The
Royal Marine Hotel Dunoon - site of the first telegraph office in Scotland and where my cousins Chris and Kirsty had their wedding reception (I made the wedding but not the ceilidh after - feeling ill - but retrospectively probably social anxiety - I am over that (mostly) now). Also the location for Kirsty's parents courtship - when it was the yacht club headquarters.
The hotel is Victorian with later modifications and is right opposite the ferry terminal from Glasgow - it was built to impress (more of which later) and it certainly does. Thankfully there has has not been any "changing-rooms" style makeover - its still pretty much original - the HUGE bathrooms, the stained glass, the trophy cabinets and Scottish-Baronial trimmings. I spent an hour getting a grand tour from the owner/manageress and ALL the history.
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| Map of Clyde Steam Ferry Routes - its original! |
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| I am at HUNTERS QUAY and I am going to take the COLINTRAIVE ferry to Isle of Bute |
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| And then a short drive to Rothesay |
Rothesay is special to me as I lived in Rothesay Avenue whilst at Nottingham University - no
11 I think. I have checked it out in Street View and its still there.
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| Colintravie Ticket Office |
The highland ferry ticket offices seem to be staffed by cheery grandmothers, straight out of
Dr Finlay's Casebook - always up for a natter while you are waiting for the
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| (Colintraive) Ferry |
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| In case you forget where you are... |
Of course the other reason for visiting Rothesay is the gentlemens convenience... famous the world over, a national monument built to REALLY IMPRESS visitors just off the ferry from Glasgow. I am told that ferry captains used to race - each company claiming to have the fastest service to the islands - got a bit serious and there were "incidents"
Anyway -
the loo - its number 4 in the world
top ten urinals
British hydraulic engineering at its best!
On a nice summer day Rothesay must be busy - but not on April 1
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| War Memorial, Rothesay - so many didn't come back |
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| The impressive bauhaus-inspired pavilion of 1938 - history explained to me by the nice lady with the umbrella - is used for dances now |
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| There is a poignant bronze of little Lena in the visitor centre - very sad |
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| No one on the promenade |
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| And absolutely no one on the promenade deck |
I took the ferry to Wemyss Bay - very nice and friendly staff - and finally I got to eat the masterpiece that is the...
I'm now running out of time (and possibly daylight) as I rush down the cost to visit N055W005 - only visited twice - the second visitor writes
"This one is not for the faint-hearted and I can see now why no-one has visited it since Gordon's initial visit - I almost gave up on several occasions."
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| Its a very deserted spot! |
The day before I had taken a picture of the route on "www.streetmap.co.uk" - if my camera battery ran out (as it has started to do - randomly) - I would be stuck!
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| very very deserted |
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| Its in there somewhere |
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| Success! |
The visit is here:
N55W005 and it was now getting rather...
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| Dark |
A cold and blowy jog through the gloom - I have to be with my cousins in Carlisle by 19:30 - we are eating out with the practice staff. The A75 was a nightmare - so much traffic but my Sat-Nav took me off onto the A712 - zero traffic and right through Galloway Forest Park - OK driving my Volvo tank is NOT quite the same as my SAAB 93 Aero but it still can get a shift on - lovely. I arrived with 10 minutes to spare, had a bit of a sponge down in the car, got changed and made the event just-in-time.
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