The Clyde Timber Ponds

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Unable to resist the lure of this settled weather and the promise of a full moon rising I nipped out late last night and found myself down by the rotting, wooden piles of the old timber ponds on the Clyde. Two tug-boats plied their way upriver towards the city & somewhere behind me a gang of neds laughed round a bonfire & fed it with wood.

                                                                  The timber ponds extend along the estuary mudflats from Kelburn in Port Glasgow to Langbank, a distance of around three miles and are the remains of wooden enclosures or ‘ponds’ erected in the early 18th century to store and season timber imported from Europe and North America for Greenock's Ship building industry. Timber including pitch pine, yellow pine and oak were in great demand by the local shipbuilders in Port Glasgow.

The ponds fell into disuse in the early 19th century. They were a source of income to the local landowners who rented out the shoreline for this purpose.

The wooden poles date from the 18th century when shipbuilding on the Clyde began in earnest in turn triggering a huge demand for timber. The timber was imported from North America in specially designed vessels fitted with bow doors. The imported wood was discharged into the Clyde and stored in the timber ponds until needed for ship construction. The seawater environment both seasoned and preserved the logs. This timber trade declined due to a combination of (a) dredging of the Clyde which provided a deep water access to Glasgow and (b) switch from wooden to iron ship construction. Last wooden ship was built on the Clyde in 1859.

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In Search Of The Perfect Point Of View

Douglas Collinson. Another from Friday night... here Doug surveys the grand scene around him from a perch on a boulder while his camera records another long exposure.
We waded gingerly but still the cold water dribbled over the tops of our boots and soaked our feet.

 

i was up at loch lomond with doug last night. conditions were sublime. the whole experience was like an advert for "visit scotland". we passed a couple of wedding guests sat on a bench in the sunshine drinking in the tranquillity of the scene before them. later, as we waded out into the loch to take photos (with wellies taking in water unpleasantly), we could hear the strains of the the wedding band going through the old stock favourites- doug wondered how long it would be before they did a 'creedence clearwater' number. answer? 3 tracks! bats flitted about our head and the muffled sound of ducks' wing-beats drifted low across the surface of the loch to where we stood. scotland! yer cannae beat it!

The Renfrew Ferry

The Stillness of Evening At The Renfrew Ferry

I headed down to the Renfrew Ferry on Thursday evening to catch the sunset. I love these types of structures. The one shown here is the northern end of the Renfrew Ferry which is a short passenger ferry crossing the River Clyde from Yoker to Renfrew. A ferry has operated in this area since the early 1600s. It remained a chain ferry until the mid1980s & this structure was for supporting the chain mechanism

Like a lot of the Clyde it is well past it's best- those days when this area was a hive of shipbuilding with several ferries like this crossing the Clyde carrying workers to and from the numerous shipyards either side of the river. Still it's a nice, reflective spot to hang out at the end of the day with the small boat's engines breaking the stillness and carrying dad's with wee kids and young couples from one side of the river to the other. While I was there the lovely soft, muffled wing-beat sound of 2 swans in flight heading down the river added to the moment.

Sundown At The Renfrew Ferry

3 portrait picture stitch
each photo 8second exposure, f16, ISO 100,18mm
using polariser, nd12 & nd0.6 soft grad filters 

A ferry service had begun by 1614 although the  first public ferry boat was reported to be in use by 1710  between King's Inch and Blawarthill on the north bank. In 1782 Alexander Speirs, a Glasgow tobacco merchant, built a mansion on the King's Inch. The path to the ferry  now ran through his property. In 1787 the family asked  if the ferry could be moved half a mile west, offering in return to build two quays, a ferry house and a new road, the now known Ferry road. The ferry Inn was opened in 1789 and by 1791 the ferry was operating from its new site.
 The ferries still used ropes or chains fixed on each bank, at first hauled but hand, but from 1868 by steam-power. Larger boats were built in 1897 ad 1912. The ferry was used for mostly workers traveling to the shipyards and factories on both sides of the river. The ferry proved of great use during the war of 1941 to bring fire-engines to Clydebank from Renfrewshire during the bombing.
 By the year 1953 the ferries were not used as much as the shipyards and factories were closing down. By the early 1970's most motorists used the Clyde tunnel and Erskine bridge to cross the Clyde. Thus the decision to end the vehicle Ferry in 1984 and it became a passenger ferry.
 One of the older Ferries is now docked in Glasgow being used as a music venue.
 Renfrew Ferry has run for centuries, transporting passengers across the River Clyde to Yoker. As recently as 1984 a chain operated service was still in use. This service, which began over 200 years prior in 1782, was then replaced by a modern passenger ferry. This is one
 of the few remaining ferry points for passengers wishing to cross the Clyde.