River Clyde this week

It's been a while since I've been down the harbour but I've been twice this week. We've had a few visitors making a welcome appearance.

Tug 'Keverne' had come up to Govan with empty barge 'Woolston', presumably to take some aircraft carrier parts to Rosyth. Here she is coming back down river unladen.

'Northern River' is a SERCO support vessel. She is a relatively recent arrival to the Clyde having entered service last summer. This my first time seeing her up close. 

The Finnish ferry 'Finnarrow' damaged herself while berthing and has been brought to Greenock for repair. She is due to go into drydock next week.

She was towed to the Clyde by tug 'Hellas' before local tugs 'Anglegarth' and 'Svitzer Milford' took over to bring her into the Great Harbour.

Inverclyde

A rare afternoon of sunshine, especially in February, isn't a regular occurence here.

Making the most of it, I decided to stop off at a few locations after watching the demolition at Inverkip power station.

Kip village with the Argyllshire hills in the background

Girl with a suitcase, statue at Gourock pierhead

Old Greenock Academy building, now the set for TV series Waterloo Road

Inverkip Power Station - boilerhouse demolition

Another section of the power station was demolished this afternoon.

At 3pm the siren alerted everyone to the explosion which was about to bring the 57 metere high steel structure to the ground in a matter of seconds.

All that remains of the power station are the control room and the chimney which are due to be demolished shortly.

A last look at the boilerhouse standing upright

The explosions kick up dust around the uprights of the boilerhouse

Going...

...going...

...gone - in a massive cloud of dust

All that remains is a massive pile of twisted metal

Wemyss Bay sunset

Great to have a nice dry day. I decided to go down to Wemyss Bay to catch the sun setting over Arran and Bute.