Editing River Clyde (section)

== Course ==
[[File:Pendolino crossing the River Clyde at Lamington, 2005.jpg|thumb|A [[Pendolino]] train passing over the Clyde on the [[West Coast Main Line]]]]
[[File:Glasgow Tidal Weir - geograph.org.uk - 761267.jpg|thumb|right|The tidal weir at [[Glasgow Green]], which marks the upper limit of tidal water]]
The Clyde is formed by the confluence of two streams, the [[Daer Water]] (the headwaters of which are dammed to form the [[Daer Reservoir]]) and the Potrail Water. The [[Southern Upland Way]] crosses both streams before they meet at Watermeetings ({{gbmapping|NS953131}}) to form the River Clyde proper. At this point, the Clyde is only {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} from Tweed's Well, the source of the [[River Tweed]], and is about the same distance from [[Annanhead Hill]], the source of the [[River Annan]].<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-tweed-take-a-trip-on-a-river-flowing-with-history-5332911.html The Tweed: Take a trip on a river flowing with history], The Independent, 21 April 2007</ref> From there, it meanders northeastward before turning to the west, where its [[flood plain]] serve as the site of many major roads in the area, then reaches the town of [[Lanark]], where the late 17th- and early 18th-century industrialists [[David Dale]] and [[Robert Owen]] built mills and the model settlement of [[New Lanark]] on the banks of the Clyde. The mills harnessed the power of the [[Falls of Clyde (waterfalls)|Falls of Clyde]], the most spectacular of which is Cora Linn. A [[hydroelectric]] power station still generates 11MW of electricity there today, although the mills have now become a museum and [[World Heritage Site]].

The river then makes its way northwest, past  the towns of [[Wishaw]] to the east of it and [[Larkhall]] to the west of it. The river's surroundings here become increasingly suburban. Between the towns of [[Motherwell]] and [[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire|Hamilton]], the course of the river has been altered to create an artificial loch within [[Strathclyde Park]]. Part of the original course can still be seen: It lies between the island and the eastern shore of the loch. The river then flows through [[Blantyre, South Lanarkshire|Blantyre]] and [[Bothwell]], where the ruined [[Bothwell Castle]] stands on a defensible [[promontory]].

As it flows past [[Uddingston]] and into the southeastern part of Glasgow, the river begins to widen, meandering  through [[Cambuslang]], [[Rutherglen]], and [[Dalmarnock]], and past [[Glasgow Green]]. From the [[Glasgow Green#Tidal Weir|Tidal Weir]] westwards, the river is [[tide|tidal]]: a mix of fresh and salt water.<ref name="Glasgow Tidal Wei">{{cite web | url = https://glasgow.gov.uk/tidalweir | title = Tidal Weir  | date =2017  | publisher = Glasgow City Council  | access-date = 2020-08-09}}</ref>

Over three centuries the river has been engineered and widened where it passes through [[Glasgow]] city centre and onwards towards [[Dumbarton]] and [[Greenock]] and the open sea.  Shipping and shipbuilding grow in Glasgow and its neighbouring industrial burghs of [[Govan]] and [[Partick]]; with the Clyde, including is lower reaches, becoming the centre of world shipbuilding. 

The river then flows west, out of Glasgow, past [[Renfrew]], under the [[Erskine Bridge]], and past [[Dumbarton]] on the northern shore and the sandbank at Ardmore Point between [[Cardross, Argyll|Cardross]] and [[Helensburgh]]. Opposite, on the southern shore, is the last remaining Lower Clyde shipyard, at [[Port Glasgow]]. The river continues on to [[Greenock]], where it reaches the [[Tail of the Bank]] as the river merges into the [[Firth of Clyde]]. Here at the mouth of the Clyde, there is currently a significant ecological problem of oxygen depletion in the water column.<ref>C.Michael Hogan. 2011. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Irish_Sea?topic=49523 ''Irish Sea''. eds. P.Saundry & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC]</ref>