Firth of Clyde

Monday, 10 December 2012

Kilcreggan Pier Firth of Clyde Scotland Nikon D90

The Holy Loch and Firth of Clyde Feb 2010.wmv

Paddle Steamer Caledonia at Largs on the Firth of Clyde in the 1960s

Paddle Steamer Waverley & Duchess of Hamilton on the Firth of Clyde 1963

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Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig (Scottish Gaelic: Creag Ealasaid) is an island of 219.69 acres in the outer Firth of Clyde, Scotland where blue hone granite was quarried to make curling stones. "Ailsa" is pronounced "ale-sa", with the first syllable stressed. The now uninhabited island is formed from the volcanic plug of an extinct volcano.
The island was a haven for Catholics during the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, but is today a bird sanctuary, providing a home for huge numbers of gannets and an increasing number of puffins.
The island is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Girvan. Two miles (3 km) in circumference and rising to 1,110 feet (340 m), the island consists entirely of the volcanic plug of an extinct volcano that might have been active about 500 million years ago.
It is part of the administrative district of South Ayrshire, in the ancient parish of Dailly.
The lighthouse on its east coast faces the Scottish mainland, and a ruined keep of uncertain origins is perched on the hillside above.

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Ardrossan
Coordinates: 55°38′36″N 4°48′35″W / 55.6432°N 4.8097°W / 55.6432; -04.8097
Ardrossan (Gaelic: Àird Rosain) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in south-western Scotland. The name "Ardrossan" describes its physical position — 'ard' from the Gaelic àird meaning headland, 'ros' a promontory and the diminutive suffix '-an' - headland of the little promontory. Ardrossan is becoming an affluent commuter town with a population of roughly 11,000 and is in a three-towns corroboration act with the nearby towns of Saltcoats and Stevenston.
Ardrossan's roots can be traced back to the construction of its castle 'Cannon Hill', thought to be in around 1140, by Simon de Morville. The castle and estate passed onto the Barclay family (also known as Craig) and it passed through successive heirs until the 14th century. Then it passed onto the Eglinton family on the death of Godfrey Barclay de Ardrossan, who died without leaving an heir. Sir Fergus Barclay, Baron of Ardrossan was said to be in league with the Devil and in one of his dealings he set the task of the Devil to make ropes from sand; upon failing to do Satan kicked the castle with his hoof in frustration and left a petrosomatoglyph hoofprint.

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Argyll
Argyll (English pronunciation: /ɑrˈɡaɪl/), archaically Argyle (Earra-Ghàidheal in modern Gaelic pronounced [ˈaːr̴əɣɛː.əɫ̪]), is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath. Argyll was also a medieval Bishopric with its cathedral at Lismore, as well as an early modern Earldom and Duchy, the Duchy of Argyll.
The name derives from Old Gaelic airer Goídel (border region of the Gaels). The early thirteenth century author of De Situ Albanie explains that "the name Arregathel means margin (ie, border region) of the Scots or Irish, because all Scots and Irish are generally called Gattheli (i.e. Gaels), from their ancient warleader known as Gaithelglas."
However, the word airer naturally carries the meaning of the word 'coast' when applied to maritime regions, so the placename can also be translated as "Coast of [the] Gaels". Woolf has suggested that the name Airer Goídel replaced the name Dál Riata when the 9th century Norse conquest split Irish Dál Riata and the islands of Alban Dál Riata off from mainland Alban Dál Riata; the mainland area, renamed Airer Goídel, would have contrasted with the offshore islands of Innse Gall, literally "islands of the foreigners", so-called because during the 9th to 12th centuries they were ruled by Norse-speaking Gall-Gaels.

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Avon Water
Avon Water, also known locally as the River Avon, is a 24-mile-long river in Scotland, and a tributary of the River Clyde.
The Avon Water rises in the hills on the boundary between East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire, close to the head of the Irvine Water. The river flows in a north easterly direction, following the A71 road past Drumclog, and running to the south of Strathaven, where the river enters a more pronounced valley. The Avon flows between the village of Glassford, and Stonehouse to the south, before merging with the smaller Cander Water just south of Larkhall. The river then skirts the west side of Larkhall in a deepening gorge, crossed by the disused Larkhall railway viaduct.
Beyond this the gorge is part of Chatelherault Country Park, to the south of Hamilton. There are several public footpaths along this section of the gorge, although the area was once the preserve of the Duke of Hamilton, forming the hunting and pleasure grounds of the Dukes' former home, Hamilton Palace. Many features of this period remain in the park, including the Duke's Bridge which crosses the gorge. Older structures along the gorge include the ruins of Cadzow Castle, started in the 13th century, and the Cadzow Oaks, a group of Oak trees, some of which are over 600 years old.

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Ayrshire
Ayrshire (Scots: Coontie o Ayrshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, pronounced [ʃirˠəxk iɲiˈɾʲaːɾʲ]) is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the last seven years^[when?] and eight times in total. Approximately 200,000 visitors came to Troon during the 2004 Open.^{[citation needed]} It was the members of Prestwick Golf Club who first created the British Open Championship in 1860 with the club hosting the event twenty-four times up until 1925.
Ayrshire, under the name the County of Ayr, is a registration county. The electoral and valuation area named Ayrshire covers the three council areas of South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire, therefore including the Isle of Arran, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae. The three islands were part of the County of Bute until 1975 and are not always included when the term Ayrshire is applied to the region. The same area is known as Ayrshire and Arran in other contexts.

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Bearsden
Coordinates: 55°55′10″N 4°20′01″W / 55.9195°N 4.3337°W / 55.9195; -4.3337
Bearsden (pronounced /ˌbɛərzˈdɛn/ ( listen); BARES-den)) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from the City Centre, and is effectively a suburb, with housing development coinciding with the introduction of a railway line in 1863, and from where the town gets its name (Bearsden station was named after a nearby cottage).
Bearsden was ranked the 7th-wealthiest area in Britain in a 2005 survey, and has less social housing than any town in Scotland.
The Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town and the remains of a military Bath House can be seen near the town centre. In 1649, the first New Kilpatrick parish church was built, and became the centre of administration for the area. The town's official Gaelic name Cille Phàdraig Ùr reflects the name of the parish. By the early 20th century, a town had grown up with large town houses, primarily occupied by wealthy businessmen.

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Bell's Bridge
Bell's Bridge is a footbridge spanning the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Constructed in 1988 to coincide with the Glasgow Garden Festival, it allowed pedestrians to cross from the main exhibition site to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre on the other side of the river.
The northern stub of the bridge is supported only by the quay, whereas the majority of the bridge consists of a cable-stayed span which can rotate through 90 degrees, providing two lanes of passage for river traffic either side. It is named for the Bell's & Sons whisky company, who sponsored its construction.

Coordinates: 55°51′31.4″N 4°17′21.1″W / 55.858722°N 4.289194°W / 55.858722; -4.289194

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Bothwell
Coordinates: 55°48′08″N 4°03′58″W / 55.802329°N 4.066217°W / 55.802329; -4.066217
Bothwell is a small town in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, nine miles east-south-east of Glasgow city centre.
Bothwell is an affluent commuter town that has attracted a number of local celebrities including a number of Old Firm footballers. Thanks to a steady rise in property prices, Bothwell has earned its reputation as one of Glasgow's most prosperous satellites. A recent survey published in The Scotsman revealed that Bothwell's Imperial Way, site of the former home of ex-Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, is the fifth most expensive street in Scotland.
The parish church (which was restored at the end of the 19th century) contains the choir of the old Gothic church of 1398. A memorial honours the poet Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) who was born in the manse.
The picturesque ruin of Bothwell Castle occupies a position on a bluff above a bend in the River Clyde on the edge of Bothwell, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as the Bothwell bank. This fortress belonged to Sir Andrew de Moray, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. It passed by marriage to the House of Douglas. The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st Earl of Bothwell. When he resigned in 1491 the title passed to "Bell-the-Cat", Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. The title ultimately passed to the Earls of Home. The castle is a fine example of Gothic architecture. It consists of a great quadrangle with circular towers on the south. At the east end stand the remains of the chapel. An unpretentious mansion was built nearby by Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of Forfar (1653–1712), and was known as New Bothwell Castle, but suffered mining subsidence and was demolished in 1926.

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Brodick
Coordinates: 55°34′32″N 5°09′02″W / 55.5756°N 5.1505°W / 55.5756; -5.1505
Brodick (Scottish Gaelic: Breadhaig or Tràigh a' Chaisteil ("Castle Beach")) is the main settlement on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It is halfway along the east coast of the island, in Brodick Bay below Goat Fell, the tallest mountain on Arran. The name is derived from Norse roots meaning "Broad Bay".
The harbour receives the main ferry between Arran and the mainland via Ardrossan. Brodick Castle is a former residence of the Dukes of Hamilton.
Brodick has the island's main ferry terminus (a second, smaller ferry sails from Lochranza) which connects Brodick to Ardrossan and thence the national rail network. The ferries are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. The MV Caledonian Isles plies this route. The journey generally takes less than 1 hour. The route is one of the busiest crossings on the CalMac network, and dolphins and basking sharks can often be spotted en route.
Brodick is a popular holiday destination and a base for hill-walking. Tourism provides much of the village's economic base. There are many family-owned and independent businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, shops, bed and breakfast establishments, guest houses and outdoor activities. There are a brewery, a sports and leisure complex and an 18 hole golf course.

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Campbeltown
Coordinates: 55°25′23″N 5°36′29″W / 55.423°N 5.608°W / 55.423; -5.608
Campbeltown (ⁱ/ˈkæmbəltən/; Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or Ceann Locha) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran (an anglicization of the Gaelic, which means "head of the loch by the kirk of Ciarán"), it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell (Earl of Argyle) was granted the site in 1667. Campbeltown became an important centre for shipbuilding and Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.
Campbeltown is one of the handful of areas in Scotland categorised as a distinct whisky producing region, and is home to the Campbeltown Single Malts. At one point it had 34 distilleries and proclaimed itself "the whisky capital of the world". However, a focus on quantity rather than quality, and the combination of prohibition and the Great Depression in the United States, led to most distilleries going out of business. Today only three active distilleries remain in Campbeltown: Glen Scotia, Glengyle, and Springbank.

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Campbeltown Loch
Campbeltown Loch (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Chille Chiarain) is a small sea loch near the south of the Kintyre Peninsula facing eastwards towards the Firth of Clyde. The town of Campbeltown, from which it takes its name, is located at its head. The island of Davaar is located in the loch, and can be reach by foot along a natural shingle causeway at low tide. Oddly, while in English the Loch takes its name from Campbeltown, in Gaelic, Campbeltown takes its name from the loch - "Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain".
The loch is immortalised in the folk song of the same name, repopularized by Andy Stewart in the 1960s. In the song (see below) the writer Alan Cameron expresses his desire that the loch be full of whisky. The basis of that ballad is that Campbeltown was originally a centre of whisky distilling but that the price of whisky in Campbeltown itself was too high.
Campbeltown Loch is sung to a march written for the bagpipes, The Glendaruel Highlanders.
Coordinates: 55°25′N 5°33′W / 55.417°N 5.55°W / 55.417; -5.55

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Carradale
Carradale (Scottish Gaelic: Càrradal, pronounced [kʰaːrˠət̪əlˠ̪]) is a picturesque village on the east side of Kintyre, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the west coast of the Isle of Arran, approximately 14 miles from Campbeltown. To the north of Carradale is the coastal peak known as Torr Mor; nearby are the hamlet of Dippen and Dippen Bay.
In the 17th and 18th centuries there were small communities of crofters and fishermen working in and around Carradale. The introduction of steam ships transformed Kintyre and from the 1830s until the Second World War daily steamers went from Campbeltown to Glasgow, calling at Carradale.
With the herring industry thriving, Carradale's first pier was built in 1858, developing and encouraging the holiday trade. This situation persisted until the Second World War, with hotels developing and a tradition of families returning year after year. Now this situation is reversing again. Carradale still has a fishing fleet, - largely dealing in shellfish. Since the 1950s, forestry has also played an important part in the village with large scale afforestation taking place.

