New Lanark
Industrial Revolution cotton mill & utopian settlement
New Lanark presents a snapshot of Britain's industrial revolution in the form of a preserved and sizeable cotton mill.
But the village around the mill is every bit as interesting for its utopian treatment of its 2,500 population. Most had been hauled here from Glasgow's poor houses and their new life became a real departure from the usual exploitative nature of these village-factories around Britain.
This was mostly down to the involvement of Robert Owen in the early-18th-century. He improved conditions where he could, and in so doing became a pioneer of social reform and urban planning.
Today, shops, cafes and restaurants and even a hotel and youth hostel are here to tempt visitors.
A hiking path explores the pretty wooded valley that surrounds.