The first half of August was dominated by two family events, one happy, one sad. We had an unscheduled trip up to Inverness for my Aunt Liz’s funeral – the baby in the photograph above, the last survivor of my father and his three younger sisters. My earliest memory of my aunt is when she married Uncle Rob – I’d have been two and a half years old. She picked me up and I remember disliking the prickly feeling of her dress against my bare legs. Years later she confirmed that, given the nature of the fabric, this is likely to have been a true memory. Strange the things that leave an impression. I also remember the newly-weds’ first dance and for years was convinced that dancing was how you got married. I presume I had been to the ceremony, but as the daughter of a minister (who allegedly shouted Daddy! for the first time as he entered the pulpit) this probably seemed an unremarkable event.

We stayed two nights so had time to walk around Inverness, which is an attractive city. Our hotel was on the banks of the River Ness and had its own distillery and brewery – we enjoyed sampling the beer.

Glen Mhor Hotel and Waterside Restaurant

Distillery at Glen Mhor Hotel

The church where the funeral took place was very close, and had an interesting grouping of statues – Faith, Hope and Charity – nearby.

Ness Bank Church

Faith, Hope and Charity

We wandered the banks of the River Ness.

River Ness

River Ness

River Ness

River Ness

In town, we found wolves by the Town House, a unicorn on the Mercat Cross, and a heilan’ coo in the market arcade.

Inverness Town House

Inverness Town House – one of two wolves at the door

Inverness Mercat Cross

Inverness Markets coo

Inverness Markets coo

The Victorian Market itself was something to behold, and had an interesting bench outside it dedicated to Billy Morrison, presumably a well-loved guitar player.

Inverness Markets

Arcade

Victorian Market

Inverness Markets clock

Market Inn bench

Dedication

Finally, at the War Memorial we found Cavell Gardens, named for the heroic First World War nurse. My women’s history antennae were working!

Inverness War Memorial

Cavell Gardens

Cavell Gardens

Cavell Gardens

Cavell Gardens

The following weekend was much more cheerful. My aunt on the other side of the family, Mum’s younger sister Annabel, celebrated her 90th birthday. Family and friends came from far and wide for an afternoon tea party on the Saturday and a trip “doon the watter” on the Waverley on the Sunday. As in Inverness, we had some time to wander. Here is Ardgowan Methodist Church (now defunct) where my parents met and to which I therefore owe my existence, the first flashing buoy installed in 1880, and some interesting yarn bombing by the river.

Greenock Methodist Church

First flashing buoy 1880

First flashing buoy 1880

First flashing buoy 1880

Yarn bombing on Greenock Esplanade

And here are the two An(n)abels at the party. I think you’ll agree that neither of us looks 90.

Annabel at 90

Anabel and Aunt Annabel

The following day, 20 of us took a short cruise on the Clyde. We boarded the Waverley, the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer, at Greenock and disembarked at Largs.

Waverley approaching Greenock

Cloch Lighthouse

Rothesay

Yacht at Rothesay

CalMac ferry (Argyle) leaving Rothesay

CalMac ferry (Loch Shira) leaving Largs

Waverley leaving Largs

Our party in Largs (photo Emma Rice)

Below is a short (11 second) video of the engines, which I find mesmerising – you can see the movement of the paddles through the porthole opposite:

We (John, myself, my sister and her husband) then got the train back to Glasgow while everyone else returned to Greenock. I was impressed with the small community garden next to Largs Station.

Largs Community Garden

Largs Community Garden

This was a fabulous weekend, and although the previous weekend had been for a sad event it too had its high points, not least that within ten days I saw almost all my closest living relatives. I can’t remember the last time that would have happened over such a short time period. Many, many years ago.

My other major jaunt was a day-trip to Fife with my friend Anna. We went to the Pittenweem Arts Festival. We saw a lot of art (mostly outwith our price range – I bought no more than a calendar) but also enjoyed seeing spaces not always open to the public. The Church of Scotland had beautiful stained glass windows (by William Wilson, 1905-1972) and a choir singing in the afternoon.

Pulpit and window by William Wilson

Pulpit and window by William Wilson

Window by William Wilson

Window by William Wilson

Gallery

Window by William Wilson

View from gallery

View from gallery

Male Voice Choir

The Episcopal Church also had lovely windows and an exhibition of paintings.

Exterior

Interior with paintings

In the Town Hall was an exhibition from the Wemyss School of Needlework, founded in 1877 by Dora Wemyss to teach local girls a skill from which to earn their living.

Pattern board

Pattern board

We saw a tiny window, a big witch, and the inside of St Fillan’s Cave.

Pittenweem window

Pittenweem street art

St Fillan’s Cave

We were able to walk through buildings to gardens, some of which were normally private.

Pittenweem garden

Pittenweem garden

Pittenweem garden

We fell in love with Craig Mitchell’s sculptures, even though at £2500 a pop they were never going to grace our homes.

Vases

The Reluctant Gardener

Munro Debacle

Thoroughly Modern Mother

And of course, we sat on a bench by the sea, drank coffee, and put the world to rights. What a grand day out!

Closer to home, Glasgow has been sharing its beauty with the world lately. The Cycling World Championships took place here and, although we missed a lot of it by being away, we watched some of the Mens’ Elite Road Race which passed through our area. There were three of us and we all took lots of pictures, but none of us managed to capture the eventual winner, Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands. Included below are some examples of cycling murals around the city (not all of them new).

UCI logo

Mens’ Elite Road Race

Mens’ Elite Road Race

Cycling frieze, Gallowgate

Stairwell, Evans Cycles, Glasgow

Stairwell, Evans Cycles, Glasgow

Cycling mural, Strathclyde University

Just after that we had the World Pipe Band Championships, with several bands using ground near us to practice. I don’t know which band this is but they entertained us in the Botanic Gardens. A band from Scotland won this year – not a given, since the Scottish diaspora means there are pipe bands in many parts of the globe.

Pipe band practising in the Botanics

Pipe band practising in the Botanics

I seem not to have visited the penguins at all this month, which is very remiss of me. However, in other bird life – this pair of swans has done very well to maintain a family of six cygnets almost to adulthood. And we got all our ducks in a row …

Firhill swans

Claypits ducks

I’m finishing the month with a cold, which is not enjoyable. However, I hope it will not curtail September’s adventures too much. See you next month!