Friends, ferns and a head-on

I went off with a couple of friends this morning to visit Benmore, the Edinburgh Botanics garden near Dunoon, in Argyll. I've not been there for a while and arranged to meet the Curator who has been a friend for many years. 

It's a truly amazing place, noted particularly for the avenue of giant redwoods, planted in 1863 - the tallest is now around 177ft. There's a huge collection of conifers and many other plants and in particular collections of plants from Chile and Bhutan - see https://www.rbge.org.uk/visit/benmore-botanic-garden/

I was particularly keen to see the Victorian fernery. It was originally built in the 1870s but was derelict for many years. I first saw it as a total ruin. Some years ago it was completely renovated and replanted - I remember being shown around it on a BPS Fern Outing when it was reopened in 2009. Absolutely gorgeous! This is my Blip today. 

On the way home, approaching the narrow hump-backed bridge on the outskirts of Inveraray, we came up behind a queue of traffic waiting for the lights to change. They must have been red for some time as people were getting out of their cars to see what was going on. Suddenly a car pulled out of the queue and zoomed off up the bridge to drive almost head on into a car coming the other way. I jumped out of the car and grabbed my camera in time to take a zoom shot of the action - this is my extra today. You can see the dust or steam still rising! Nobody was hurt, but we had to sit there for 45 minutes until the road was cleared and we were allowed past!

All round an exciting day!