Lee Folly

The ruined tower standing on the banks of the Clyde near Lanark is a proper oddity - a folly built in the 1830s by some local landowner with money to burn and apparently nothing better to do. You're looking at what amounts to a romantic gesture in stone, the kind of Victorian whimsy that makes you smile and shake your head in equal measure.

What you get is a brief walk down to the river and a chance to poke around the remains. The tower itself doesn't amount to much these days - it's just a shell, honestly - but the setting is lovely enough, with the Clyde running past and decent views across the valley. It's the sort of place that takes twenty minutes maximum, so don't expect to spend hours here.

Historians and folly enthusiasts will find it worth a detour, though families after a day's entertainment might find it a bit underwhelming on its own. The walk is easy enough and the riverside location means kids won't complain about the journey. The real value is as a stopover whilst exploring the bigger attractions around Lanark itself, or if you're camping at Ecosse Glamping just up the road and fancy stretching your legs.

Timing-wise, any season works fine - though winter might make the ground a bit muddy. There's no obvious visitor facilities, so treat it as exactly what it is: a curious bit of Clyde-side history that rewards curiosity rather than expectation.