Robert Mapplethorpe goes doon the watter

The connection may not be immediately obvious, but we were in Dunoon for the remarkable opening of the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition in Dunoon Burgh Hall. Mapplethorpe's risque and controversial, but recognised as stunningly beautiful, black and white photographs have been an inspiration to many photographers, including this one, and one day I may produce a flower photograph that I am pleased with. His were immaculate.

This picture - in monochrome as a small tribute to our hero - is of Dunoon's old pier; built in 1895 but sadly now out of use and in need of restoration. It was built to cope with the floods of trippers crossing the Clyde in steamers to enjoy the sunshine and the coast at Dunoon. I did so too with my parents and brothers in the 1960s, and I guess it is from then that the thrill started that I still feel when I go on a ferry.

On one of these holidays, I remember going with my Dad on a boat trip to see the American nuclear submarines stationed nearby. The first had arrived in 1961 when the Cold War heightened, and they stayed for thirty years. The last to be based there, the USS Simon Lake, left Holy Loch in June 1992 "leading to a major downturn in the local economy and prompting howls of protest from local taxi drivers and publicans" (Wikipedia). From our breakfast table on the Sunday morning, we watched a submarine drift earily in and out of the mist. On the ferry trip back to Gourock, one came quite close, waiting politely till we had passed before it continued down the Clyde.