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.

Glasgow Waterfront

With a few hours to kill in Glasgow, I managed to avoid the rain and snow that were affecting the rest of the country.

It was a cloudy but pleasant evening to walk along the waterfront from Pacific Quay to the city centre.

Clyde Auditorium, aka The Armadillo.

The squigly bridge, a recent pedestrian footpath across the river

Glasgow Bridge, at the bottom of Jamaica street, is a listed building

The stonework on South Portland Street Suspension Bridge dates from 1853, and is the oldest remaining Clyde bridge in Glasgow

Night time pictures

Following on the night theme from my last post, I've added a couple of pictures I took this evening in Greenock and Port Glasgow.

I've been promising myself that I would photograph Port Glasgow's Endeavour statue situated at the Fore Street entrance to Port Glasgow. Here is my first picture, taken in the gaps between cars coming in and out of the town.

At the junction of West Blackhall Street and Grey Place in Greenock, a wood elf stands welcoming cruise ship passengers into the town. Once inside the Oak Mall, she now stands on a plinth for all to see approaching the town centre from the west.

Beacon Arts Centre

Greenock Arts Guild's new home is finally completed and opens it's doors for the public to see inside tomorrow.

It's good to see the Customhouse Quay with construction finished and I have to admit that the front of the building looks far superior to the rear, which is the view that is presented to passers-by on the main road.