Around the Clyde: Ardentinny

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ardentinny

Not far from Strone (see my last blog) on the banks of Loch Long, 14 miles from Dunoon. A little further from the Firth of Clyde but is part of the general area and group of places I've written about here recently. What a nice day we had for this drive from Dunoon, around the lovely Holy Loch, to Kilmun, Strone, Ardentinny - and then through the impressive Glen Finart to Loch Eck!

The shoreline at Ardentinny, very picturesque and tranquil

Below, looking across the waters of the loch to Coulport and, since the 1960s, the Royal Naval Armaments Depot, part of HMNB Clyde.

Below, the road to the Ardentinny Outdoor Education Centre

I'm running out of my own photos to use for this blog but hopefully it won't be long until I'm back to take lots more! In the meantime I'll be uploading some old postcards of the area fairly soon.

SONG OF THE CLYDE

"I sing of a river I'm happy beside
The song that I sing is a song of the Clyde
Of all Scottish rivers it’s dearest to me
It flows from Leadhills all the way to the sea
It borders the orchards of Lanark so fair
Meanders through meadows with sheep grazing there
But from Glasgow to Greenock, in towns on each side
The hammers’ ding-dong is the song of the Clyde

(Chorus)
Oh the river Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I'm satisfied whate'er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde

Imagine we’ve left Craigendoran behind
And wind-happy yachts by Kilcreggan we find
At Kirn and Dunoon and Innellan we stay
Then Scotland’s Madeira that’s Rothesay, they say
Or maybe by Fairlie and Largs we will go
Or over to Millport that thrills people so
Maybe journey to Arran it can't be denied
Those scenes all belong to the song of the Clyde

When sun sets on dockland, there’s beauty to see
The cry of a seabird is music to me
The blast of a horn loudly echoes, and then
A stillness descends on the water again
'Tis here that the sea-going liners are born
But unlike the salmon, they seldom return
Can you wonder the Scots o’er the ocean so wide
Should constantly long for the song of the Clyde?"

The first song I learnt to sing from memory! I don't know who wrote it though I've heard it sung by many well known singers. Here is a link to it sung by Kenneth McKellar (over a great video)!