Up the watter...

On the day that was meant to be Scotland's fresh start (if the referendum had gone the other way in September 2014) it was sobering to see this sight in Dunoon late this afternoon.

Look closely and you will notice not just the fine Victorian pier but also, on the left hand side, a nuclear submarine , no doubt armed with nuclear missiles, coming "up the watter" to its base at Faslane , probably on the way home after one of its long "deterrent" patrols.

Minutes after I took this it was passed by two Cal Mac ferries creating another contrast.    

That  banner of the 1820 Martyrs  - Scotland free or a desert - has a new meaning when considering these weapons of mass destruction , and the fact that there are more of them based in our country than anywhere else in Europe.