Doon the watter
For generations, families packed their bags for Glasgow Fair, the fortnight in July when all the factories closed, and took a boat doon the watter to one of the Clyde resorts for their holidays. The Waverley is a relic of those days – the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world. I hadn’t travelled on her since my childhood until John and I took a day trip down the Firth of Clyde one Sunday this month. As we set off, we left behind the view you see above: all of these Glasgow icons have appeared in the blog at one time or another.
The cruise, to start with, was a mixture of heritage and industry – sometimes both together, as below where the 15th century Newark Castle is almost dwarfed by Ferguson’s Shipyard at Port Glasgow.
We shared the river with other vessels – here a Clyde ferry is waiting at Wemyss (pronounced Weems) Bay.
And when we got into more open water, the view was dominated by the distinctive “sleeping giant” form of Arran.
The skies were quite grey, as you can see, and it was windy and cold on deck. However, fleeces and cagoules dealt with the temperature and we stayed in the open most of the day, only disappearing downstairs for a beer towards the end. That, and a delicious Thai curry on the way home, rounded off a great day out.
From the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth
We enjoyed that trip so much that the following Sunday we headed to the other side of the country to take a trip on the Firth of Forth. The pier at South Queensferry lies just underneath the Forth Bridge from where we waited for our boat, Maid of the Forth, to come in.
We sailed under the bridge towards Inchcolm Island, passing several rocky outcrops populated by cormorants (which are doing really well this year, after some lean times).
We had 90 minutes ashore to explore the island and its abbey, the earliest parts of which are 12th century. We had booked a tour and our guide, David, was excellent.
After David left us, we climbed the bell tower (the narrowest spiral staircase I’ve ever been up, followed by a steep ladder) from where we could view the rest of the island, including some Second World War defences. Then we still had time for a quick walk where we saw lots more seabirds.
As the boat left, we passed “Inch Gnome” and some very relaxed seals before sailing under all three bridges – 19th century Forth Bridge (rail), 20th century Forth Road Bridge and 21st century Queensferry Crossing.
On top of the Forth Bridge, we could see the viewing platform we visited last year. It was raining slightly by this time, and most people stayed below (wimps!) leaving me space to get a selfie at the back of the boat
Finally, we returned to South Queensferry. Just opposite where we had parked the car was this lovely Nessie made by local schoolchildren.
Another fabulous day out! If you’d like to do either of these trips, check the links below for timetables and tickets. Even if you’re not in Scotland you could catch PS Waverley, as she also visits the Bristol Channel, the South Coast, the Thames and the Irish Coast later in the year.
I’m sure in any game of word association, the first thing to spring to mind for Amsterdam would be “canals”. Here are a few of my favourite canal scenes, offered without commentary, from our most recent visit in May.
This was our eighth stay in the city, but it was different from the others in two ways. One, we had never been at this time of year so hadn’t experienced Amsterdam in warm sunshine before, and two, we weren’t alone – we were accompanied by our friends Valerie and Kenn. They had only made one half-day visit to Amsterdam many years ago, so naturally we were pleased it was looking its best for them.
I thought I had broken my jinx on walks – last year, I seemed to get soaked every time I acted as a tour guide. This year, I’ve done two walks for the Women’s Library, both in bright sunshine, and Processions was also a lovely day. My luck ran out the following weekend when my Maryhill Women’s History walk attracted the rain back. Despite that, all 15 participants turned up and stayed to the end. Jessie features in it too – here, I’m passing her picture around. (Though since I drafted this, I’ve done another Women’s Library Walk – yesterday, 1st July, which was scorching.)
It’s been a sad month for Charles Rennie Mackintosh fans, so here’s some more cheerful stuff. During the recent West End Festival, the Mackintosh Church at Queen’s Cross (the only one he designed which was actually built, and now home of the 
Reluctant to end my gallivanting just yet, I hopped on the Subway to Govan because I still hadn’t viewed the Mary Barbour statue without the hundreds of people surrounding it at its opening (as described in 
For my last selection of roofs for 
Another imposing building is the neo-Gothic University of Glasgow, but I’ve not chosen an external view this time. Above are the Cloisters, also known as the Undercroft. It’s graduation season at the moment and they are a-flutter with colourful gowns, but this shot was taken around Christmas.
