TALL SHIPS - GREENOCK 3

Another lovely day! The 60 Tall Ships in the Clyde departed from Greenock at noon. I started out the day by attending a funeral at the Cathedral of the Isles, Millport, on the island of Cumbrae in the Clyde. I got the ferry back to Largs, picked up my car in the car park across from Nardini's (still selling ice-cream) and headed up the Clyde on the coast road to Greenock to see if I could catch the ships coming down.

Millport Bay

Millport Bay with a cruise liner away in the far distance.

Well my attempts to get photos of these three masted ships was not very successful. First of all, they sailed down the far side of the Clyde. Here is one in the distance with mountains of Arran in the background. It was rather hazy so I came away somewhat empty-handed.


But I have to confess that I was sharp-eyed earlier in the day when I departed on the ferry from the Isle of Cumbrae over to the mainland i.e. Largs (a 10 minute journey). I suddenly spotted these fellas in the sky! I shouted to the other passengers to look up... whoosh ... they flew by in a Diamond Nine formation, did a flip still keeping the diamond shape (gasp!) and roared on up the Clyde out of sight!

Wow! It was the best bit of the day! Who are they?

They are The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team and are the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force.

Their trademark is the diamond nine formation that I mentioned. The plane is a BAE Hawk trainer.

But best of all is this video (7 minutes) of them with Freddie Mercury singing Don't Stop Me Now. Great stuff!