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Cloch
Cloch or Cloch Point (Scottish Gaelic: stone) is a point on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. There has been a lighthouse since 1797 to warn ships off The Gantocks.
Cloch Point lies on the A770, north of Inverkip, three miles south west of Gourock, on the east shore of the Firth of Clyde, directly opposite Dunoon.
The Cloch Lighthouse was designed by Thomas Smith and his son-in-law Robert Stevenson, to warn boats away from The Gantocks, a dangerous reef of drying rocks or skerry directly west of the point. Building was completed in 1797. There appear to be two generations of keepers' houses, the older now used as stores and the more recent having crow-stepped gables. The short circular-section tower has corbelled walkway and triangular windows. The foghorns were added between 1895 and 1897.
The light was built by John Clarkson (engineer); Kermack and Gall built the tower, while Smith and Stevenson installed the oil lantern which was first lit on 11 August 1797. The light was replaced in 1829 with an argand lamp and silvered reflector. About 1900, it was lit with acetylene. A radio beacon was installed about 1931.

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Clydebank
Coordinates: 55°53′59″N 4°24′02″W / 55.8997°N 4.4006°W / 55.8997; -4.4006
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton to the west, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and Drumchapel districts of the adjacent City of Glasgow. Clydebank is part of the registration County of Dumbarton, the Dunbartonshire Crown Lieutenancy area, and the wider urban area of Greater Glasgow. Clydebank was founded as a police burgh on 18 November 1886.
Clydebank is located within the historical boundaries of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, the Mormaerdom of Lennox, and the parish of Old Kilpatrick (12th century), on the north bank of the River Clyde. A long-standing local legend is that the village of Old Kilpatrick derived its name from being the birthplace of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. There do not appear to be any historical sources which support this, however.
The town encompasses part of the Antonine Wall, including, at Hardgate/Duntocher, the site of one of the forts built at regular intervals along the wall. In 2008, the Antonine Wall was designated as a World Heritage Site, as part of a multinational Heritage Site encompassing the borders of the Roman Empire.

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Cowal
Cowal (Scottish Gaelic: Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands.
The northern part of Cowal is mostly the mountainous Argyll Forest Park. Cowal is separated from the Kintyre peninsula to the west by Loch Fyne, and from Inverclyde and North Ayrshire to the east by the Firth of Clyde. The sea lochs Loch Long and Loch Goil lie to the northeast, and the south of the peninsula is split into three forks by two further sea lochs, Loch Striven and to its west Loch Riddon. The Isle of Bute lies to the south of Cowal, separated from the peninsula by the narrow Kyles of Bute which connect the Clyde to Loch Riddon.
Much of Cowal was once held by the Lamont Clan; encroachments by the neighbouring Campbells and other powerful families reduced the Lamont holdings in the Covenanting Wars of the seventeenth century.
Cowal's only burgh is Dunoon in the south east, from which ferries sail to Gourock in Inverclyde. Other ferries run from Portavadie in the west to Tarbert in Kintyre, and from Colintraive in the south to Rhubodach on the Isle of Bute.

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Dumbarton
Coordinates: 55°57′00″N 4°34′00″W / 55.95°N 4.566667°W / 55.95; -4.566667
Dumbarton (from Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Breatainn meaning "fort of the Britons",pronounced [t̪umˈpɾʲɛʰt̪ɪɲ]) is a town and burgh which is the administrative centre of the council area of West Dunbartonshire, and formerly of the historic county of Dunbartonshire, in the West-Central Lowlands of Scotland. The town lies on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. As of 2006, the town had an estimated population of 19,990 and forms a conurbation with Alexandria, Bonhill and Renton with a combined estimated population of 44,690.
Dumbarton functioned as the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, and later as the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire.Dumbarton Castle, sitting on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a Royal burgh between 1222 and 1975.
Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However these industries have since declined, or demised altogether, and Dumbarton today increasingly functions as a commuter town for the major City of Glasgow which is 13 miles (21 km) east-southeast. Dumbarton F.C. is the burgh's local association football club.

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Dunoon
Coordinates: 55°56′48″N 4°55′23″W / 55.946730°N 4.923000°W / 55.946730; -4.923000
Dunoon (Dùn Obhainn in Gaelic) is a resort town situated on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll, Scotland. It sits on the Firth of Clyde to the south of Holy Loch and to the west of Gourock.
Dunoon Pier originated in 1835 however, the current structure was built in 1895 Prior to the late 1960s fleets of paddle steamers brought holidaymakers doon the watter from Glasgow to it and numerous other piers on the Clyde. Until June 2011, the pier was used daily by Caledonian MacBrayne who ran a regular car-ferry service to Gourock and by the PS Waverley, the last surviving sea-going paddle steamer .
Overlooking the pier is a large statue to Robert Burns' love Highland Mary, also known as Bonny Mary O' Argyll, which is located on Castle Hill, just below the remains of the 12th century Dunoon Castle. Very little remains of the castle, which would originally have belonged to the Lamont family but became a royal castle with the Earls of Argyll (Campbells) as hereditary keepers, paying a nominal rent of a single red rose to the sovereign, presently Queen Elizabeth. In earlier times, Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at the castle circa 1563 and granted several charters during her visit. The castle was destroyed during the rebellion in 1685.

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Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.
At its entrance the firth is some 26 miles (42 km) wide. Its upper reaches include an area where it is joined by Loch Long and the Gare Loch. This includes the large anchorage off Greenock known as the Tail of the Bank in reference to the sandbar which separates the firth from the estuary of the River Clyde. The Clyde is still almost 2 miles (3 km) wide at the sandbar, and its upper tidal limit is at the tidal Weir adjacent to Glasgow Green.
The cultural and geographical distinction between the firth and the River Clyde is vague, and people will sometimes refer to Dumbarton as being on the Firth of Clyde, while the population of Port Glasgow and Greenock frequently refer to the firth to their north as "the river". In Scottish Gaelic the landward end is called Linne Chluaidh (pronounced [ʎiɲəˈxlˠ̪uəj]) (meaning the same as the English), while the area around the south of Arran, Kintyre and Ayrshire/Galloway is An Linne Ghlas [ə ʎiɲə ɣlˠ̪as̪].

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Galloway
Galloway (Scottish Gaelic: Gall-Ghaidhealaibh, pronounced [əŋ ɡaulˠ̪ɣəlˠ̪əv] or Gallobha, Lowland Scots Gallowa, meaning "Land of the Foreign Gaels") is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire (or historically West Galloway) and Kirkcudbrightshire (or historically East Galloway). It is part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland.
Galloway is contained by sea to the west and south, the Galloway Hills to the north, and the River Nith to the east; the border between Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire is marked by the River Cree.
The definition has, however, fluctuated greatly in size over history. The name is also given to a hardy breed of black, hornless beef cattle native to the region (and also to the more distinctive 'Belted Galloway' or 'Beltie'). Galloway has always been slightly isolated due to having 150 miles (240 km) of rugged coastline and a vast range of largely uninhabited hills to the north.
Galloway comprises that part of Scotland southwards from the Southern Upland watershed and westward from the River Nith. Traditionally it has been described as stretching from "the braes of Glenapp to the Nith". The valleys of three rivers, the Urr Water, the Water of Ken and River Dee, and the Cree, all running north-south, provide much of the good arable land, although there is also some arable land on the coast. Generally however the landscape is rugged and much of the soil is shallow. The generally south slope and southern coast make for mild and wet climate, and there is a great deal of good pasture.

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Garrion Bridge
Coordinates: 55°44′15″N 3°55′22″W / 55.737402°N 3.922871°W / 55.737402; -3.922871
Garrion Bridge is a small hamlet in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the banks of the Clyde Valley, 18 miles (29 km) south-east of Glasgow. The hamlet is most commonly associated with the nearby town of Wishaw, with which it shares a councillor.
The hamlet has grown around a main river crossing of the River Clyde in Lanarkshire. The area spans both sides of the river, with some of the houses actually located in South Lanarkshire. There are more than a dozen houses located around the bridge. There is an independent garden and antique centre, operating in the premises of the recently closed Banana ripery operated by Fyffes.
The area is still dominated by the river crossing, which remains the most important bridge over the Clyde for several miles in either direction. The original bridge, constructed in 1817 and still in use, was supplemented in 2002 by a new bridge slightly upstream, creating for the first time a bi-directional flow of traffic over the river in the form of a roundabout. Prior to this, Garrion Bridge was a notorious traffic bottleneck, with an acute crossroads formed by the junctions of the A71 and A72. As the original (1817) bridge was single lane, the traffic was signal-controlled with only one direction able to cross the bridge at any one time. This led to huge delays, also in part due to the meeting of the A71 from the west and the A72 from the north having a very acute angle with no turning restrictions, which often led to large vehicles becoming stuck. This was rectified by moving the intersection of the northern A72 and western A71 almost 0.5 miles (0.80 km) up the valley side to a new roundabout, and removing the original alignment of the A72. This work was carried out at the same time of the construction of the new bridge in 2001.

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Girvan
Coordinates: 55°14′18″N 4°51′22″W / 55.23822°N 4.85614°W / 55.23822; -4.85614
Girvan (Scottish Gaelic:Inbhir Gharbhain) is a burgh in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of about 8000 people. Originally a fishing port, it is now also a seaside resort with beaches and cliffs. Girvan dates back to 1668 when is became a municipal burgh incorporated by charter. It lies 20 miles south of Ayr, and 30 miles north of Stranraer, one of the principal ferry ports from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Culzean Castle is a few miles north of the town, and the volcanic island of Ailsa Craig is visible about 10 miles (16 km) offshore. Turnberry golf course and hotel is located 5 miles north of Girvan. The coastline south of Girvan is famous for its geology, and also for Sawney Bean's Cave, where the legendary murderer and cannibal Sawney Bean supposedly lived until his arrest and execution in Edinburgh.
Girvan has two Church of Scotland congregations - Girvan North Parish Church in Montgomerie Street (with a spire over 100 feet tall) and Girvan South Parish Church.

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Glasgow
Coordinates: 55°51′29″N 4°15′32″W / 55.858°N 4.259°W / 55.858; -4.259
Glasgow (ⁱ/ˈɡlɑːzɡəʊ/, locally /ˈɡlazɡo/, GLAZ-goh; Scots: Glesga listen (help·info); Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu ([ˈkɫ̪as̪əxu] listen (help·info))) is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands.
Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become one of the largest seaports in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with British North America and the British West Indies. With the Industrial Revolution, the city and surrounding region shifted to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of heavy engineering, most notably in shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was known as the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period. Today it is one of Europe's top ten financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses. Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world.

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Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park situated in the east end of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde. It is the oldest park in the city dating back to the 15th century.
In 1450, King James II granted the land to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow. The Green was quite different from what it is today, being an uneven swampy area composed of a number of "greens" (divided by the Camlachie Burn and Molendinar Burn), including the High and Low Greens, the Calton Green and the Gallowgate Green. The park served a number of purposes in its first few centuries; as a grazing area, an area to wash and bleach linen, an area to dry fishing nets and for activities like swimming. The city's first steamie, called The Washhouse, opened on the banks of the Camlachie Burn in 1732.
An area of land, known as Fleshers' Haugh was purchased in 1792 by the city from Patrick Bell of Cowcaddens, extending the park to the east.
In 1817 and 1826, efforts were made to improve the layout of the park. Culverts were built over the Calmachie and Molendinar Burns and the park was levelled out and drained.

