Nethan Gorge is a natural
gorge
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
carved by the
River Nethan
The River Nethan is a river which flows between Glenbuck in East Ayrshire and Crossford, South Lanarkshire where it feeds into the River Clyde, with the town of Lesmahagow and surrounding villages sitting on the river course. The area of woodla ...
, in
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Geography
Nethan Gorge is split into two officially designated and actively protected
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
, Lower Nethan Gorge and Upper Nethan Gorge.
Both sites are referred to as
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
s by the owner, the
Scottish Wildlife Trust
The Scottish Wildlife Trust () is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland.
Description
The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 46,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its fi ...
. They are also both contributing reserves to the
Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve.
Lower Nethan Gorge
The Lower Nethan Gorge reserve, near
Lanark
Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...
, is one of the best examples of semi-natural
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), 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 sunli ...
still surviving in the Clyde Valley.
and
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
woodlands grow on its steep slopes.
[
The gorge is home to many species of flora and fauna, including green ]woodpecker
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...
s, otter
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...
s, and badger
Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...
s.[
Lower Nethan Gorge was declared a part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve in 2007.]
Upper Nethan Gorge
The Upper Nethan Gorge reserve, near Blackwood and Lesmahagow
Lesmahagow ( ; or ''Lesmahagae'', ) is a small town in the historic county of Lanarkshire on the edge of moorland, near Lanark in the central belt of Scotland. Lesmahagow was also a civil parish. It lies west of the M74 motorway, M74, and sout ...
, is part of the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership and the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve.[
]Great spotted woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...
s and buzzards can also be seen.
[
]
See also
*
*
References
External links
Scottish Wildlife Trust: official Lower Nethan Gorge websiteScottish Wildlife Trust: official Upper Nethan Gorge website
Canyons and gorges of Scotland
Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Scotland
{{Scotland-SSSI-stub