River Clyde Photography: SFPA NORNA

Thursday 23 October 2008

SFPA NORNA

Norna passing the Gantocks.
The Gantocks is a small cluster of rocks which lies at the mouth of West Bay, south of Dunoon in the Firth of Clyde, and is marked by an illuminated beacon which was built c. 1886. The beacon is partnered by the Cloch Lighthouse located on Cloch Point to the east, and the two were deliberately designed to have significantly different characters to avoid confusion. The character of a lighthouse or beacon describes the colour of the light, and the timing of its light and dark periods.

The Gantocks beacon tower has a height of 44 feet, with the focal plane of the light at 39 feet. The light is red, and flashes once every 6 seconds, with a range 6 nautical miles.

Courtesey of secretscotland.org.uk

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River Clyde Photography

Over half of Scotland’s population lives within a short distance of the River Clyde, from its humble beginnings in South Lanarkshire where it is created by two streams the Patrail Water and the Daer Water, the two streams meet at Watermeetings where the River Clyde starts.

It’s not long before it reaches picturesque Lanark and its famous waterfalls. It eventually finds its way to Glasgow who’s citizens in the 18^th century narrowed and deepened and ultimately industrialised the river making it one of the most famous shipbuilding rivers in the world, Glasgow did indeed make the Clyde and of course the Clyde made Glasgow, at its peak the Clyde shipyards built a fifth of the worlds ships.

During the 2^nd world war Winston Churchill said that “Liverpool and Glasgow were the lungs in which the country breathed through”. Ship building along with heavy industry is all but dead on the Clyde, the majority of our industrial heritage was swept away in the 70s and 80s leaving few traces of the rivers famous past.

Leaving Glasgow, the Clyde broadens as you pass the towns of Dumbarton, Port Glasgow and Greenock, who all played a part in making the Clyde famous through shipbuilding.

At the Tail of the Bank the river broadens once more and becomes the firth with its many sea lochs coastal towns and villages.

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