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Gourock
Coordinates: 55°57′N 4°49′W / 55.95°N 4.82°W / 55.95; -4.82
Gourock (Scottish Gaelic: Guireag, pimple-shaped or rounded, pronounced [kuɾʲak]; GOOR-uck) is a town falling within the Inverclyde council area and formerly forming a burgh of the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It has in the past functioned as a seaside resort on the Firth of Clyde. Its principal function today, however, is as a popular residential area, extending contiguously from Greenock, with a railway terminus and ferry services across the Clyde.
As far back as 1494 it is recorded that James IV sailed from the shore at Gourock to quell the rebellious Highland clans. Two hundred years later William and Mary granted a Charter in favour of Stewart of Castlemilk which raised Gourock to a Burgh of Barony. In 1784 the lands of Gourock were purchased by Duncan Darroch, a former merchant in Jamaica. He built Gourock House near the site of the castle in what the family eventually gifted to the town as Darroch Park, later renamed by the council as Gourock Park.

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Great Cumbrae
Great Cumbrae (Scottish Gaelic, Cumaradh Mòr; also known as Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland. Home to the National Watersports Centre, the Cathedral of the Isles and the University Marine Biological Station, Millport, the holiday island has an 18-hole golf course which sweeps almost to the summit, and a round-island road much favoured for family cycle runs.
The island is 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi) long by 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide, rising to a height of 127 metres (417 ft) above sea level at "The Glaidstone" - a large, naturally occurring rock perched on the highest summit on the island. There is a triangulation pillar nearby, as well as an orientation point which indicates the locations of surrounding landmarks.
In clear conditions, views extend north over the upper Clyde estuary to Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps. To the west, the larger islands of Bute and Arran can be seen, while on the other side of Knapdale the Paps of Jura may be visible. Looking south, Ailsa Craig is visible, around 40 miles (64 km) distant beyond Little Cumbrae. Ailsa Craig roughly marks the halfway point to Northern Ireland, which itself may be glimpsed if visibility is good. To the east, the views are not so extensive, being restricted by the higher ground of the Renfrew Hills only a few miles distant, however the town of Largs and village of Fairlie and the deep water coal terminal and power station at Hunterston can be seen.

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Greenock
Coordinates: 55°56′58″N 4°45′51″W / 55.94957°N 4.76415°W / 55.94957; -4.76415
Greenock ( listen (help·info); Scottish Gaelic: Grianaig, pronounced [kɾʲiənɛkʲ]) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.
Greenock's population was recorded as being 45,467 in the 2001 census, a decrease from about 78,000 in 1966. It lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the "Tail of the Bank" where the River Clyde expands into the Firth of Clyde.
The origin of the town's name is uncertain. It is generally accepted, however, that the town is named after the Gaelic "Grianaig" meaning a sunny place. The suggestion that the town's name comes from the words Green Oak is merely folk etymology, but the image has been taken as a logo for the town's main shopping centre, The Oak Mall and was once emblazoned on the local Co-operative Society emblem. The myth that 'Greenock' derives from 'Green Oak' is also perpetrated in a local song (The Green Oak Tree). Significantly, no green oak appears on the town's coat of arms which features three sugar caskets, a sailing ship in full sail and three herring above the motto God Speed Greenock.

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Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The shipyard has built many ships; among the more famous are the White Star trio Olympic, Titanic and Britannic, the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast, Royal Mail's Andes, Shaw Savill's Southern Cross and P&O's Canberra. The company's official history, "Shipbuilders to the World" was published in 1986.
As of 2011, the expanding offshore wind power industry has taken centre stage and 75% of the company's work is based on offshore renewable energy.
Harland and Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–1895) and Hamburg-born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913, in the UK from age 14). In 1858 Harland, then general manager, bought the small shipyard on Queen's Island from his employer Robert Hickson.
After buying Hickson's shipyard, Harland made his assistant Wolff a partner in the company. Wolff was the nephew of Gustav Schwabe, Hamburg, who was heavily invested in the Bibby Line, and the first three ships that the newly incorporated shipyard built were for that line. Harland made a success of the business through several innovations, notably replacing the wooden upper decks with iron ones which increased the strength of the ships; and giving the hulls a flatter bottom and squarer cross section, which increased their capacity.

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Helensburgh
Coordinates: 56°01′00″N 4°44′00″W / 56.016667°N 4.733333°W / 56.016667; -4.733333
Helensburgh (Baile Eilidh in Gaelic) is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch.
Helensburgh was formerly in Dumbarton District, but was re-allocated under local government reorganisation in 1996. Prior to 1975 it was part of the former Dunbartonshire.
Helensburgh was founded in 1776 when Sir James Colquhoun of Luss built spa baths on the site of Ardencaple Castle, which dated back to about 1600. He then had the seaside resort town constructed to the east of the spa on a formal layout in the style of Edinburgh New Town, and named it after his wife Helen. A ferry service he arranged across the Firth of Clyde to Greenock was successful in attracting residents who could commute from jobs there to attractive homes in the new town.
In 1808, Henry Bell bought the public baths and hotel, which his wife superintended while he continued his interest in early steamboats such as the nearby Charlotte Dundas and the North River Steamboat which Robert Fulton had just introduced at New York City. To improve hotel trade, he had the paddle steamer Comet constructed and in 1812 introduced Europe's first successful steamboat service, bringing passengers down the River Clyde from Glasgow to Greenock and Helensburgh. The Clyde steamer trade developed rapidly, and Helensburgh pier and Craigendoran pier at the east end of the town both became major departure points. From 1858 holidaymakers were brought to the resort and the steamers by the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway terminus built in the centre of the town, and in 1894 a second railway station was opened higher up the hill on the West Highland Railway to Fort William.

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HMNB Clyde
Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde (HMS Neptune) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It is the service's headquarters in Scotland and is best known as the home of the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent, in the form of nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles.
HMNB Clyde lies on the eastern shore of Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, to the north of the Firth of Clyde and 25 mi (40 km) west of the city of Glasgow. The submarine base encompasses a number of separate sites, the primary two being:
Faslane is also a Defence Equipment and Support site, operated in dual site organisation with Great Harbour, Greenock, by Babcock Marine, and managed by Serco Denholm.
Faslane Naval Base, situated on the Gare Loch, and the RN Armaments Depot Coulport on Loch Long, are the primary components of HM Naval Base Clyde. The naval shore establishment at Faslane is HMS Neptune, Naval personnel appointed to the base who do not belong to a sea-going vessel make up Ship's Company. Both the Gareloch and Loch Long are sea lochs extending northwards from the Firth of Clyde. The base serves as home base to the United Kingdom's fleet of Vanguard-class nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines, as well as conventionally-armed nuclear powered submarines, supported by the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines.

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Hunterston
Hunterston, by the Firth of Clyde, is a coastal area in Ayrshire, Scotland, which is the seat and estate of the Hunter family. As an area of flat land adjacent to deep natural water, it has been the site of considerable actual and proposed industrial development in the 20th century. The nearest town is West Kilbride. The Hunterston Brooch was found there.
Actual or proposed developments on this site have included:
A covered floating dry dock for the Vanguard submarines was built at Hunterston, and floated to RNAD Coulport where it has been situated since 1993. This Explosive Handling Jetty is one of the world's largest floating concrete structures.
Coordinates: 55°43′31″N 4°52′49″W / 55.7253°N 4.8803°W / 55.7253; -4.8803

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Innellan
Innellan is a village that lies on the east shore of the Cowal peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde, 4 miles south of the town of Dunoon in Scotland, United Kingdom.
The origin of the name "Innellan" is obscure. The village was developed as a holiday destination in Victorian times on the site of a smaller and older farming settlement, and the first steamboat pier was built in 1851. With a resident population of around 1,000, growing to many more in summer, Innellan found prosperity as one of many seaside resorts along the banks of the River Clyde serving tourist traffic primarily coming from the city of Glasgow further upriver.
This prosperity started to fade in the 1960s with the increasing availability of foreign holidays to the general public. Competing against resorts in Europe that enjoyed Mediterranean climates, the popularity of all the Clyde seaside resorts fell.
It was around this time that an American naval base in the nearby Holy Loch was established, providing some aid to the local economy, although being controversial. The base was withdrawn in the 1990s.

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Inverclyde
Inverclyde (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chluaidh, pronounced [iɲiɾʲˈxlˠ̪uəj]) is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west central Lowlands. It borders on to the Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde.
Inverclyde District was one of nineteen districts within Strathclyde Region, from 1975 until 1996. Prior to 1975, Inverclyde was governed as part of the local government county of Renfrewshire, comprising the burghs of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, and the former fifth district of the county. Its landward area is bordered by the Kelly, North and South Routen burns to the south west (separating Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire), part of the River Gryfe and the Finlaystone Burn to the south-east.

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Inverkip
Coordinates: 55°54′43″N 4°52′25″W / 55.91201°N 4.8735°W / 55.91201; -4.8735
Inverkip (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chip) is a village and parish falling within the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies about 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Greenock on the A78 trunk road. The village is served by Inverkip railway station, on the Inverclyde Line.
Inverkip was made a burgh of barony before the Act of Union in 1707, with the parish containing all of Gourock, Wemyss Bay, Skelmorlie and part of Greenock. Inverkip Parish Church dates from 1804 and is on the site of an earlier (twelfth century) kirk. The graveyard contains the tomb of the chemist Dr. James Young who was nicknamed 'Paraffin' because of his pioneering work in oil technology. He lived at nearby Kelly House, which burnt down in 1913, the report laying blame with the suffragettes.
The parish of Inverkip's chief claim to fame (or notoriety) was in relation to witches in the mid 17th century. A local verse recalls
"In Auld Kirk the witches ride thick
And in Dunrod they dwell;
But the greatest loon amang them a'
Is Auld Dunrod himsel'."

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Irish Sea
The Irish Sea (Irish: Muir Éireann or Muir Meann,Scottish Gaelic: Muir Èireann or Muir Mhanainn,Manx: Mooir Vannin or Y Keayn Yernagh,Welsh: Môr Iwerddon, Scots: Erse Sea) separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man. The sea is occasionally, but rarely, referred to as the Manx Sea.
The sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, fishing, and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear plants. Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland amounts to over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes of traded goods.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea (with St George's Channel) as follows:
On the North. The Southern limit of the Scottish Seas [or Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, defined as "a line joining the South extreme of the Mull of Galloway (54°38'N) in Scotland and Ballyquintin Point (54°20'N) in Ireland"].

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Isle of Bute
Bute ( /ˈbjuːt/; also known as the Isle of Bute, Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Bhòid or Eilean Bhòdach) is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Formerly part of the county of Buteshire, it now constitutes part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. Its resident population was 7,228 in April 2001.
Bute lies in the Firth of Clyde. The only town on the island, Rothesay, (NS087645) is linked by ferry to the mainland. Villages on the island include Kilchattan Bay, Kingarth and Port Bannatyne.
Bute is divided in two by the Highland Boundary Fault. North of the fault the island is hilly and largely uncultivated with extensive areas of forestry. The highest hill is Kames Hill at 267 metres. To the south of the fault the terrain is smoother and highly cultivated although in the far south is to be found the island's most rugged terrain around Glen Callum. Loch Fad is Bute's largest body of freshwater and runs along the fault line.
The western side of Bute is known for its beaches, many of which enjoy fine views over the Sound of Bute towards Arran and Bute's smaller satellite island Inchmarnock. Villages on the western side of the island include Straad, around St. Ninian's Bay, and Kildavanan on Ettrick Bay.

