Doon To Dunoon

Ardgartan Article Dateline Tuesday 18th

The easy way to get from Glasgow to Dunoon would be to take a train to Gourock then catch a ferry. But the fbbs were well north of Glasgow at Ardgartan. So the coach tour way was to follow the A83 over the "Rest and be Thankful" pass then take the A815 ...

... slowly southbound. And there is Dunoon ...

... near the mouth on the relatively small Holy Loch.

Which takes us to 1961. Dwight D Eisenhower (Ike) and Harold Macmillan (SuperMac) had done a deal which would bring nuclear submarines to a maintenance and loading base in the Holy Loch.

It was to be at Sandbank, just north of Dunoon where now sits the Holy Loch Marina ...

... a much more amiable place than a base for Polaris missiles. In fact, outwardly, the setup was quite small, consisting of a support ship and a dry dock.

The road behind the vessels is the A815. 

Here submarines were mended in the dry dock ...

... and, of course, loaded with their weapons.

No, that is not a Polaris Missile; if it was the submarine would have a very tall body! No, it is a tube down which the "device" was lowered, presumably on safety grounds. You really don't want to bash or drop a nuclear bomb, do you?

Of course the locals were far from happy. 

It was the cold war and the idea of becoming a viable target for the Russkies did not sit well with the populace. What did sit well was the spending power of up to 3000 US staff at peak. 

There were protests ...

... which continued well on into the mid 1980s.

The site was closed in 1992 because the Russian "empire" had collapsed and technology meant that submarines and their missiles could go further without a distant base.

But the loss of loadsa dollars has led to a significant decline in the town of Dunoon. It used to be a favourite "sail" from central Glasgow (doon the watter) ...

... but now the main street looks tired and in terminal decline.

The fbbs were getting quite weary now (holidays are hard work) and, rather than trudge mournfully up and down the main drag, ensconced themselves near where the coach parked.

They sat outside the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a community building which includes a gym (one of fbb's favourite places), the town's library and FREE toilets. You can see why the fbbs sat there enjoying the sun! Snacks were ferried from Morrisons just along the way.

The ferry pier is pretty much deserted these days.

Note the locked and barred ramp that used to be the way in and out of the car ferry from Gourock.

But that runs no more. It was seen off by independent competition from Western Ferries ...

... which carries cars, lorries and coaches from McInroys point on the Gourock side to Hunters Quay just north of Dunoon itself. Here is the map as a reminder.

After the demise of the Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) car ferry, a replacement passenger route was put out to tender as required by Scottish law. The tender was won by a new startup company called Argyll Ferries.

Many thought this was a positive bonus of the new tendering system. BUT, Argyll Ferries was owned by CalMac.

As fbb was basking in the sunshine at Dunoon, he watched the passenger ferry arrive and dock at the pier. It was not the Argyll Flyer as illustrated above. He could not see the vessel's name but its shape looked familiar.

Ali Cat was literally built by its owner, the late Mark Rayment of Solent and Wight Line Cruises to operate in the Solent area where she often helped out Wightlink when their Portsmouth to Ryde vessels were busted.

She is named after Mark's daughter Alison, as her Catamaran!

Later the boat was chartered to Blue Funnel, an associated company operating tours of Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton docks

Note the cosmetic blue funnels!

Next the boat appeared as the "spare" for, guess who, Argyll Ferries, operating between Gourock and Dunoon. She soon acquired Argyll colours ...

But, as she was spotted by fbb, she was no longer painted in the Argyll blue.

So what has happened to Argyll Ferries?

From January 2019 the Scottish Government (which owns Calmac and so had awarded the tender to Argyll Ferries which it also owned!) announced that Argyll Ferries would be disbanded and the service would join Calmac!

So Argyll Flyer now proudly (?) wears Calmac livery ...

... as does Mark Rayment's Ali Cat!

fbb does wonder how Alison feels now that "her" boat plys the waters of the Clyde Estuary. BUT ...

... the Scottish Government OR Calmac OR wee Hamish MacSporran who drives the boats - who knows?) want to cut out some journeys to save money.

The locals are not at all pleased.

Now where have we seen him, before?

So far this blog has barely touched on the day out from Ardgartan Hotel. That is because its was (a) a more gentle day with heaps and heaps of glorious sunshine and scenery ...

... and (b) the visit was to Benmore botanical gardens just north of Dunoon.

The gardens are an offshoot of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and cover a vast area, less than ideal for creaky weary octogenarian.

fbb stayed in the caff, actually outside the caff in glorious sunshine, while Mrs fbb toddled a short distance to observe. Much of the gardens were closed after disastrous gales back in January, but she was able to observe the famous avenue of Giant Redwoods.

Apparently, the bark on these wonderful trees is spongy, not hard or firm as you might expect. As so often it does, God's creation delights and even mystifies. The refurbished giant Victorian Fernery would have been a spectacular part of the visit had it been open.

Note the diminutive comparative size of the people peering through the plants; lower right.

fbb does like quirky nonsense and he was intrigued by a couple of "warning triangles" on the brochure.

You will never guess what these little yellow icons meant.

What a surprise to be told that the "Pond" and the "Stream" contained open water. 

What a shock! Maybe the health and safety loonies should have also told us that the Botanical Gardens contained "Plants" and even, with a higher danger factor, "Trees". And in the car park there might even be "Moving Vehicles" - and what about the coffee and tea in the caff, they might even contain "Hot Drinks".

The mind boggles yet again!

But, despite the multitude of life threatening dangers at Benmore Gardens, the fbbs had a great day. 

Praise God for the magnificence of his creation - even if he also created evolution to help it all along.

Puffin P.S.

The kiddies at Dunoon Grammar School won a competition to paint a rock on the shores of Loch Long. They painted it as a Puffin, seen above with a Western Ferries vessel puffin by. O.K. fbb knows they don't "puff" but he can never resist a bit of silliness!

Puzzle Picture Postponed.

Answer will be given in  Friday's  blog where it fits better.

 Next Rotherhithe mini blog : Tues 25 Mar