Greenock

Today I'd earmarked for going up Dumgoyne (the funny shaped hill at the northern end of the Campsies) however the weather turned out to not really be a hill climbing day and the autumn mist and rain had definitley set it.  So it was a change of plans and we headed out for a wee explore of Greenock. 

First stop was the Greenock cut, which was the home of some rather impressive industrial water courses which were previosuly used to supply water to the town.  It was a bit blustery for a proper walk so we had a sneaky walk around the closed nature trail (slightly dodgy bit where the boardwalk was falling away, but perfectly navigable with caution) and then headed back to the car.  There's  a full 11 miles route around the cut that looks like it will have amazing views on a clear day, but alas, all that was spotted today was the mist. 

We headed into town for a rather good lunch at the Beacons art centre, recommend by P's friend O who sold it as 'if a big boat comes past then it'll be within 100 meters of your pannini', we saw a medium sized boat go past and neither of us had a pannini but it was still pretty good.  P's Scottish Nachos made from tattie scones and haggis managed to leep him going for most of the day.

After a wander along the seafront, enjoying the views of the misty Arrochar alps in the distance we set off home and I had to stop at Port Glasgow on the way to check out the Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow scuplture.  It really is pretty impressive, not quite the Kelpies, but perhaps more impactful because of what it respresents.  I quite like the seagulls that were hanging out on both the hammers.

Next to the sculpture of Glasgow's shipbuilding glory days is a reminder of Glasgow's shipbuilding despressing present, with the hugely delayed and overbudget Glen Rosa ferry sitting next door in the shipyard.  It didn't look shiny and new and there was obviously lots still to do on it - finners corssed it actually comes into service in Spring as planned.  I found the Ferry Fiasco wikipedia page quite an interesting read. Must be a difficult call for the government, on one hand isolated communities crying out for their essential transport links, on the other a contractor who doesn't seem to have the expertise to deliver the good and then on the other other hand, the fact that said contractor employs a huge number of people in an industry that was once central to the city and won't survive without government contracts...I wouldn't want to be the one calling the shots on that one.