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John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the RMS Lusitania, the HMS Hood, the HMS Repulse, the RMS Queen Mary, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, and the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. At their height, from 1900 to the 1950s, they were one of the most highly regarded, and internationally famous, shipbuilding companies in the world. However after that time, along with other UK shipbuilders, they found it increasingly difficult to compete with the emerging shipyards in Eastern Europe and the far East.
In 1968, they merged with other Clydeside shipyards to form the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders consortium, but that collapsed in 1971. John Brown and Company ceased its involvement with shipbuilding. The engineering wing of the company continued successfully and was eventually bought out by Trafalgar House in 1986. It continued to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Trafalgar House until 1996, when Trafalgar House was acquired by Kvaerner, which later closed the Clydebank engineering works in 2000. The Clydebank shipyard was purchased from UCS initially by Marathon Oil, and subsequently taken over in 1980 by UiE Scotland (part of the French Bouygues group), and was used for the construction of oil rig platforms for the North Sea oil industry, until finally being closed down in 2001.

wn.com/John_Brown_&_Company
Kilbrannan Sound
Kilbrannan Sound is a marine water body that separates the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland from the island of Arran. Kilbrannan Sound is the western arm of the Firth of Clyde.
Coordinates: 55°36′34″N 5°26′00″W / 55.60944°N 5.4333333°W / 55.60944; -5.4333333

wn.com/Kilbrannan_Sound
Kilcreggan
Coordinates: 55°59′06″N 4°49′34″W / 55.98502°N 4.82601°W / 55.98502; -4.82601
Kilcreggan is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
It developed on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde at a time when Clyde steamers brought it within easy reach of Glasgow at about 25 miles (40 km) west of the centre of Glasgow by boat. Many Glasgow shipowners and merchants made their summer retreats or even permanent residences there, and this is reflected in some very grand houses along the shore. Not all have remained occupied, some were demolished and others have been converted into flats.
Its location at the end of the Rosneath Peninsula, between the Gare Loch and Loch Long, makes the journey 38 miles (60 km) by road. The B833 minor road runs along the shore for the length of the village then cuts north inland just to the east of Kilcreggan pier rather than going east along the shore past Portkil bay to Rosneath Point. About 2 miles (3 km) north of Kilcreggan the road reaches the village of Rosneath then continues north along the shores of the Gare Loch.

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Kilmun
Kilmun (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Mhunna) is a linear settlement on the north shore of the Holy Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It runs between the head of the loch and connects with the village of Strone at Strone Point, where the loch joins the Firth of Clyde.
Although as a settlement Kilmun is substantially older than most of its neighbours (see Parish Church below), like them it developed as a watering-place for Glasgow merchants after 1827, when a quay was built by the marine engineer David Napier. It was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer services until its closure in 1971.
Kilmun is also home to an extensive arboretum managed by the Forestry Commission. Established in the 1930s to monitor the success of a variety of exotic tree species in the humid west coast environment, it includes specimens of Sequoia, Japanese Larch, Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle) and Japanese Chestnut amongst many others from around the world. A series of woodland walks have been established of varying gradients and degrees of difficulty.

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Kintyre
Kintyre (Scottish Gaelic: Cinn Tìre, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʲʰiɲˈtʲʰiːɾʲə]) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles (48 km), from the Mull of Kintyre (subject of the song of the same name by Paul McCartney) in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is known as Knapdale.
Kintyre is long and narrow, at no point more than 11 miles (18 km) from west coast to east coast. The east side of the Kintyre Peninsula is bounded by Kilbrannan Sound, with a number of coastal peaks such as Torr Mor. The central spine of the peninsula is mostly hilly moorland. The coastal areas and hinterland, however, are rich and fertile. Kintyre has long been a prized area for settlers, including the early Scots who migrated from Ulster to western Scotland and the Vikings or Norsemen who conquered and settled the area just before the start of the second millennium.
The principal town of the area is Campbeltown (about 5½ miles by road from the Mull), which has been a royal burgh since the mid-18th century. The area's economy has long relied on fishing and farming, although Campbeltown has a reputation as a producer of some of the world's finest single malt whisky. Campbeltown Single Malts include the multi-award winning 'Springbank'.

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Kintyre Peninsula
Kintyre (Scottish Gaelic: Cinn Tìre, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʲʰiɲˈtʲʰiːɾʲə]) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles (48 km), from the Mull of Kintyre (subject of the song of the same name by Paul McCartney) in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is known as Knapdale.
Kintyre is long and narrow, at no point more than 11 miles (18 km) from west coast to east coast. The east side of the Kintyre Peninsula is bounded by Kilbrannan Sound, with a number of coastal peaks such as Torr Mor. The central spine of the peninsula is mostly hilly moorland. The coastal areas and hinterland, however, are rich and fertile. Kintyre has long been a prized area for settlers, including the early Scots who migrated from Ulster to western Scotland and the Vikings or Norsemen who conquered and settled the area just before the start of the second millennium.
The principal town of the area is Campbeltown (about 5½ miles by road from the Mull), which has been a royal burgh since the mid-18th century. The area's economy has long relied on fishing and farming, although Campbeltown has a reputation as a producer of some of the world's finest single malt whisky. Campbeltown Single Malts include the multi-award winning 'Springbank'.

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Kirn, Argyll
Kirn is a village in Argyll in south-west Scotland on the west shore of the Firth of Clyde. It now forms part of a continuous built up area between Dunoon and Hunters Quay, where the Clyde joins the Holy Loch. It had its own pier and was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer services.
Coordinates: 55°57′38″N 4°54′33″W / 55.96062°N 4.90916°W / 55.96062; -4.90916

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Kyles of Bute
The Kyles of Bute (Scottish Gaelic: Na Caoil Bhòdach) are a narrow sea channel which separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal peninsula, part of the Scottish mainland.
The narrowest strait is only some 300m across and is spanned by the Calmac ferry from Rhubodach to Colintraive.
The Kyles are split into the east and west kyles. The east kyle (An Caol an Ear) runs from Rothesay Bay north west up to the entrance to Loch Riddon. Here at the northern end of the east kyle are the Burnt Islands and the island of Eilean Dubh. The west kyle (An Caol an Iar/An Caol Ceathrach) runs from here south west, past the village of Tighnabruaich out to the Sound of Bute. The Kyles are designated as a National Scenic Area.
The Kyles are reflected in the name of Tighnabruaich based shinty team Kyles Athletic.
Coordinates: 55°55′48″N 5°11′13″W / 55.930°N 5.187°W / 55.930; -5.187

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Lamlash
Coordinates: 55°32′14″N 5°07′25″W / 55.5373°N 5.1235°W / 55.5373; -5.1235
Lamlash (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Àrd) is the largest village by population on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It lies 4 miles to the south of ferry port Brodick, in a sheltered bay on the island's east coast, facing Holy Isle. Lamlash is the seat of Arran's local government offices and police. The only secondary school and only hospital in Arran are also located in Lamlash.
A prehistoric ring of stones indicates that an ancient settlement has existed near Lamlash since antiquity. The name Lamlash dates back to the 6th Century hermitage of Saint Molaise a celtic monk born in Ireland but raised in Scotland, who in c.590 spent some time in a cave on Holy Island. Commonly known as MoLaise the Gaelic name of Holy Island was, as a result, Eilean MoLaise. This gradually evolved through Elmolaise and Lemolash to Lamlash, which is what Holy Island was called until early in the 19th century. After that time the name was more normally attached to the village that grew up facing it. Lamlash was peripherally involved in the 13th century Battle of Largs. It was the birthplace of artist James Kay.

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Lanark
Coordinates: 55°40′30″N 3°46′37″W / 55.674903°N 3.777019°W / 55.674903; -3.777019
Lanark (Scottish Gaelic: Lannraig,Scots: Lanrik) is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade".
Lanark was the county town of the former county of Lanarkshire, though for many years Hamilton was the county town, before the formation of Strathclyde. Lanark railway station and coach station has frequent services to Glasgow. There is little industry in Lanark and some residents commute to work in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Its shops serve the local agricultural community and surrounding villages. There is a large modern livestock auction market on the outskirts of the town.
Lanark has served as an important market town since medieval times, and King David I made it a Royal Burgh in 1140, giving it certain mercantile privileges relating to government and taxation. King David I realised that greater prosperity could result from encouraging trade. He decided to create a chain of new towns across Scotland. These would be centres of Norman civilisation in a largely Celtic country, and would be established in such a way as to encourage the development of trade within their area. These new towns were to be known as Burghs. Bastides were established in France for much the same reason.

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Largs
Coordinates: 55°47′33″N 4°52′04″W / 55.7925°N 4.8678°W / 55.7925; -04.8678
Largs (Scottish Gaelic: An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about 33 miles (53 km) from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (An Leargaidh) in Scottish Gaelic.
A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its historic links with the Vikings and an annual festival is held each year in early September. In 1263 it was the site of the Battle of Largs between the Norwegian and the Scottish armies. The National Mod has also been held here in the past.
Largs evolved from the estates of North Cunninghame over which the Montgomeries of Skelmorlie became temporal lords in the seventeenth century. Sir Robert Montgomerie built Skelmorlie Aisle in the ancient kirk of Largs in 1636 as a family mausoleum. Today the monument is all that remains of the old kirk.
From its beginnings as a small village around its kirk, Largs evolved into a busy and popular seaside resort in the nineteenth century. Large hotels appeared and the pier was constructed in 1834. It was not until 1895, however, that the railway made the connection to Largs, sealing the town's popularity.

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Little Cumbrae
Little Cumbrae (Scottish Gaelic: Cumaradh Beag) is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The island is known locally as Wee Cumbrae.
The Gaelic name Cumaradh means "place of the Cymric people", referring to the Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Alternatively, the name Cumbrae may derive from Kil Maura meaning "cell or church of a female saint".
Little Cumbrae was recorded as Kumbrey circa 1300, Cumbraye circa 1330 and Litill Comeray in 1515 and was also formerly known as Little or Wee Cumray.
The Cumbraes are referred to as the Kumreyiar in the Norse Saga of Haakon Haakonarson.
Little Cumbrae lies barely a kilometre to the south of its larger neighbour, Great Cumbrae, a few kilometres distant from the mainland town of Largs. The islands are collectively referred to as The Cumbraes. In stark contrast to its neighbour, green and fertile Great Cumbrae, Little Cumbrae is a rough and rocky island. With its many cliffs and rocky outcrops, Little Cumbrae bears more of a resemblance to a Hebridean island than to some of its neighbours in the Clyde.

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Loch Gilp
Loch Gilp (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Gilb") is a small inlet on Loch Fyne which gives its name to Lochgilphead. The Crinan Canal extends from the loch across to Crinan itself.
Coordinates: 56°00′N 5°25′W / 56°N 5.417°W / 56; -5.417

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Loch Goil
Loch Goil (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Goill) is a small sea loch in Scotland.
It is an arm of Loch Long. The village of Lochgoilhead stands at its head.
Located in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, Lochgoilhead sits at the head of Loch Goil, a fjord type sea loch. Only an hour from the Erskine Bridge, Glasgow Airport the M8 and Glasgow. The village is accessed from the Rest & Be Thankful pass by way of a 6 miles (10 km) single-track road. The area is surrounded by hills and mountains, with loch views, and a range of accommodation, leisure activities and entertainment.
Several Scottish Sea Fishing shore records are attributed to the Loch:
The landscape at Loch Goil shows its remoteness and Highland grandeur with the Arrochar Alps surrounding with conifers in the Highlands of Scotland.
It is used for exercises by Trident submarines from HMNB Clyde at Faslane.
Coordinates: 56°07′52″N 4°53′46″W / 56.131°N 4.896°W / 56.131; -4.896

wn.com/Loch_Goil
Loch Striven
Loch Striven (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Sroigheann) is a sea loch adjoining the west side of the Firth of Clyde just north of the Isle of Bute, where it forms a narrow inlet about 8 miles (12 km) long extending north into the Cowal peninsula. During times of recession in shipping the loch has been used as a sheltered anchorage for laid up vessels such as large oil tankers.
Coordinates: 55°56′30″N 5°04′56″W / 55.9417°N 5.0822°W / 55.9417; -5.0822

wn.com/Loch_Striven
Lochranza
Coordinates: 55°42′17″N 5°17′41″W / 55.7048°N 5.2947°W / 55.7048; -5.2947
Lochranza (Gaelic: Loch Raonasa) is a village located on the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. The population, somewhat in decline, is around 200 people.
Lochranza is the most northernly sited of Arran's villages and is located in the north-western corner of the island. The village is set on the shore of Loch Ranza, a small sea loch. Ferries run from here to Claonaig on the mainland.
The area around Lochranza castle is a favoured spot to observe red deer, as the village is home to a healthy red deer population and, on the northern shore, grey seals are found year-round. Otters and golden eagles are also spotted in the area.
A new pier was constructed in 2003, allowing larger vessels easier access with the possibility to disembark passengers for a short tour of the village. Regular vessels which use the pier include the paddle steamer Waverley and the "Lord of the Glens", a small cruise ship.
Lochranza is the site of the Arran Distillery, built in 1995 and producing the Arran Single Malt. The distillery is one of the major industries of the island.

