Vikingar!

The rainy weather returned today so it was just a quick wander down into town this morning.

I've previously blipped the connection between Largs and the Vikings with a description of the 1263 Battle of Largs.

The Vikingar Centre is a leisure centre situated on the front. Containing a swimming pool, fitness studio, cafe/bar, conference centre and 470 seat cinema, it's pretty much the centre of (non-alcoholic) entertainment in the town. The centre also contains the Viking Experience, a 500 year journey through a guide to Viking history.

The front of the centre is the site of a replica Viking faering, a small single masted, four oared vessel used for fishing or coastal trade. The hull is clinker-built, with planks overlapped and riveted together and the single mast would have carried a small square sail. Rather than the full hull, a shot I actually took last week before the bad weather closed in, today I decided to go with a detail of the ship's prow. While not as decorative or elaborate as the dragon heads of the larger longboats, you can still clearly see the origins of the dragonship in its design.