Baby, Baby, Baby Please....

B... 

Is for the Ballast Banking 

In 1840 ,the Duke of Portland #touchesfingersfingerstoforehead #sir had built a new harbour.  

Due to it's westlery disposition, and what with the Clyde Firth feeding the harbour, and it being the West of Scotland it was hammered by strong westerly gales; ships endeavouring to park up were repeatly pounded against the rocks.     

And so - it was with the ballast from those very ships that a protection was erected.  The Ballast Banking. 

Today, the Ballast Banking sits as it always has at the very South West of the Peninsula.  As well as providing shelter to the Wood Mill situated to it's North, and the Harbour beyond that, is a lovely walk, and has views to the north, as far as Ben Lomond, and West on a good night as far as Ireland, but in the most - to Arran and the Holy Isle and the Cumbraes to the North.   Barassie to the East, and the full town just to the South of it. 

Today a very high tide , 3.3 m was supposed to coincide with 47Mph.   When we arrived at the Banking, it was mild, dry, and the sea, whilst bumpy, wasn't particularly wild. 

By the time we had reached half way along the banking the wind had raised a fair bit - we knew we weren't going to be able to walk along the lower edge; and we watched in horror as we watched a dad and his wee boy and a puppy start the walk along the part of the path directly below Si in the picture.  

The puppy got soaked by the first wave, and it wasn't a massive one,  another wave like that and the puppy would in, and who would be next.  Neither of us had phones, and we started contemplated where to run; but thankfully the dad took another look, shouted the puppy back and took the boy's hand and made his way back again. 

It was here many, many years ago, that I was asked by a very rude young man, "how is your vagina tonight, Helen? "  When I responded "very well thank you", and he asked if he might check, I realised that the boys who played around the Banking might not be the type of boys I wanted to be playing with. 

And so I didn't play there in the evenings any more.