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Motherwell, Scotland
Coordinates: 55°47′02″N 3°59′07″W / 55.78396°N 3.98522°W / 55.78396; -3.98522
Motherwell (Scots: Mitherwall, Scottish Gaelic: Tobar na Màthar) is a large town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made by Timothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in the Netherlands in around 1652, although the settlement was probably little more than a hamlet at that time. The town was a burgh from 1865 until it merged with the burgh of Wishaw in 1920.
Motherwell was noted as the steel production capital of Scotland, nicknamed Steelopolis, home of David Colville & Sons during the 19th and 20th centuries, with its skyline later dominated by the water tower and three cooling towers of their Ravenscraig steelworks which closed in 1992. The Ravenscraig plant had one of the longest continuous casting, hot rolling, steel production facilities in the world before it was decommissioned. The closure of Ravenscraig signalled the end of large scale steel making in Scotland, although the town's Dalzell steel plate works continues to be operated by Tata Steel Europe.

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New Lanark
Coordinates: 55°40′N 3°47′W / 55.66°N 3.78°W / 55.66; -3.78
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in South Lanarkshire, and some 40 km southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. Dale built the mills there in a brief partnership with the English inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the water power provided by the only waterfalls on the River Clyde. Under the ownership of a partnership that included Dale's son-in-law, Robert Owen, a Welsh philanthropist and social reformer, New Lanark became a successful business and an epitome of utopian socialism as well as an early example of a planned settlement and so an important milestone in the historical development of urban planning.
The New Lanark mills operated until 1968. After a period of decline, the New Lanark Conservation Trust (NLCT) was founded in 1974 (now known as the New Lanark Trust (NLT)) to prevent demolition of the village. By 2006 most of the buildings have been restored and the village has become a major tourist attraction. It is one of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland and an Anchor Point of ERIH - The European Route of Industrial Heritage.

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North Calder Water
The North Calder Water is a river in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It flows for 12 miles from the Black Loch to the River Clyde at Daldowie south-east of Glasgow.
Coordinates: 55°50′N 4°07′W / 55.833°N 4.117°W / 55.833; -4.117

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North Lanarkshire
Coordinates: 55°49′44″N 3°55′19″W / 55.829°N 3.922°W / 55.829; -3.922
North Lanarkshire (Scots: North Lanrikshire, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire. The council covers parts of the traditional counties of Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire, and Stirlingshire.
The area was formed in 1996, largely from the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Motherwell and Monklands districts and significant elements of Strathclyde Regional Council.

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Old Kilpatrick
Coordinates: 55°55′30″N 4°27′33″W / 55.9250°N 4.4593°W / 55.9250; -4.4593
Old Kilpatrick (Scots: Auld Kilpatrick, Scottish Gaelic: Cille Phàdraig meaning "Patrick's church", Latin: Clotagenium meaning "Clyde-mouth") is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
The village is on the north bank of the River Clyde immediately to the north of the Forth and Clyde Canal, three miles from Clydebank on the road to Dumbarton. The Great Western Road runs through Old Kilpatrick, and the next village to its west is Bowling. The modern A82 trunk road runs to the north of Old Kilpatrick, between the village and the foot of the Kilpatrick Hills. There is a myth that it was the birthplace of Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick's Well is located here.
The western end of the Antonine Wall was at Old Kilpatrick (the eastern end, 59 km distant was at Bridgeness on the Forth). The physical traces of the wall had been erased but the route was surveyed during the 18th century and traced to the Chapel Hill where various Roman artifacts were found.

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Port Bannatyne
Port Bannatyne (Scottish Gaelic: Port MhicEamailinn) is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It is a popular harbour for yachts.
It is approximately 2 miles (3 km) north of Rothesay and 6 miles (10 km) from Rhubodach.
Port Bannatyne is a village of slate and stone on the Scottish Isle of Bute, built two hundred years ago by Lord Bannatyne who lived in the ancient castle that stands just to the north. The substantial houses face the sea around Kames Bay which is mooring for yachts and fishing boats, and there is a small marina and boatyard. The village is known for its daily catch of the European Marine Crayfish, or Langoustine, and trucks arrive to carry the seafood off to Paris, Rome, and to the airport too, to end up in New York and Tokyo.
Above the village with views across the sea to the Isle of Arran, and the Argyll hills, is the Port Bannatyne Golf-course.The course has 13 holes and wild deer grazing the herbage. But the village has strong links overseas and has its own club for the French game of Petanque, and there's a pitch, or piste, on the seafront

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Port Glasgow
Coordinates: 55°56′N 4°41′W / 55.94°N 4.69°W / 55.94; -4.69
Port Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Port Ghlaschu, pronounced [pʰɔrˠʃt̪ˈɣlˠ̪as̪əxu]) is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons. It is located immediately to the east of Greenock and was previously a burgh in the former county of Renfrew.
The town was formed as port for nearby of Glasgow in 1668 and became Port Glasgow in 1775. Port Glasgow was home to dry docks and shipbuilding beginning in 1762.
The town grew from the central area of the present town and thus many of the town's historic buildings are found here. Port Glasgow expanded up the steep hills inland to open fields where areas such as Park Farm, Boglestone and Devol were founded. This area has subsequently become known as upper Port Glasgow and most of the town's population occupies these areas.
The town is served by Port Glasgow railway station (main station) in the town centre and Woodhall railway station on the east of the town.

wn.com/Port_Glasgow
Renfrew
Coordinates: 55°52′00″N 4°22′00″W / 55.86666°N 4.36666°W / 55.86666; -4.36666
Renfrew (Rinn Friù in Scottish Gaelic) is a town located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Renfrew is known as the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" as a result of its early link with the Royal house of Scotland and Great Britain. It gained royal burgh status in 1397 and became the county town of Renfrewshire, also known as the County of Renfrew. The current Baron of Renfrew is His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (known outside Scotland as The Prince of Wales) who holds lands in the area as part of the principality of Scotland.
As the traditional county town, Renfrew once was a centre of local government for the surrounding area. Whilst the county remained, the focus of local government in Renfrewshire gradually shifted from Renfrew to the larger neighbouring town of Paisley. Following the reorganisation of 1975, the county of Renfrewshire was divided for local government purposes into three modern council areas: Renfrewshire, with considerably smaller boundaries than the county, including Renfrew and with its administrative centre at Paisley; East Renfrewshire, with its centre at Giffnock and Inverclyde with its centre at Greenock. The boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire remain for a number of ceremonial and administrative purposes.

wn.com/Renfrew
Renfrew, Scotland
Coordinates: 55°52′00″N 4°22′00″W / 55.86666°N 4.36666°W / 55.86666; -4.36666
Renfrew (Rinn Friù in Scottish Gaelic) is a town located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Renfrew is known as the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" as a result of its early link with the Royal house of Scotland and Great Britain. It gained royal burgh status in 1397 and became the county town of Renfrewshire, also known as the County of Renfrew. The current Baron of Renfrew is His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (known outside Scotland as The Prince of Wales) who holds lands in the area as part of the principality of Scotland.
As the traditional county town, Renfrew once was a centre of local government for the surrounding area. Whilst the county remained, the focus of local government in Renfrewshire gradually shifted from Renfrew to the larger neighbouring town of Paisley. Following the reorganisation of 1975, the county of Renfrewshire was divided for local government purposes into three modern council areas: Renfrewshire, with considerably smaller boundaries than the county, including Renfrew and with its administrative centre at Paisley; East Renfrewshire, with its centre at Giffnock and Inverclyde with its centre at Greenock. The boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire remain for a number of ceremonial and administrative purposes.

wn.com/Renfrew,_Scotland
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east. The term Renfrewshire may also be used to refer to this historic county, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, which remains in use as a registration county and lieutenancy area.
Although containing the traditional county town of Renfrew, from which its name derives, the centre of local government in Renfrewshire is found in the nearby town of Paisley, which is the area's main settlement. Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow, lying on the south bank of the River Clyde, and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages.
Present day Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. Renfrewshire also has boundaries with North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire. Although by area one of Scotland's smallest unitary authorities (excluding the cities), it is one of the country's most populous areas, being the fifth largest unitary authority and the ninth largest including the city authorities.

wn.com/Renfrewshire
River Nene
The River Nene (/ˈnɛn/ or /ˈniːn/-see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about 3.7 miles (6 km). It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for 88 miles (142 km) from Northampton to The Wash.
The River Nene is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom. From its source at Arbury Hill to Northampton the river falls a total of 300 feet (91 m) in 17 miles (27 km). For the remainder of its course, the Nene falls less than 200 feet (61 m). It has a catchment area of 631 square miles (1,630 km²) and a mean flow of 328 cubic feet (9.3 m³) per second. The final 88 miles (142 km) from Northampton to the Wash is navigable.
The river's most westerly source can be found near the village of Badby near Daventry. On the eastern slope of Arbury Hill and in pools between Arbury Hill and Sharmans Hill there are three tributaries that converge at Dodford mill to form the upper reaches of the Daventry Nene. The two northern streams flow through the villages of Badby and Newnham to the convergence, whilst the southerly stream runs through Fawsley Park and through the village of Everdon before the convergence. From Dodford the river passes through the village of Weedon where it flows under the main west coast railway line and also under the Grand Union Canal. A little west of Weedon the river converges with its tributary source from Yelvertoft from the north. This tributary, the Yelvertoft Nene, is formed from a great many streams. The river now flows towards Northampton, passing through Flore and Nether Heyford, where it is joined by small streams on either bank. A little past Bugbrooke Mill the Nene passes under the M1 motorway and falls over a weir towards Kislingbury.

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River Spey
The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland, the second longest and the fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishing and whisky production.
The origins of the name are unclear though 'hawthorn river' has been suggested (from a word linked to the Brythonic 'yspyddad') as has a derivation from the pre-Celtic 'squeas' meaning vomit or gush. Ptolemy named the river on his map of c AD 150 as Tuesis. The name 'Spey' first appears in 1451.
The Spey is 107 miles long. It rises at over 1000 feet (300 m) at Loch Spey in Corrieyairack Forest in the Scottish Highlands, 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Augustus. The river descends to flow through Newtonmore and Kingussie, crossing Loch Insh before reaching Aviemore, giving its name to Strathspey. From there it flows the remaining 60 miles (97 km) north-east to the Moray Firth, reaching the sea 5 miles west of Buckie.
Certain sections of the Spey change their course very frequently, either (relatively) gradually as a result of deposition and erosion from normal flow, or in a matter of hours as a result of going into spate. The Spey spates very quickly due to its wide catchment area in the mountains, as a result of rainfall or snow-melt.

