Inverkip, Greenock and Gourock.

                                                ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
A dry but very windy day at Inverkip, Greenock and Gourock. This was a walk from spring just passed that I've had on the computer back burner for ages and am finally posting now. Although fairly sunny and bright the wind was roaring with a vengeance although not that cold. The pier here was deserted with frequent waves lashing the ferry walkways and everyone else apart from us huddled inside the terminal buildings, hoping they would not get seasick crossing the water to Dunoon.

Due to the weather the high hills were ruled out as you would have really struggled at height so we picked a sheltered walk from Lunderston Bay along the coast to Inverkip marina instead, returning on a circular route via the slightly inland Ardgowan Estate.We being myself, Alan and his dog. A short walk of only a few miles duration but very scenic and worthwhile especially in spring. Inverkip above.

The sheltered marina.

Comical carving in the boatyard.

A view across the Firth of Clyde to the Argyll hills.

Inland near Inverkip. Although I've passed through this quiet little village many times I've never really explored it properly and was surprised to find it was a hotbed for witches in past times with several executions in the area. I'm very skeptical about the supposed guilt of witches, warlocks etc in times past as most of the accounts I've read its just different personalities entering into a tight knit closed community from outside... or friendless individuals that present an easy target... or folk some in the village didn't get on with or had a long standing grudge against... but more on that later.

Bluebell woods. Ardgowan Estate.

Mature trees and pathways through this lovely estate.

Three lambs.

Estate views.

Large thrush. After our walk here we drove the short distance round to Gourock and explored there.

Downtown Gourock. A popular seaside town still although on this particular Sunday it was deserted with everyone else huddled indoors. Wind still howling around the buildings here but not that cold with a warm jacket on.

Really nice spring display of tulips and cherry trees just managing to withstand the gale.

The local park in Gourock which has a popular children's zoo in one corner. Lost count of the number of these little gems in city and town parks which have been either burnt to the ground or the pet animals inside deliberately targeted and killed. (There is a point to this.)

Nice mix of colours. Same park.

The upper half of the park.

And back to the foreshore again. Good day out and it suited the conditions.
I found myself thinking of the witches killed in Inverkip when I watched a programme a couple of nights ago called 'Murdered for being different.' It was a hard, sad watch but well acted about a young goth couple ambushed in a small town English park about ten years ago which made all the papers at the time. Both college students, they had the usual piercings, dark clothes, hair, and makeup that goths usually wear when they go out and were kicked into comas by a local gang just for being different looking. Maybe they were bored, jealous, or something much deeper in us all but were less able to control it. The girl died of her injuries and the boy just survived after being in hospital at death's door.
Related to the last post where I experimented at 14 with a different look and hairstyle briefly I also found it was not wise to attract too much attention to yourself or stand out in any way as I was beaten up at school a few times for doing just that. It carried on for several months by certain individuals of the kind that always target any perceived weak link and act as an escalating gang together, focused on an attempt to break any individuals spirit, culminating in a broken bottle attack where I was stabbed in the upper thigh.
I then snapped mentally into a  different thought zone as I'd had enough by this time and got them alone outdoors without the comfort of the gang around them where I convinced them individually by my actions I would take any steps necessary to remove them completely if it didn't stop. Luckily, they were the same age and could be intimidated one on one,  and it worked, so they left me alone after that but I did mean it and could have easily ended up spending decades in prison or dead myself if they had carried on. I've not thought about it for years but it came flooding back watching this programme.
Sadly, we do not seem to have moved on any as a society since we burned or drowned witches and most folk will know of feral groups like that who routinely target handicapped people in various neighborhoods; or pick on folk with low IQs unable to defend themselves on the street; or folk alone or reclusive; or just different in some way. It happens in every society worldwide so it must be something deep down inside the human psyche to have the tribal impulse to eradicate anyone or anything that doesn't conform yet we often praise celebrities if they do something different or groundbreaking. Seemingly, according to that programme, the UK recorded it's highest level ever for hate crimes- 70,000 in one year. A civilized society? I think not.
Ironic, when most young people also have an innate desire to stand out from the surrounding herd.

I did learn my lesson after that and kept my head below the parapet for the rest of the time I was in juvenile prison (i.e. school) but with more people than ever going to university, college etc.. where are all these smart folk on the internet where every woman, girl, female etc is routinely labelled a slag, slapper, hoe etc just for posting a perfectly innocuous photograph of themselves fully clothed  and it's accepted as normal behaviour.... and Yahoo News comments, anytime I've dipped into that murky pool, seems to be a steady diet of hatred and fixed extreme views slightly to the right of Jack the Ripper where everyone is an expert on everything. Given that unfiltered platforms like this are fast replacing traditional news outlets how is that moving us forward towards a more tolerant society in any way, shape or form?

On a different note I liked this video as it clearly shows the route up Monte Pelmo. The hardest route I've climbed abroad without a rope as it scrambles up a near vertical cliff then traverses along a narrow ledge system to reach the summit with steep walls in every direction. Luckily the scrambling is easy but the exposure was mind-blowing from the ledges and I don't remember any fixed ropes in place when we did it decades ago. The summit was a surprise as well with loose scree piled high everywhere and a faint path through it. Only a few months out of every year when its free of snow so not that many ascents I'd imagine each summer. A stunning mountain.