Scotland Part 2
Hello everyone ! First of all I wish you a beautiful and magical new year! I hope you will keep following our adventures this year and sharing with us our travels and experiences abroad.
For this second chapter I wanted to talk about my travels to Port Glasgow and Gourock. These are 2 lovely towns on the west coast of Scotland that I have visited with friends from my University.
The first town I have visited is Port Glasgow which was also my first travel at the very beginning of my Erasmus experience. It was the opportunity to get to know other Erasmus students and to share good times together by discovering the town. Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland and was previously considered as a burgh in the former county of Renfrew. The town grew from the central area of the town and thus many of the town's historic buildings and people are found here. The town is connected to Glasgow and Paisley by the train and the Port Glasgow railway station which is the main station. This city was a huge place for shipbuilding in the 19th century as the city is located on the coast.
The main reason for us to go to Port Glasgow was the Newark Castle. It is a lovely castle with a view of the River Clyde. It was home to the Maxwell Family until 1694, a very close friend of King James VI of Scotland (also known as James 1st of England).
Newark Castle, Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow is a very nice place to stay and as the town is a small one you can easily go to the centre of the town. You may also have an easy access to public facilities and transports and there are many shops.
Port Glasgow has also many traditional Scottish pubs with an easy-going and friendly atmosphere as the one I stopped in to have a drink with friends. This was the opportunity for us to take a break after our long walk throughout the green areas of the town. As many towns in Scotland, Port Glasgow is rather a rural area where you can found freedom and discover very inspirational landscapes.
Tower Hill, Gourock
Gourock is a town falling within the Inverclyde council area and formerly forming a burgh of the county of Renfrew in the West of Scotland.
Because of the rainy weather I was surprised to see an outdoor swimming pool in Gourock. In fact, the town has one of the three remaining public outdoor swimming pools in Scotland. Gourock Outdoor Pool was built in 1909 and reconstructed in 1969.
It was once tidal and had a sandy floor, but is now a modern, heated facility (so don’t worry about the cold weather outside !), with cleaned sea water used in the saltwater pool. The pool was closed at the end of the 2010 summer season for a major improvement project, now completed. If you have the opportunity to go Gourock I really recommend you this place.
Outdoor swimming pool, Gourock
Kempock Street is the main shopping street. The centre of the city is quiet small but really lovely.
Next time we will be discovering the sumptuous Stirling Castle, a unique place in Scotland and Europe.
Take care !
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