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Rutherglen
Coordinates: 55°49′41″N 4°13′26″W / 55.828°N 4.224°W / 55.828; -4.224
Rutherglen (Scots: Ruglen, from Scottish Gaelic: An Ruadh-Ghleann meaning "the red valley") is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow District Council. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.
Rutherglen received the status of Royal Burgh in 1126 by Royal Charter from King David I of Scotland who ruled from 1124 to 1153. In the 14th century Walter Stewart, father of King Robert II, was granted Farme Castle. This was located close to Farme Cross in the east of Rutherglen, and stood until the 1960s.
Rutherglen was a centre of heavy industry, having a long coal mining tradition which died out by 1950. J&J White’s Chemical Works (later ACC Chrome&Chemicals) in Shawfield, which was in existence from 1820 to 1967, produced more than 70% of the UK’s Chromate products including chromic acid, chromic oxide pigment, sodium and potassium chromate and dichromate. Today there is a significant legacy of soluble[chromium (VI)] waste in the area. Rutherglen, and most of the towns encircling the city, are dormitory suburbs of Glasgow.

wn.com/Rutherglen
Saltcoats
Coordinates: 55°38′07″N 4°47′23″W / 55.6352°N 4.7896°W / 55.6352; -04.7896
Saltcoats (Scottish Gaelic: Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is one of the 'Three Towns' along with Ardrossan and Stevenston.
Saltcoats' name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water, carried out in small cottages along the beach known as 'cots' in Scots. Other early industries in the town included coal mining, fishing and handloom weaving.
After the turn of the twentieth century and the decline of salt panning in the town, Saltcoats became increasingly popular as a holiday destination. An old bathing pond was rebuilt during the 1930s, becoming the largest tidal pool of the time in Scotland. Saltcoats beautiful sandy beach makes it a popular destination for holiday makers and daytrippers.
Saltcoats received Burgh status in 1528, which lasted into 1975 when it was integrated into the then new Cunninghame District Council (now North Ayrshire Council).

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Scotland
Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba ([ˈalˠ̪apə] listen (help·info))) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.

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Seamill
Seamill is a village in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, about 5 miles north of Ardrossan and 8 miles south of Largs.
It is sometimes considered part of West Kilbride, and sometimes considered as a village in its own right. The local authority has sought to consolidate it with West Kilbride by signposting it as "West Kilbride incorporating Seamill", however its location on the major A78 trunk road (West Kilbride proper is bypassed) means that it is still locally identified as an entity in its own right.
It is named after one of its oldest buildings, the Sea Mill, a grain watermill that appears in Johannes Blaeu's Atlas of Scotland published in Amsterdam in 1654. Seamill village has a golf club known as West Kilbride Golf Club, with a putting practice green and a course with eighteen holes.
It also has a hotel called the Seamill Hydro which has a swimming pool, tennis court and a football pitch. The Seamill Hydro first opened in 1880, during the boom period of hydropathic establishments. These commenced as mostly as therapeutic establishments, but over time morphed into hotel format, with Seamill Hydro being one of the few such surviving facilities from that era.

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Skelmorlie
Coordinates: 55°53′N 4°53′W / 55.88°N 4.89°W / 55.88; -4.89
Skelmorlie is a village in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Although it is the northernmost settlement in the council area of North Ayrshire it is contiguous with Wemyss Bay, which is in Inverclyde. The dividing line is the Kelly Burn, which flows into the Firth of Clyde just south of the Rothesay ferry terminal. Despite their proximity, the two villages have historically been divided, Skelmorlie in Ayrshire and Wemyss Bay in Renfrewshire.
Skelmorlie itself is divided into two sections, Lower and Upper Skelmorlie. There is one primary school in this village, with secondary age pupils going to Largs Academy in North Ayrshire.
In common with this part of the Clyde foreshore the rich red sandstone is a prominent feature of the landscape and housing in Skelmorlie.
Skelmorlie's history is recorded as far back as the fifteenth century. Skelmorlie Castle, south of the village, is a tower house built on the site of an older structure in 1502. Much altered and added to since, it is an ancient seat of the Clan Montgomery (a notable burial tomb of the family can be seen at Skelmorlie Aisle in Largs). During the nineteenth century the village was once home to many Glasgow tea barons. On the cliff above the shore a large hydropathic institution once stood, with access from the main road via a lift whose shaft was hewn out of the rock face. The building later operated as a hotel, but was demolished in the 1990s.

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South Calder Water
The South Calder Water is a river in Scotland. It runs west from the high plateau between Shotts and Fauldhouse, which also produces the River Almond, which flows east into the River Forth.
The river is known locally as "The Cawder".
The South Calder Water follows a short course of approximately 10 miles, during which it winds round Shotts, Wishaw and Motherwell before flowing into the River Clyde at Strathclyde Loch.
Between its source and Newmains it follows a wide glacial valley and passes the village of Bonkle and Murdostoun Castle, but after Newmains until its end at Strathclyde Loch in Motherwell, it cuts through a very deep and meandering valley. This valley was filled in at Ravenscraig during the construction of Ravenscraig steelworks to provide a large flat area. The river is therefore placed in a "cut and cover" tunnel as it passes for approximately 1/2 mile underneath the site, before reappearing at Jerviston. Driving across the now derelict Ravenscraig site gives no clues as to the underground river flowing below.

wn.com/South_Calder_Water
Stevenston
Coordinates: 55°38′42″N 4°45′29″W / 55.645°N 4.758°W / 55.645; -04.758
Stevenston is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is one of the 'Three Towns' along with Ardrossan and Saltcoats.
The town is named after Stephan Loccard or Lockhart, whose father obtained a grant of land from Richard de Morville, Lord Cunninghame and Constable of Scotland, around 1170. The town is first mentioned in a charter of c. 1240.
The town was the birthplace in 1768 of Miss Lesley Baillie. Robert Burns met her in 1792 and described her to a friend as "the most beautiful, most elegant woman in the world". She inspired one or two of his love poems, in which she is described as 'Bonnie Lesley'. A memorial now stands in her memory and is situated between Sinclair Street and Glencairn Street.
The town became a coal mining centre until the pits were exhausted at the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, the town was a major base for Nobel Industries and later ICI, whose Ardeer site employed many thousands of workers producing explosives and chemicals. ICI added a nylon plant in the 1960s which had a short lived production life, and a nitric acid plant. The closure of these facilities, along with the general decline in ICI's presence in the town has had a devastating long term effect on the town's economy. The site is now owned by Inabata, a Japanese trading firm, and operates as Nobel Enterprises. The energetic technologies side of the business is now owned by Chemring Ltd, with the nitrocellulose manufacture retained under Nobel Enterprises.

wn.com/Stevenston
Strone
Coordinates: 55°58′59″N 4°54′00″W / 55.983°N 4.900°W / 55.983; -4.900
Strone (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Sròn) is a village in Argyll in south-west Scotland at the point where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde.
The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic for nose, and applies to the hill above the village as well as to Strone Point. It adjoins the settlement of Kilmun on the loch, and the village of Blairmore on Loch Long. It used to have its own pier and was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer services.
A high road on the side of the hill serves additional houses including Dunselma, a Scottish baronial style house above the point. It was built as a sailing lodge for the wealthy Coats family (proprietors of the eponymous Paisley mills) in 1885-7 by the Paisley firm of Rennison and Scott. It later became youth hostel and still forms a landmark clearly visible from the other side of the Clyde. It is a Category B listed building.
It is on the A880 road.

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Tail of the Bank
Coordinates: 55°58′37″N 4°46′52″W / 55.977°N 4.781°W / 55.977; -4.781
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately north of Greenock and Gourock. This area of the firth gets its name from the sandbar immediately to its east which marks the entrance to the estuary of the River Clyde.
The Tail of the Bank was a significant point of embarkation for many travellers, especially emigrants, to Canada and the United States of America. Steamships of the Cunard Line en-route from Liverpool to New York City regularly called at Tail of the Bank to pick up additional passengers.
In the past this area was at times crowded with ships, particularly during World War II when the Home Fleet warships of the Royal Navy temporarily left Scapa Flow after the sinking of HMS Royal Oak and were based at the Tail of the Bank. The Clyde Anchorages Emergency Port was improvised there in September, 1940, by stevedoring companies evacuated from the Royal Docks of London (closed by the first bombing raids on London.) Hundreds of merchant ships of the Atlantic convoys gathered there, as well as ships of the Free French navy. At this time the upper firth was protected by an anti-submarine boom stretching from Cloch point across the firth to Dunoon. A monument in the form of a Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor was erected on Lyle Hill overlooking the Tail of the Bank, to commemorate the Free French Naval Forces. It is also associated locally with the Vauquelin class destroyer Maillé Brézé which blew up off Greenock with heavy loss of life on 30 April 1940, before the Free French Naval Forces were established. By 1944 the CAEP became one of the principal destinations for US troops sent to Britain.

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The Minch
The Minch (Scottish Gaelic An Cuan Sgìth, Cuan na Hearadh, An Cuan Leòdhasach), also called The North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Highlands, and the northern Inner Hebrides, from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as "Skotlandsfjörð" ("Scotland's fjord/firth") in Old Norse.
The Lower Minch (an Cuan Canach), also called The Little Minch, is to the south and separates Skye from the lower Outer Hebrides: North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra etc. It opens into the Sea of the Hebrides. The Little Minch is the northern limit of the Sea of the Hebrides.
The Minch and Lower Minch form part of the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization.
The Minch ranges from 20 to 45 miles (32 to 72 km) wide and is approximately 70 miles (110 km) long. It is believed to be the site of the biggest meteorite ever to hit the British Isles. The Lower Minch is about 15 miles (24 km) wide. In June 2010 Eilidh Macdonald became the first person to swim the Little Minch, taking 9.5 hours to cross from Waternish Point on Skye to Rodel on Harris.

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Toward
Toward (Scottish Gaelic: Tollard) is a village near Dunoon at the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
Nearby is Castle Toward, a former country house built close to the ruined Toward Castle. Now an outdoor education centre, its grounds are used as a location for the children's BBC TV series, Raven.
Toward Point has one of 18 lighthouses built by Robert Stevenson.
Toward Sailing Club provides racing, cruising and training.
Coordinates: 55°52′25″N 4°58′53″W / 55.87361°N 4.98139°W / 55.87361; -4.98139

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Tradeston Bridge
Coordinates: 55°51′21″N 4°15′50″W / 55.85583°N 4.26389°W / 55.85583; -4.26389
The Tradeston Bridge (colloquially known as Squiggly Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge across the River Clyde in Glasgow which opened on 14 May 2009. It links the districts of Anderston (on the north bank) to Tradeston (on the south bank) - the aim of the bridge being to aid the regeneration of Tradeston by giving it a direct link to the city's financial district on the western side of the city centre.
The design was prepared by Dissing+Weitling, a Danish architectural firm, with the UK engineers Halcrow Group. The bridge was built by BAM Nuttall.
It cost £7million to construct and is used by pedestrians and cyclists with no motorised traffic being allowed upon it. It uses a cable-stayed design, albeit with a horizonally curved S-shaped span with outward canting on both curves.

