US Sub outbound

As the saying goes, what goes up must come down.

On Thursday a US Nave sub sailed in to Faslane. Today it headed back to sea.

Several of the crew lined up on the fore and aft decks as she was escorted down the Gareloch by tugs and MOD police launches.

Vision of the Seas

An early rise for Vsin of the Seas coming in this morning.

Her scheduled arrival time was 7am, but as is usual, she was early.

She is scheduled to depart at 7 o'clock this evening.

Deep Sea World

It's been a long time since my last visit to Deep Sea World at North Queensferry.

We had a great day out, but the light levels were too low in most of the exhibits for me to get as many pictures as I would have liked.

I found it easier to get useable pictures of the amphibians as they were a lot slower moving than the fish.

By the time it came to editing and uploading my pictures I had forgotten the names for most of the species.

US sub heading for Faslane

One of the US navy's Virginia class subs paid a visit to Faslane naval base today.

She was escorted by a pair of Serco tugs and the MOD police as she came through Rhu narrows this morning.

New Lanark conservation village

New Lanark cotton mills were founded in 1796 near the Falls of Clyde. Water was drawn off from the river to power the spinning machinery.

The mill owner, Robert Owen, provided social and welfare reforms, including the first infant school in Britain.

In 1968 the mills closed down and the village is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

More pictures can be found on my Picasa site

Dundaff Linn on the Falls of Clyde

Water ran along this open channel to power the water wheels

Mill Number One was demolished and rebuilt as New Lanark Mill Hotel

The bell in the bell tower used to summon the workers to the mills

A millworker's house, now a museum

Profits from the village store were fed back into the community

Musicians on the gallery provided music for dance lessons in the classroom

Inverkip Power Station

The scene is a tranquil summer's evening overlooking the Firth of Clyde and the remaining buildings of the little used Inverkip power station.

There was a large gathering of small boats around the bay, all waiting and watching as if something was about to happen.

The chimney had not seen much smoke in its 30 plus years as Scotland's tallest free standing structure.

All was about to change, as at exactly 10pm a series of explosive charges were about to bring the massive tower to the ground.

The deadly charge that was about to ignite the explosives can be seen streaking towards the chimney.

The top section of the chimney starts its downward journey as a second explosion signals the end of the lower section

Clouds of smoke and dust blow up through the flues of the chimney as she continues to the ground

The bottom section falls away to the left as the top section drops vertically

All that can be seen is the bottom section about to crash to the ground

A column of smoke and dust pays homage to the now fallen chimney.

The view over the river is now obscured by a massive dust cloud engulfing the valley.

Azamara Quest

Although we've had a steady flow of cruise ships coming into Greenock this summer, I haven't managed down to see as many as I would have liked.

I did however, see Azamara Quest leaving this evening. She is heading round to the east coast of Scotland where its golfing party are reportedly paying a visit to the open golf tournament at Muirfiled.