Loch Thom

The largest of a beautiful group of reservoirs in Inverclyde, now forming part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, and named after the civil engineer Robert Thom (1774 - 1847). He designed the scheme which created the reservoir and has provided Greenock with water from 1827 to the present day! On a personal level, this whole area fills me with memories as I used to come up here from Greenock many a time in my teenage years - I learnt to drive on the country roads around Loch Thom too.

An old map showing the position of the reservoirs. Of course, for years there has been a network of minor roads around the banks.

Below: some of my photos from October 2008, taken from the most southerly point of Loch Thom, looking north:

Geoffrey soaking up the atmosphere
(we were soaked by heavy rain a little earlier - the weather was very changeable)

The road and bridge over the southern tip of Loch Thom

(I shall include a short video showing the north end in my next blog!)

Evening drawing on and the light beginning to go

An interesting (Wikipedia) page about Loch Thom is found here

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"Just for the sake of recovering
I walked back from forty-six
Quick years of age wanting to see,
And managed not to trip or stumble
To find Loch Thom and turned round
To see the stretch of my childhood
Before me. Here is the loch. The same
Long-beaked cry curls across
The heather-edges of the water held
Between the hills a boyhood's walk
Up from Greenock. It is the morning.

And I am here with my mammy's
Bramble jam scones in my pocket.
The Firth is miles and I have come
Back to find Loch Thom maybe
In this light does not recognize me.

This is a lonely freshwater loch.
No farms on the edge. Only
Heather grouse-moor stretching
Down to Greenock
Or stretching away across
Into the blue moors of Ayrshire."

Part of the poem, "Loch Thom" by W. S. Graham
(More about him here)

Largs Pier

Some photos, from October 2008, of the pier in Largs - which I shall never see again! This is because it is being replaced with a brand new one over the next few months...

For more information, see here

Update (December 2008) :

Unexploded Bomb found under Pier!

(Thanks to Gerry for alerting me to this article)

Largs: Pencil Walk

One of our favourite walks is from the centre of Largs to the Pencil Monument and Marina and back. This tall tower was built in 1912 to commemorate the Battle of Largs in 1263. As it looks like a pencil from a distance the name has stuck! It's a mystery to me that I don't remember it from frequent visits to Largs as a child. It was either because we just used to go to the beach on the other side of Largs or to Nardini's for ice cream, or because it wasn't so accessible or seen from the southern road (though this is unlikely, given the height of it!) Here are some of my photos taken one afternoon this October (apart from the first one which is from a different visit to Largs). The light was beginning to fail so some of the later ones are a bit dark:

Below: the Glasgow train going past some of the expensive new houses overlooking the monument!

It's essential to have coffee and cakes before the walk back to Largs!

The cafe at the Marina is quite good...

...some shots taken on the way back:

Below: the Coalpit Burn which runs down from the Haylie Reservoir, flowing into the Clyde.

Below: the path leading back to the town

There are some superb aerial views of the monument here and Wikipedia goes into detail about the Battle of Largs here

Largs: Apartment 24

Where we stayed in October, at Underbank, just outside Largs on the Greenock road. What a lovely flat it is with a balcony and great views across the Clyde! It was so warm and comfortable too (just what you need when it's blowing a gale outside!) with so much attention to detail and lots of extras. Definitely somewhere to recommend to anyone wondering where to stay in Largs - just click here for the website for full infomation and lots of photos. (In actual fact it was also cheaper than our previous caravan holiday in Gourock, yet 100% better!)

Above: the entrance to Underbank

The view from the kitchen window

The living room

Looking out through the balcony off the living room

View from the bedroom of the lawns and carpark

Below, more photos through the living room's patio doors, including some early evening shots. You can see the raindrops on the glass! (Click on photos to enlarge)

I could have looked out at the view all day! There are always interesting boats and ships out on the Clyde and you can see Cumbrae, Bute and the peaks of Arran too.

Below: golden rays over the hills of Argyll, close to sun set.

Here's a video I made from across the road, which shows Apartment 24 at the start. There was a strong wind (which you will hear!) so it was impossible to keep the camera steady.

Bridge of Weir

Another place I visited for the first time in many years was Bridge of Weir - not far from Kilmacolm (see last post). Sadly it was raining - at times heavily - so I took scarcely any photos and we didn't wander far from the car or cafe! Here are just a few random ones:

Below: where we had coffee...

...not to mention Geoffrey's apple cinnamon doughnut

The River Gryffe, also seen as a short video below:

I couldn't manage anything else before the heavens opened. However, the Wikipedia page is quite informative - see it here