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Troon
Coordinates: 55°32′N 4°40′W / 55.54°N 4.66°W / 55.54; -4.66
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services — the P&O Express to Larne and a yacht marina. In May 2006, a ferry service to Campbeltown was added, although this was withdrawn the following year.
In the 2001 census the population of Troon, not including the nearby village of Loans but including the Barassie area, was estimated at 14,766 — a 4.77% increase on the 1991 estimate of 14,094.
The name Troon is likely from a Brythonic or Pictish name cognate with Welsh trwyn ("nose, cape"). When Scottish Gaelic became the main language, it is possible that the Gaelic form An t-Sròn ("the nose") pronounced [ənˠ̪ t̪ʰɾɔːn] was used for the name Troon. Since the words sròn and trwyn are cognate, it could have been easily adapted from one language to the other. This is similar to the Gaelic name of Stranraer (An t-Sròn Reamhar, the fat nose), which lies further south on the coast. However, it is not certain if An t-Sròn was the Gaelic name, as its usage cannot be traced back any further than Johnston’s Place-names of Scotland (1932). It is more likely that a gaelicized respelling, such as An Trùn, was used.

wn.com/Troon
Uddingston
Coordinates: 55°49′06″N 4°04′58″W / 55.81829°N 4.08275°W / 55.81829; -4.08275
Uddingston (Scots: Uddinstoun, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Udain) is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, about seven miles south-east of Glasgow. Uddingston acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.
Uddingston is a suburb of Glasgow, seven miles to the south-east of the city centre and approximately two miles east of the Glasgow City Council district of Broomhouse. It is bounded to the south-west by the River Clyde as it flows north-west through Glasgow and separates Uddingston, along with some woodland, from Blantyre and Cambuslang. As such, the Clyde Walkway and National Cycle Route 75 both traverse the town. The nearest settlement to Uddingston is the village of Bothwell, two miles to the east.
The village of Uddingston, which is contained exclusively within the boundaries of South Lanarkshire Council, houses around 5,000 residents. However, the nearby villages of Tannochside, Calderbraes, Viewpark, Birkenshaw and Spindlehowe,contained within North Lanarkshire Council borders and which form a continuous conurbation with Uddingston, claim affiliation with Uddingston and are generally thought to be synonymous with the village or as districts of Uddingston. As a result, the population of this larger manifestation of Uddingston is approximately 25,000 residents. Greater Uddingston shares a boundary with the nearby town of Bellshill (three miles separate the town centres), is four miles south of Coatbridge and via Bothwell four and a half miles north-west of Hamilton.

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University of London
The University of London is a federal university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes. As such, the University of London is the largest university in the UK by number of full-time students, with 135,090 campus-based students and over 50,000 in the University of London International Programmes.
The university was first established by a Royal Charter in 1836, which brought together in federation London University (now University College London) and King's College (now King's College London), to establish today's federally structured University of London.
Graduates of the University of London often use the post-nominal letters 'Lond.' or, more rarely, 'Londin.' (both from Londiniensis) after their degree abbreviations (see post-nominal abbreviations).
Founded in 1836, the University at first comprised just two colleges: University College London, which previously had no official chartered status and did not apply religious tests to its students, and King's College, which had been chartered since 1829 and which admitted only members of the Church of England. Both King's (founded 1829) and University College London (founded 1826) pre-date the University of London, which initially served solely as an examining body for the constituent colleges.

wn.com/University_of_London
Wemyss Bay
Coordinates: 55°53′02″N 4°53′13″W / 55.884°N 4.887°W / 55.884; -4.887
Wemyss Bay ( /ˌwiːmz ˈbeɪ/) is a village on the coast of the Firth of Clyde falling within the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The name may derive from the Gaelic uaimh, meaning 'cave'. It is also thought that it derives from Bob Wemyss, who was the owner of a hut on the shore in the 19th century. Wemyss Bay is adjacent to Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire. The villages have always been in separate counties, divided by the Kelly Burn.
Wemyss Bay is the port for ferries to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Passengers from the island can connect to Glasgow by train, which terminate in the village at the remarkable Wemyss Bay railway station, noted for its architectural qualities and regarded as one of Scotland's finest railway buildings.
The port is very exposed, so in high winds the ferries must travel up river to Gourock to dock.
Wemyss Bay was created in the early 19th century as a 'marine village' and watering-place by Robert Wallace of Kelly, whose lands were adjacent to the bay. Wallace became Greenock's first MP and was instrumental in establishing the penny post.

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West Kilbride
Coordinates: 55°41′48″N 4°51′27″W / 55.6966°N 4.8576°W / 55.6966; -04.8576
West Kilbride (Scottish Gaelic: Cille Bhrìghde an Iar) is a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran. West Kilbride and adjoining districts of Seamill and Portencross are generally considered to be a small town, having a combined population of 4,393 at the 2001 census.
A Neolithic cup and ring marked stone is located on Blackshaw Hill, near West Kilbride. This stone is unusual, in that it is carved with three spirals. Although the purpose of such stones is not known, it is considered that they may have had religious importance.
Traces of an Iron Age fortification were uncovered when the house named "The Fort" was constructed in Ardrossan Road, Seamill.

wn.com/West_Kilbride
Wishaw
Coordinates: 55°46′26″N 3°55′08″W / 55.773992°N 3.918915°W / 55.773992; -3.918915
Wishaw is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the edge of the Clyde Valley, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Glasgow.
The main areas of Wishaw are: Cambusnethan, Coltness, Craigneuk, Gowkthrapple, Dimsdale, Greenhead, Wishawhill, Netherton, Pather and Waterloo. There are two adjoining villages, often included as part of the town for administrative purposes: Overtown and Newmains.
Wishaw has long lived in the shadow of its bigger and better known neighbour, Motherwell, with which it formed the joint large burgh in 1920, the Burgh of Motherwell and Wishaw, until its dissolution when Scottish local authorities were restructured in 1975. The Motherwell and Wishaw constituency is represented in the UK Parliament by Frank Roy MP. In the Scottish Parliament the constituency is represented by John Pentland.
It is not certain how the name Wishaw came about. The town is probably named after Wishaw House, built in the woods by the South Calder Water, which was likely built some time after the selling of Coltness, Wishaw, Watstein and Stain to Hamilton of Uddsten, the predecessor to Lord Belhaven. It was probably in these days that the estate was named, "wis" being Old Scotch for water, and "shaw" meaning forest or wood. Other theories exist; one such is that it may be derived from the Scots for "Wicket gate in the wood", and that it used to be called Wygateshaw. Alternatively, it may be from the Old English for "Willow Wood". Others believe the name was originally Viashaw, meaning way or road through the wood. Yet another theory is that the name derives from "Wee Shaw", meaning small wood.

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Alfred Mylne
Alfred Mylne (1872–1951) was a Scottish yacht designer, born in Glasgow. He founded A Mylne & Co. in 1896.
Alfred Mylne was apprenticed to the Scottish shipbuilders Napier, Shanks and Bell, and went on to work as a draftsman and apprentice to George Lennox Watson. Watson was the designer of the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia, the racing cutter first owned by Edward, Prince of Wales.

Mylne set up his own office in 1896. In 1906, Mylne was involved in establishing the International Metre Rule, a yacht-racing handicap rule. Mylne designed a number of race-winning boats, including the 19-metre class cutter Octavia in 1911.
Boat designer Uffa Fox was a close friend of Mylne, and the latter appears regularly in the books Fox wrote before the Second World War. When Sir William Burton had his 12-metre yacht, Marina, designed, this was reviewed in Uffa Fox's Second Book (1935).
"The mast of Marina, the 12-metre Alfred Mylne designed for Sir William Burton in 1935, was called upon to endure some very heavy strains before the racing season started, for on her passage from the Clyde to the South round the "Land" she met very bad weather... Though designed as a light-weather "12", Marina proved herself an able and seaworthy vessel, and came through that gale without damage to herself or her crew."

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William Fife
William Fife III OBE (1857–1944), also known as Wm. Fife, Jr., was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders.
Fife was born in the small village of Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde. His father William Fife II (1821–1902) and grandfather William Fife I (1785–1865) had also been designers and boatbuilders in Fairlie. The family business operated from a yard on the beach in the village. Fife began building yachts in 1890 and soon surpassed the achievements of his father and grandfather and became known as one of the premier yacht designers of the day.
As the third generation of a venerable Scottish boat building family, William Fife inherited a rich legacy but was quick to establish his own reputation as one of the top designers in the yachting world. Often dominating his chief competitors, Fife was a master of his trade who received commissions from European royalty and from clients as far away as Australia. Following on the heels of the success of his design Dragon (1888), Fife adopted a stylized Chinese dragon as his trademark. Thereafter, those yachts that took shape on the shingle at Fairlie were known throughout the yachting world by this distinctive scrollwork.

wn.com/William_Fife

Firth of Clyde at Greenock, Scotland

This video was taken Jan 31st 2010 on a cold but sunny day from a vantage point high up on...

published: 31 Jan 2010

author: Nigel Cole

Fishing firth of Clyde

Fishing trip on the River Clyde....

published: 07 Mar 2009

author: ragnail

The Firth of Clyde

I took my bike out for a run to blow the cobwebs of work from my head. On the way I stoppe...

published: 28 Oct 2009

author: Hank2wheels

Crossing the firth of Clyde at night.

Boat trip Loch Goyle to Gourock...

published: 07 Mar 2009

author: ragnail

Kilcreggan Pier Firth of Clyde Scotland Nikon D90

Kilcreggan Pier. The last operational Victorian pier on the Firth of Clyde. Photos taken o...

published: 27 Sep 2011

author: PMKChallenge

FIRTH OF CLYDE 2011.

The firth of Clyde filmed in 2011 www.riverclydephotography.org...

published: 12 Mar 2012

author: clydefilm

The Holy Loch and Firth of Clyde Feb 2010.wmv

Photos taken 22/23rd February 2010...

published: 27 Feb 2010

author: mrsscoonie

Paddle Steamer Caledonia at Largs on the Firth of Clyde in the 1960s

Fascinating film showing the well-loved paddle steamer Caledonia on the Firth of Clyde at ...

published: 03 Jun 2010

author: HeritageSteamers

Scooter Firth Of Clyde

...

published: 21 Nov 2011

author: Echo Weed

Ships and boats on the Firth of Clyde

Ships and boats on the Firth of Clyde...

published: 08 Jul 2010

author: clydefilm

Paddle Steamer Waverley & Duchess of Hamilton on the Firth of Clyde 1963

Fascinating film showing the world famous Waverley on the Firth of Clyde along with the Du...

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firth of clyde 2010.mpg

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Grand Princess Sailing Down The Firth Of Clyde Scotland

Grand Princess Sailing Down The Firth Of Clyde. Filmed from Largs...

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Sailing the firth of clyde on our seamaster...

published: 10 May 2012

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photo: AP / Khalil Hamra

A Syrian gunman shoots in the air during the funeral of 29 year-old Free Syrian Army fighter, Husain Al-Ali, who was killed during clashes in Aleppo, in the town of Marea on the outskirts of Aleppo city, Syria, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012.

Syrian fighters join forces against al-Assad

Al Jazeera

09 Dec 2012

The new body, expected to be announced officially on Sunday, hopes to form the basis of a united rebel front. About 500 delegates elected the 30-person Supreme Military Council and a Chief of Staff on Friday in Turkish resort of Antalya and planned to meet soon with representatives from the opposition's newly re-organised political leadership, participants said ... The politics of climate change ... The return of the queen?....(size: 18.6Kb)

photo: AP / Maya Alleruzzo

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is seen during a photo opportunity in his office at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt

Egypt: President Morsi cancels decree that sparked protests

IBN Live

09 Dec 2012

Cairo ... But the main opposition group stayed away, so the talks had little credibility among protesters. One of the opposition's main demands was to scrap a referendum on a constitution that was drafted by an Islamist-led assembly....(size: 1.2Kb)

photo: AP / Vahid Salemi

File - Iranian worshippers listen to a sermon during Friday prayers as an Iranian flag flutters at Tehran University, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 6, 2012.

Can Saudi Arabia and Iran Reestablish the Medina Pact?

WorldNews.com

07 Dec 2012

The in- and out-fighting between present-day Saudi Arabia and Iran is a mirror image of what occurred to Prophet Muhammad's Islamic Movement right after his death ... Still, and due to prosperity and wealth, an influx of trade goods, religious toleration, an emphasis on learning, and increased food supplies, Islam was becoming a vast empire ... Sunnis emphasized the example and life of Prophet Muhammad....(size: 7.5Kb)

photo: AP / Hassan Ammar

Egyptian protesters gather outside the presidential palace after they broke through a barbed wire barricade that was keeping them from getting closer to the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012.

Egypt's opposition to shun Morsi talks

Al Jazeera

08 Dec 2012

Morsi's planned dialogue meeting was expected to go ahead on Saturday in the absence of most opposition factions ... The Front's co-ordinator, Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate, dismissed the offer as "arm-twisting and imposition of a fait accompli" ... But the concession fails to meet the full demands of the opposition, who also want Morsi to discard the decree awarding himself extra powers ... The politics of climate change....(size: 19.5Kb)

photo: US Navy / Electronics Technician Seaman Sean Roozen

File - Builder Constructionman Mohamed Farah and Builder Constructionman Michael Capcino, both assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5, adjust pipes removing flood water from the basements of homes that were flooded during Hurricane Sandy, 10 November, 2012.

