ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
What a difference a year can make during a pandemic. For almost a year I've been unable to cycle due to an arm and shoulder injury. (caused by heavy lifting of concrete slabs not a bike crash) I'm aware people do cycle one armed but I thought with covid dominating hospitals I would play it safe and stick to walking until it healed as if I did fall off and instinctively tried to save myself with my arms it would only injure it further, maybe permanently. Anyway, it has healed and I've started going out cycling again in the autumn. Not a long ride but a pleasant one. Cycling through Knightswood Park first, see above and below.....
On a glorious autumnal morning....
Past these tall poplars....
then along the Forth and Clyde Canal....
Bindweed, Always a flower I associate with an end of season warmth passing into colder evenings as Ra's waning power diminishes daily at this time of year in the north. A white herald scattered along the path at intervals, a trumpet shaped sign of cool morning mists and colder days ahead.
Still warm enough at midday though to work up a sweat on the bike.
and still warm enough to attract flies. A green-bottle here. A veggie lover compared to its dead flesh/rotten meat seeking cousin the blue-bottle.
The canal brought me out at the modern Clydebank College. or to give it its proper title...
West College Scotland... which tells you bugger all about where it's located which is why I prefer Clydebank College... and still prefer 'actress' instead of 'actor.' for that same reason. Why make life more complicated than it already is? If you can switch it one way then why not the other? Brad Pitt- Actress. Tom Hanks -Actress. Makes perfect sense to be interchangeable in 2021. Now that's acting! Personally, I prefer not to have a given name at all and wish to be known henceforth as 'Amorphous Blob' for convenience purposes.
The River Clyde at this point is wide and pleasant and 'amorphous blob' drifted out across the water needing neither boat nor kayak to explore the surface. How convenient is that for a human.... I have spotted seals, otters and a porpoise here on other visits.
Meanwhile the real me... not 'He, I, Their, or Them' enjoyed a pleasant surprise or two. On previous visits the waterfront promenade extended a short distance from West College around to the Titan Crane.... where it ended.
One hundred and sixty foot high (49 metres) and capable in its prime of lifting 150 to 200 tons of material into ships it stood surrounded by other lighter cranes as part of John Brown's Shipyard and engineering works. At the time it was built the world's largest cantilever crane as one fifth of the world's ships started life in the River Clyde shipyards back then, the biggest vessels, like the QE2, being launched right here at a wide point on the riverbank.. This substantial land area beyond the crane was normally out of bounds to the general public, surrounded by a high red brick wall enclosing many buildings and a sizable chunk of waterfront property but now it's all open plan and easy to access on foot or bike.
Looking back at West College from the Titan Crane.
A wide promenade now exists here...
and a new green energy heating system...
Along with rows of new housing blocks, still being constructed...
Like these higher apartments. Close up, I was impressed by the complexity of the scaffolding, ladders, planks and stairs surrounding this new build.
Also impressed by the new plant borders. Maybe because it was an autumnal arrangement but it seemed to have a very different colour palette from most borders I've seen with yellow and bright red missing.
The bees loved it anyway, loads of them here... and something I do not remember seeing before. Two bees fighting, locked together in fierce battle.... or mating... couldn't decide which at the time... but I took the opportunity of getting a really close view point. Six inches away from the action.
If a bee was suddenly eight foot tall it would be a formidable adversary. Solidly build wee creature. The Grizzly Bear of the insect world.
Newly built housing with Radnor Park Flats behind.
Looking further down the River Clyde towards the Golden Jubilee Hospital, Research, and Conference Facility. Presumably, at some point, the waterfront promenade might extend down to here, unbroken. Already a new section has been built from the Titan Crane running towards Dalmuir. See above photo for the line of white poles.
So this brand new walkway was a recent addition I couldn't resist following out of curiousity. From the end of this tarmac path you can head inland across flat waste ground to pick up more tarmac in the form of an empty road, making a large rectangular walk across open ground which was out of bounds before.
This is it here. Waste ground is never waste ground in my eyes though. It has many useful purposes, wildlife and wild flower reserve... Local green space for walking and enjoyment...Teenager hangout...
Or just someplace semi wild and free to get away from the crowds within an urban environment yet still discover the wonders of nature from childhood on-wards right on your doorstep.... so I hope they do not build houses on all our precious green spaces and leave some brown urban sites untouched. Like this one.... Unsung yet still extremely valuable, even in this present form.
From the end of the tarmac this narrow path leads along the river downstream and still, after all this time and countless years, I get a kick out of exploring any new patch of land I find. It's a mystery where this goes but as I'd had enough excitement for one day in the saddle I promised myself I would return later.
Looking in the other direction along the path. Terra incognita for me. Some might require an expensive trip to a foreign land to seek out adventure but luckily, these days, with limited expectations and income, I can get that same buzz of excitement in my own back yard. This Dalmuir Serengeti awaits me and invites me in. A happy occurrence indeed.
A link here to what the end product might look like in a few years time and a photo of the shipyard in question with the QE2 being built in the late 1960s.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/ambitious-plans-develop-old-john-7649485
Titan Crane info. Panoramic views from the top when it's open.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Clydebank
7 comments:
I always worry on a bike that scratty little paths may well lead to a puncture!
Hope neither of those bees killed the other!
As to the convulvus (bindweed), ours has been going all summer long so I don't see it as an end of season weed. The ones up our lane are pink with white veins - hadn't seen those for years till I came up here. My uncle used to have them on his smallholding on the South Yorks/Lincs/Northants border but I haven't seen them anywhere else. I ought to get a photo of our pink ones now they're so rare...
Hi Carol,
I would walk that section to avoid a puncture.
After a decent interval and no sign of a winner I separated the bees and they flew away unharmed in different directions.
Many years ago I had a job in the city centre of Glasgow which meant a daily train commute. Although occasional bindweed flowers appeared in other months the main splurge of white flowers always occurred at this time of year as both railway line embankments were heavily overgrown with brambles and other thick vegetation so it took until September for the bindweed to twist around that dense tangle and force it's flowers above the rest. This always occurred at the end of summer towards autumn time with darker nights and cooling temperatures... which is why I said it of course.
Well, Dalmuir is certainly cheaper than the Serengeti!
Hi Anabel,
Yep, did not cost me a penny except some leg power and sweat as I cycled back yesterday to fill in that missing link section. Walked the bike over that grassy trail in last photo on blog and found a gap in wire fence at the far end of it then lifted it over a concrete wall and pushed it through that gap in mesh fence to reach the industrial estate and Jubilee Hospital, returning along the F and C canal. Can also do it an easier way on tarmac by cycling along that minor road mentioned in blog through J.B. industrial estate but it's all about the thrill of going off the beaten track for a while into a new area. Also got some useful info about the Nato War Games going on in the River and Firth of Clyde at the moment from a fellow cyclist so another good day out.
Ah - I see - so you were thinking they were mating after all and you wanted them to finish before you separated them?! ;-)
After looking online for images/clips of bumble bees fighting and mating I'm now convinced it was fighting which some do for the right to mate to prove who is strongest. As this can result in death and go on for hours maybe just as well I separated them to live to fight another day.
Now you've told me that, I'll be watching out for, and separating, any bumble bees who I think are too close together!
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