the wa ...

and the A721. It by-passes the

Forgewood Forgewood is a suburb in the north-west of the town of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It consists mainly of housing and low-rise flats, with the majority of them now 'modernised'. Some of the older-looking flats have since been demol ...

suburb of Motherwell heading towards

Braidhurst High School Braidhurst High School is a non-denominational secondary school in the suburb of Motherwell known as Forgewood, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. History Braidhurst High School was established in 1962, making it one of the more modern secondary scho ...

, and subsequently travels under the

Argyle Line The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyl ...

heading towards the new site of the Cathedral Primary School and Fir Park nursery joint campus. The path concludes when it runs through the residential housing area and stops at the Aquatec sports centre next door to the town centre.

Future Plans

There are plans in future to extend the cycle path beyond Motherwell town centre to connect to the new town of

Ravenscraig Ravenscraig is a village and new town, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 1½ miles east of Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western Europe, the st ...

. The initial plans prior to formation of the path was to create a direct route from Strathclyde Park to the site of the former

Ravenscraig steelworks The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Motherwell ...

. Those plans were put on hold due to the delay in the regeneration of Ravenscraig, and so the link only stops at Motherwell town centre.

Awards

In 2011, the cycle path received the Level 3 ''It's Your Neighbourhood '' award from

Beautiful Scotland Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

for developing. That same year, the cycle path also received an award for ''Scotland's finest Woodland'', presented to them by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change,

Stewart Stevenson James Alexander Stewart Stevenson (''Gaelic: Seamus Alasdair Stiùbhart MacSteafain''; born 15 October 1946) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change from 2007 to 2010 and Minister for En ...

, at the

Royal Highland Show The Royal Highland Show is Scotland's biggest annual Agricultural show. The show is organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Held annually in June at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, the event attracts over ...

External links

Official Website

Greenlink Cycleway First Newsletter

References

{{commons category Bellshill Motherwell Cycleways in Scotland Tourist attractions in North Lanarkshire