White House proposes $60 billion for Superstorm Sandy recovery

The Los Angeles Times

08 Dec 2012

Congress is expected to begin consideration of the relief measure as soon as next week, with lawmakers from states still reeling from the October storm eager for action by the end of the year. The White House budget office said in a letter to congressional leaders that its request "ensures urgent and essential needs are being met, while recognizing the need to prevent losses of this magnitude from future disasters."....(size: 32.2Kb)

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'Signs of recovery' for fishing in Firth of Clyde

BBC News

19 Jun 2012

Fish stocks in the Firth of Clyde are showing some signs of recovery, according to a new study ... assessment of the current state of fisheries in the Firth of Clyde ... "The Firth of Clyde has been a rich and productive fishing ground for Scottish fishermen for hundreds of years, however intensive fishing in the twentieth century has made an impact....(size: 2.7Kb)

Diver killed in Firth of Clyde after suffering 'bends'

The Independent

26 Sep 2011

A diver has died in the Firth of Clyde after incurring decompression sickness - known as 'the bends' - despite an apparent effort by a group of sailors to haul him to safety ... A spokesman for Clyde Coastguard said....(size: 1.1Kb)

Ailsa Craig island in Firth of Clyde put up for sale

BBC News

05 May 2011

The iconic island in the Firth of Clyde is on ......(size: 0.2Kb)

Firth of Clyde marine survey

BBC News

06 Aug 2010

Marine biologists are surveying the Firth of Clyde in the hope of confirming the presence of Scotland's most important underwater wildlife ... Laura Clark, SNH Firth of Clyde project manager said ... "This includes internationally important species and that is why efforts to increase our knowledge, such as those being undertaken in the Firth of Clyde, are so important....(size: 2.2Kb)

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

Map of the Firth of Clyde and area

The Seamill beach looks south down the outer firth towards southern Arran and Ailsa Craig

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.

At its entrance the firth is some 26 miles (42 km) wide. Its upper reaches include an area where it is joined by Loch Long and the Gare Loch. This includes the large anchorage off Greenock known as the Tail of the Bank in reference to the sandbar which separates the firth from the estuary of the River Clyde. The Clyde is still almost 2 miles (3 km) wide at the sandbar, and its upper tidal limit is at the tidal Weir adjacent to Glasgow Green.

The cultural and geographical distinction between the firth and the River Clyde is vague, and people will sometimes refer to Dumbarton as being on the Firth of Clyde, while the population of Port Glasgow and Greenock frequently refer to the firth to their north as "the river". In Scottish Gaelic the landward end is called Linne Chluaidh (pronounced [ʎiɲəˈxlˠ̪uəj]) (meaning the same as the English), while the area around the south of Arran, Kintyre and Ayrshire/Galloway is An Linne Ghlas [ə ʎiɲə ɣlˠ̪as̪].

1 Geography
2 History
3 Marine wildlife
4 Shipping in the Firth
5 Lighthouses
6 See also
7 References

Geography [link]

The firth encompasses many islands and peninsulas and has twelve ferry routes connecting them to the mainland and each other. Sometimes called the Clyde Sea, this water body is customarily considered an element of the Irish Sea.^[1] The majority of these services are run by Caledonian MacBrayne and many of the routes are lifeline services for communities living in remote areas. A number of sea lochs adjoin the firth.

The Holy Loch seen across the upper Firth of Clyde from Gourock, with Hunter's Quay to the left and Strone to the right, with the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry MV Saturn arriving from Dunoon.

Naval operations: The German Frigate F207 Bremen and a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry pass the Holy Loch.

Towns and villages along the shoreline [link]

This lists the major towns and some of the numerous villages along the firth (not the River Clyde or connecting lochs).

Ardrossan, Ayr
Barassie, Brodick
Campbeltown, Cardross, Carradale
Dumbarton, Dunoon
Fairlie
Gourock, Greenock, Girvan
Helensburgh, Hunter's Quay
Innellan, Inverkip, Irvine
Kilcreggan, Kilmun, Kirn
Lamlash, Largs, Lochranza
Millport
Port Bannatyne, Portencross, Port Glasgow, Prestwick
Rothesay
Saltcoats, Seamill, Skelmorlie, Stevenston, Strone
Toward, Troon
Wemyss Bay, West Kilbride

Islands in the Clyde [link]

Main article: Islands of the Clyde

There are many islands in the firth. The largest all have thriving communities and regular ferry services connecting them to the mainland. They are:

PS Waverley off Arran.

The Largs "Pencil" looking south towards the Hunterston terminal, with Cumbrae and the Isle of Arran to the west.

Sea lochs off the Clyde [link]

History [link]

Ferguson Shipbuilders, the last shipyard on the Lower Clyde, close by Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, at the upper end of the firth

The Clyde formed an important sea route from the earliest times, and the Battle of Largs marked the turning point for Viking ambitions in the west of Scotland.

In the middle of the 19th century the sport of yachting became popular on the Clyde. Prior to that yachts were used only for practical purposes. The area became famous worldwide for its very significant contribution to yachting and yachtbuilding and was the home of many notable designers: William Fife III; Alfred Mylne; G L Watson; David Boyd. It was also the location of many famous yacht yards. Clyde built wooden yachts, to this day, are well known for their quality and style.

In Victorian times with the advent of tourism the area became popular with Glaswegians who travelled 'doon the watter' on Clyde steamers to holiday in the picturesque seaside towns and villages that line the firth, with the more wealthy building substantial holiday homes along the coast. Many towns such as Largs, Dunoon and Rothesay flourished during this boom period and became fully fledged resorts with well-appointed hotels and attractions. Nowadays PS Waverley still makes trips to these coastal towns.

In 1942 the world's first deep water test of a submarine oil pipeline was conducted on a pipeline laid across the Firth of Clyde in Operation Pluto.

The inner firth seen from the Cowal peninsula near Dunoon, looking north east to the coast of Inverclyde at Cloch point south of Gourock and Greenock, and beyond that the Tail of the Bank. PS Waverley can be seen cruising south "doon the watter"

The "lower Clyde" shipyards of Greenock and Port Glasgow, most notably Scott Lithgow, played an important role in shipbuilding, with the Comet being the first successful steamboat in Europe, and a large proportion of the world's shipping being built there until well into the 20th century. In more recent times the natural beauty of the firth has been marred in places by a succession of industrial and military developments along the shoreline, including Hunterston and Inverkip Power Stations, while at the same time shipbuilding has declined. Today only one lower Clyde shipyard survives, Ferguson Shipbuilders, next to Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, at the point where the firth becomes the River Clyde. The Garvel dry dock in Greenock continues in operation for ship repair, and the large Inchgreen dry dock in Greenock is in occasional use. The sites of the former Greenock shipyards are currently being regenerated.

Marine wildlife [link]

Common and Grey Seals abound in the firth. Harbour Porpoises are also common and while Dolphins are much less so, they have been spotted in the upper reaches of the firth in the summer of 2005. Whales do not favour the Clyde and although there have been instances of larger whales beaching themselves or becoming stranded in the upper firth, only smaller Pilot or Minke Whales seem to visit with any kind of regularity.

In 2005 the firth was listed as having the 2nd highest incidence of basking shark sightings in Scotland (after The Minch). In particular these huge sharks seem to favour the warm, shallow waters surrounding Pladda.

Although at one time heavily fished, the only catches remaining in Clyde waters today that are of any commercial interest to fisherman are prawns, lobster and herring.

There is a Marine Biological Station run by the Universities of Glasgow and London on Great Cumbrae.

Shipping in the Firth [link]

At Gourock a ship heads for the container cranes at Greenock, passing the Caledonian MacBrayne Dunoon ferry. Across the firth MV Kenilworth leaves Kilcreggan for Helensburgh.

A ship unloads at Greenock's Ocean Terminal.

The Firth of Clyde like the River Clyde has historically been an important centre of shipbuilding. There have been shipyards at Renfrew, Greenock, Port Glasgow and Troon and a major boatyard at Fairlie. Ferguson Shipbuilders yard, adjacent to Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, is one of the last privately owned shipyards left in Scotland. Greenock is the site of one of the world's largest dry dock and ship-repair facilities at Inchgreen. The dry dock there is 305m long and 44m wide and is operated by Northwestern Shiprepairers Limited using the name Scott Lithgow, although the company is unrelated to the famous Port Glasgow Scott Lithgow shipbuilding company.

The Firth of Clyde has one of the deepest sea entrance channels in northern Europe, which can accommodate the largest Capesize vessels afloat, and as such the Clyde is one of the UK's leading ports, handling some 7.5 million tonnes of cargo each year, as well as regular cruise liner traffic at Greenock's Ocean Terminal facility.

In addition to the existing Hunterston bulk ore terminal, Clydeport, North Ayrshire Council and Scottish Enterprise propose a £200m international deep-water container terminal, also at Hunterston, which would effectively act as a worldwide gateway port, and possibly become the major container port for the northern half of Europe. Initial environmental and economic impact studies are currently being undertaken.

The Royal Navy also has a significant presence on the Clyde, at HMNB Clyde on the Gare Loch and on Loch Long, while one of the three main ports providing marine services support vessels is at Greenock. This formerly came under the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service which still operates some vessels, but the services have been put out to commercial tender by the Warship Support Agency and are currently operated by Serco Denholm, who are preferred bidders for the next contract.^[2] The contract includes management of the ports at Devonport, Portsmouth and The Clyde (dual site operation at Faslane and Great Harbour, Greenock).

Lighthouses [link]

There are lighthouses at:

References [link]

^ C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Irish Sea. eds. P.Saundry & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
^ "1bn MoD Marine Services Contract". Serco. 6 February 2006. http://www.serco.com/media/pressreleases/2006/marineservices.asp. Retrieved 17 January 2011.

Shipyards of the Clyde

Coordinates: 55°40′N 5°00′W / 55.667°N 5°W / 55.667; -5

v t e River Clyde, Scotland

Administrative areas	South Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire City of Glasgow West Dunbartonshire Renfrewshire Inverclyde Argyll and Bute

Flows into	Firth of Clyde, then North Channel

Towns (upstream to downstream)	Elvanfoot Abington Symington New Lanark Lanark Wishaw Motherwell Hamilton Bothwell Uddingston Rutherglen Glasgow Renfrew Clydebank Bearsden Old Kilpatrick Dumbarton Port Glasgow Greenock Helensburgh Gourock Dunoon

Major tributaries (upstream to downstream by confluence)	Daer Water Potrail Water Duneaton Water Medwin Water Douglas Water Mouse Water River Nethan Avon Water South Calder Water North Calder Water River Kelvin River Cart River Leven

Major bridges (upstream to downstream)	Garrion Bridge Dalmarnock Bridge Dalmarnock Railway Bridge Rutherglen Bridge Polmadie Bridge King's Bridge St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge Pipe Bridge and Weir Albert Bridge City Union Bridge Victoria Bridge South Portland Street Suspension Bridge Glasgow Bridge Caledonian Railway Bridge George V Bridge Tradeston Bridge Kingston Bridge Clyde Arc Bell's Bridge Millennium Bridge Erskine Bridge

Longest UK rivers Severn Thames Trent Great Ouse Wye Ure/Ouse Tay Spey Clyde Tweed Avon Nene Eden Dee

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Contents

Geography [link]

Towns and villages along the shoreline [link]

Islands in the Clyde [link]

Sea lochs off the Clyde [link]

History [link]

Marine wildlife [link]

Shipping in the Firth [link]

Lighthouses [link]

See also [link]

References [link]

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