ROTHESAY. A Monochrome Crossing.

The Discovery Centre, formerly the Winter Gardens, an essential part of any British resort.

A follow on from the earlier post of the expedition along the River Clyde and to the Islands. Or two of them at least, Bute and Great Cumbrae. The first stop was Rothesay, the capital of the island. Sorting through I’ve found a few more images of the day.

Waiting for the ferry at the elegant Wemyss Bay station, an architectural statement created by the Caledonian Railway to announce it’s position as one of Scotland’s premier railway companies.

I haven’t been to the Isle of Bute in many many years. It was always a destination during childhood holidays to he resort town of Dunoon, in an era when these towns hummed with life and the black hulled ferries buzzed to and fro across the River Clyde. I have memories of them being run by the Caledonian Steam Packet Company, a subsidiary of the then nationalised British Railways, other routes were run by MacBrayne. Both now amalgamated. Another little thread of my past filed in the “Used To Be” box.

Modern day function meets the elegance of another era on the quayside.

Like a lot of holiday destinations, time and the changing fashions have not been kind. Nor has the “C” word. Though in a curious way the recent trend for staycations brought about by Covid has perhaps started a slowly growing trend for people to re-explore these past, popular destinations. Who knows, with a little bit of luck and a following wind, locations like this might bloom again in the future.