HMS Bulwark

Having set my alarm for 5am, I headed up to Renfrew on the rumour of "something exciting" heading for Glasgow in the early hours.

Looking at MarineTraffic before I left the house, I saw that HMS Bulwark was the surprise visitor. That made the trip more than worthwhile. I had read that she spent her 11th birthday in Scottish waters a few days earlier, so I knew that she was in the vicinity.

She came up the river assisted by all three local Svitzer tugs.

Bulwark is expected to leave Glasgow on Monday morning.

Glasgow at Night

Once in a while I take a trip to the big city to see the bright lights.

Last week we went up hoping to see some of the Christmas lights around George Square before they came down.

We stopped around the Squinty Bridge and took some pictures of the bridges in that part of the city and of the  buildings alongside.

We then went to George Square but were disappointed that the attractions were away and high fences put up around the square. I did however get some pictures which I will add on a separate blog.

We then moved down to the Gallery of Modern Art which always looks good at night, helped by the ground being damp from the light showers causing added reflections.

Glasgow's Squinty Bridge

Bells Bridge leading to the Armadillo and Hydro

BBC television studio with Bells Bridge in front

The view up-river from Bells Bridge

Duke of Wellington protecting the GOMA

Gallery of Modern Art

Gallery of Modern Art

Key Scottish dates

Under a canopy of lights

Coca Cola truck comes to Silverburn

Glasgow once again had a visit from the big red Coca Cola truck.

Unlike last year's visit to the city centre, this year it came to the Silverburn Shopping Centre.

People crowded round it and queued up to have their pictures taken.

Eventually the time came for the truck to leave, on its way to another busy location for hundreds more avid fans to get up close to it..

Late Night Photographs

As a mark of respect for the victims of the attacks in Paris, buildings throughout Britain have been lit up in the colours of the French national flag.

Unsure of how long this would last, we took a near midnight trip, firstly to Clydebank and then to Glasgow.

The rain tried its hardest to spoil our photographs but our spirits were not dampened by the weather.

Clydebank's titan crane

SSE Hydro

After returning to Greenock we waited at the waterfront for the demolition of Hawick Court, the last of seven high flats in Greenock.

This was expected to take place around 2am, however we spent a further 2 hours eagerly waiting the warning siren to tell us that the blowdown was imminent.

All this time mother nature continued to pour down on us making our wait a rather unpleasant affair.

To avoid getting the camera gear soaked we sat in the car and shot hand held, resting the camera on the open window of the car.

Glasgow Airport

Plane spotting on a dull rainy day isn't always fun.

However a report that two RAF Typhoon jets were parked overnight and due to fly out again in the morning brought me up to Glasgow Airport for their departure.

After they left I went to the end of Runway 23 to watch some commercials arriving.

Coca Cola truck

Coca-Cola's famous red truck has been seen on television since 1996.

It is currently on a 45 stop tour of Britain, for people around the country to queue up to have their photograph taken beside it.

A visit to Glasgow let me get up close to the truck when it stopped at St Enoch's Square.

Commonwealth Games Road Races

Glasgow came out on the last day of a fabulous 2014 Commonwealth Games to spur on the ladies and men taking part in the cycling road races.

The race started and finished at Glasgow Green, crossing through the city centre and out towards Byers Road.

The ladies' race came first with the cyclists covering seven laps of the course. The weather held out for the ladies, but by the start of the men's race the showers of rain were becoming heavier and more prolonged.

Half way through the race Glasgow showed the competitors what a shower of rain really is, and by the end of the twelve laps only a dozen of the riders were still racing. By this time my camera had been put away and I saw the winner crossing the line from the dryness of my own home.