Strand in London

3 September 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading “The”, but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London’s West End theatreland, runs just over 3/4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where it becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.   read more…

St Andrews in Scotland, the home of golf

10 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

View from St. Salvator's Tower © Jamesmcmahon0

View from St. Salvator’s Tower © Jamesmcmahon0

St Andrews (Latin: S. Andrea(s); Scots: Saunt Aundraes; Scottish Gaelic: Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, 10 miles (16 kilometres) southeast of Dundee and 30 miles (50 kilometres) northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 as of 2011, making it Fife’s fourth-largest settlement and 45th most populous settlement in Scotland.   read more…

Boston in Lincolnshire

9 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Pilgrim House © Immanuel Giel

Pilgrim House © Immanuel Giel

Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Boston local government district. The town had a population of 45,339 at the 2021 census, while the borough had an estimated population of 66,900 at the ONS mid-2015 estimates.   read more…

Southport on the Irish Sea

2 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Southport Town Hall © geograph.org.uk - Alexander P Kapp/cc-by-sa-2.0

Southport Town Hall © geograph.org.uk – Alexander P Kapp/cc-by-sa-2.0

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 94,421, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. the town is the third most populous settlement in the Liverpool City Region.   read more…

Theme Week Firth of Clyde – Isle of Arran

26 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  8 minutes

Isle of Arran Distillery - Special casks © flickr.com - sebastian.b./cc-by-2.0

Isle of Arran Distillery – Special casks © flickr.com – sebastian.b./cc-by-2.0

The Isle of Arran (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi). Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2011 census it had a resident population of 4,629. Though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. Often referred to as “Scotland in Miniature”, the Island is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and has been described as a “geologist’s paradise”.   read more…

Theme Week Firth of Clyde – Island Davaar

25 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Island Davaar Lighthouse © geograph.org.uk - Calum McRoberts/cc-by-sa-2.0

Island Davaar Lighthouse © geograph.org.uk – Calum McRoberts/cc-by-sa-2.0

Island Davaar or Davaar Island (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Dà Bhàrr) is located at the mouth of Campbeltown Loch off the east coast of Kintyre Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is a tidal island, linked to the mainland by a natural shingle causeway called the Doìrlinn near Campbeltown at low tide. The crossing can be made in around 40 minutes.   read more…

Theme Week Firth of Clyde – Ailsa Craig

24 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Ailsa Craig Lighthouse © geograph.org.uk - David Baird/cc-by-sa-2.0

Ailsa Craig Lighthouse © geograph.org.uk – David Baird/cc-by-sa-2.0

Ailsa Craig (Scots: Ailsae Craig; Scottish Gaelic: Creag Ealasaid) is an island of 99 ha (240 acres) in the outer Firth of Clyde, 16 km (8.5 mi) west of mainland Scotland, upon which microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises the remains of a magmatic pluton formed during the same period of igneous activity as magmatic rocks on the nearby Isle of Arran.   read more…

Theme Week Firth of Clyde – Little Cumbrae

23 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Lighthouse © flickr.com - David Cook/cc-by-2.0

Lighthouse © flickr.com – David Cook/cc-by-2.0

Little Cumbrae (Scottish Gaelic: Cumaradh Beag) is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies south of Great Cumbrae, its larger neighbour. The underlying geology is igneous with limited outcrops of sedimentary rock. Little Cumbrae House is of 20th century construction, although the island has no permanent inhabitation at present, its population having peaked at 23 in the late 19th century. There is a lighthouse on the western coast.   read more…

Theme Week Firth of Clyde

22 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Holy Isle from Lamlash © Colin/cc-by-sa-3.0

Holy Isle from Lamlash © Colin/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Firth of Clyde is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula. The Firth lies between West Dunbartonshire in the north, Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. The Kyles of Bute separates the Isle of Bute from the Cowal Peninsula. The Sound of Bute separates the islands of Bute and Arran.   read more…

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