by Florence Boyle

For most of my life I’ve lived no more than a few minutes’ walk from the Clyde and within touching distance of a large bridge which crosses it: a motorway in the sky, walkable, with great views but designed to connect two motorways, not for recreational walking.

Before the bridge there was a ferry and in the rose-coloured memory of my childhood it represented a day out; the palaver of getting organised, the trip on the ferry and then most of the day spent on a narrow sandy stretch named ‘the beach’.

It is rare to see Clydesiders interact with the river in a recreational way. Think of waterways you have visited abroad with kayakers, paddle boarders, people fishing from a quay, coffee stops along a river. Excepting yachting off Gourock and Helensburgh, the Clyde’s uses are predominantly utilitarian: commerce, industry and a waterway for warships. It was only when the shipyard was demolished in Clydebank that locals realised just how close the south bank of the river was and those who knew something of the history better understood how, in ancient times, the Paisley monks moved across their territory.

On 7th September a new bridge opened linking Govan to the north bank of the Clyde at the Transport Museum. Another bridge at Yoker is planned to open shortly. These bridges are built for pedestrians, meaning no vehicles, and it makes a huge difference. For lots of my fellow amblers crossing the new bridge the instinct was to pause and peer over the edge, looking up and down the river at all the nooks and crannies of the riverside that can only be seen from above: the power boats moored near the Transport Museum, what looked like a group of houseboats near the same place, the travellers’ site tucked behind anonymous fencing on the south bank.

Florence Boyle is treasurer of Open House.

Photo by Florence Boyle