WEEK 74 CORONAVIRUS: A WALK ALONG THE LEVEN AT RENTON

We continue to enjoy good health and, indeed, the wonderful summer weather we have been having. For many places in the world it is not wonderful due to intense heat, e.g. southern Mediterranean especially Greece and Italy.

I had a go at putting music to a videos I made of bees in the garden but I am not managing to post it.  Patience.... in the meantime here is a recent photo taken by Mairi.

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I was out this past week with the LitterPickers group that do various points in West Dumbartonshire communities, usually walkways along the Leven. I went along to join them as it was going to be a trip down Memory Lane.

This is the River Leven at the point where there was a quayside for boat delivering goods to the Turkey Red Dye Factory that was there 240 years ago. It  is long gone now but  the history of works is fascinating. The story is here:  

This stone on the left was near the place where there was a small bridge over a burn which opened to the above entrance for boats.  I think it is a loupin' stone. That is a stone placed at the edge of a road, entrance to a big house at the bottom of the stairs rising to the door, or at the corner of a building like, say, a pub. You stepped up on to it to mount a horse. Loupin' (louping) is to leap.

This old pub is still on the main street on Renton.  The building I worked in (Health Clinic) is still there too but is a private house. The Dalquhurn works (on the Turkey Red Factory site) are long gone. However I remember that there was a remnant warehouse for fabrics when I was there 54 years ago!  It's all houses now ...lots of them and looking quite tidy too. It was anything but in the past!