Just look at the carvings beneath the roof of this building at 1 La Belle Place, Kelvingrove! Currently a Hindu Mandir, it was built as the Queen’s Rooms in the 1850s to be used to celebrate the arts and sciences. Of particular interest to me: it was the location of a Suffrage Celebration meeting (tickets sixpence) on Saturday 20th April 1918 after the planting of the Suffrage Oak on nearby Kelvin Way. I only learned this recently and it has made me look at the building with new affection.
The houses at each end of this terrace on Kirklee Road have a splendid round turret. The one shown, until recent years, was supported by concrete buttresses which made it very ugly, but it has now been strengthened and restored. I can imagine sitting in that bay window with a good book and a glass of red – though I’d love that even more in this next one.
This is Kensington Tower (1858). Wow, just wow! I would love to have that tower room.
If you think the roofline of Lancaster Crescent looks like a terrace has been bolted on to a standalone villa, you are correct. Redlands House was built in 1870-71 and originally stood in grounds of 24 acres. For much of the 20th century it was a women’s hospital before being converted back into residential accommodation. The terrace was added in stages between 1898 and 1907, which you can probably tell by the different windows at roof level.
Ayton House (c. 1859) was badly damaged in the Blitz in 1941, and by the 1980s was threatened with demolition. However, it was rescued by a developer who added a modernist penthouse flat. What do you think? It certainly divides opinion locally – but it’s another place I could imagine myself sitting, glass in hand, at sunset.
It’s an extension bearing the unmistakable hallmarks of Charles Rennie Mackintosh who designed it. Which brings me back to the sad subject of the Art School – the 
Many thanks to Becky for running such a great challenge. I’ve enjoyed participating.
Welcome to my next batch of 
Another day, our walk took us to three different viewpoints over Windermere. This is the lowest and offers a good roofscape of Bowness-on-Windermere.
During the walk, we passed this cottage – Old Droomer. I loved the mossy porch roof over the red door, all surrounded by a wonderful flower display.
This dinky Clock Tower has a castellated roof complete with weathervane. It marks the boundary between the towns of Bowness-on-Windermere and Windermere. I got confused by these names when travelling with my sister and my oldest friend in our early twenties. I assumed the town of Windermere would be right next to the lake and booked accommodation accordingly, not knowing that Bowness was in between. It was a mile uphill from the lake back to our B&B! (By the way, never refer to Lake Windermere – it’s a tautology. Mere means lake.)
Finally, I give you the gloriously neo-Gothic Wray Castle which I’ve written about before and no doubt will again!
My last batch of roofs next Friday will be closer to home, and a non-roof account of our Lakes trip will follow in due course.
We spent last week in the Lake District and it proved fertile ground for attractive roofs. We rented a cottage in Ambleside which was up 30+ steps from the street: a long way to climb with your luggage or after a hard day’s walking! From our patio we looked out almost at roof level to the Churchill Inn across the road. The picture above was taken the afternoon we arrived – but don’t worry about the grey skies. By the next morning, they had disappeared and we had glorious weather for the entire week.
The view above was taken from one of the cottage’s skylights, so that’s our roof and chimney in the foreground. To the right is the Churchill Inn again, and the whole scene is backed by Black Fell. I can’t get enough of these grey slate roofs! One more view from this perspective:
This time, we were across the road in a top floor café. The spire is St Mary’s Parish Church and it’s unusual amongst the grey slate roofs – it’s sandstone. Not sure I approve!
The old Market Hall has a distinctive pointy roof and is now a popular Thai restaurant (very good, we tried it).
Coming back down into Ambleside one afternoon, I couldn’t work out what the round structure below us was, then as we got nearer I realised it was the roof of the local garden centre.
Finally, walking out of Ambleside on the other side of town you come to Rydal Park and Rydal Hall. I like this shot of the Hall’s roof peeking out behind the garden wall (which has another little roof on the summer-house built into the staircase).
I’ll have more lovely Cumbrian roofs for you next week. In the meantime, pop over to Becky’s 
Yes, we’ve been to Amsterdam again! I wrote extensively about the city after we were there in November, so when I get round to posting about this visit I’ll try to be briefer. It’s the first time we’ve been in warm sunshine and, wow, it looks good that way!
Just because I liked them – two windows with a similar theme: the one on the left spotted in Southampton, and the one on the right in Amsterdam.