A couple of weeks ago we spent a day in New Lanark, 30 - 40 minutes from Glasgow by car. New Lanark is a World Heritage Site and it is the perfect place to take the kids, go for a walk on the forests or just visit the little town, and this last thing is what we did.
New Lanark used to be a mill village and was established in the 18th century. The history of the place is fascinating, in its origins hundreds of orphans were taken from Glasgow to New Lanark to work in the mill. These kids were as young as 4 years old, and all lived on the top floor of the main building, girls in one room, boys in another.
There was a school for the kids, which doesn´t mean they could choose if there wanted to study or to work, it meant they had to work and after they could study if they felt like it.
When the mill changed hands, the new owner determined that the conditions of living were not the best, so some changes were introduced. Families could have access to an apartment (a tiny one where 5 or 6 people lived all together), but the conditions improved, as cleaning standards were introduced.
Nowadays the mill still works, and the apartments were the families used to lived in tiny rooms are now proper apartments with several rooms for each family. There is also a hotel, a cafe and a museum, where to learn more about the history of this unique place.
There are also tours available, and a very nice guide will explain everything there is to know about New Lanark. One can also visit the old houses, with all their elements still in place, the school and the mill.
Have you visited New Lanark? Do you like historic places? Where do you usually travel during the weekends?
Thank you for reading!
Bee
Lovely photos.
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