Ewen’s Club Paddle From Erskine 15 March 2020

Erskine to Paisley

(Words provided by William Bell)

I am having difficulty in getting my neighbours in Erskine and work colleagues at Renfrew to believe that 16 paddlers from the Royal West paddled from Boden Boo at the Erskine Bridge to under the Piazza in Paisley on Sunday 15th March 2020. Well here is the proof!

The 16 paddlers at the start of the trip 

The paddle on the River Clyde between Erskine and Paisley was most interesting passing many historical landmarks. The paddler on the right hand side, Ewen Chisholm, is responsible for all aspects of this trip, including excluding the weather.

The Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge over the White Cart Water at Renfrew. This is the only remaining lift bridge in the country – and we paddled under it.

An interesting spot for a picnic on the banks of the Black Cart just down from the piazza.

The 150-foot-high Titan cantilever crane at Clydebank with a capacity of 160 tonnes. If we had rafted together it could still have lifted all of us at once, even after our picnic.

In all honesty, this was a very enjoyable and interesting trip, and one which should be added to the Royal West Touring Calendar.

Many thanks to Hugh Kerr, Paul Edgar and Stacey Hearl for the photographs and a special thanks to Ewen Chisholm.