Latest news with #Clyde
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Motherwell visit Clyde in season opener
Motherwell will begin the 2025-26 season with a trip to fourth-tier Clyde in their Premier Sports Cup Group G opener on 12 July. The Fir Park club are at home to Peterhead and Morton either side of a trip to Stenhousemuir. Motherwell are currently continuing the search for a new manager following the shock departure of Michael Wimmer last week.
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Record
Glasgow's new peregrine falcon chicks named after iconic Still Game characters
The chicks hatched on April 27 in a nest high above University of Glasgow's iconic Gilbert Scott Building Two peregrine falcon chicks born atop the University of Glasgow's iconic Gilbert Scott Building have been given names that pay tribute to one of Scotland's best-loved comedy duos, Jack and Victor. The fluffy newcomers hatched on April 27 in a nest high up in the tower that dominates the skyline above Kelvingrove Park and can be seen from as far as Dumbarton Road in Partick, Glasgow Live reports. Their proud parents, affectionately named Bonnie and Clyde, return to the Gothic building each spring since 2022 and have become favourites among local birdwatchers. On 21 May, members of the Glasgow Peregrine Project scaled the tower to ring the chicks, weigh them, take DNA samples, and install a new nest camera. During the check-up, they also retrieved an unhatched egg, which they believe was accidentally pierced by a parent's talon. Sharing the chosen names on social media, the University of Glasgow wrote: 'Say hello to Jack and Victor, the new additions to the UofG Falcon family. Bonnie and Clyde, a pair of peregrine falcons who return to nest atop the Gilbert Scott Building each spring, have welcomed their new chicks. 'Last week, the chicks were ringed, weighed, and DNA swabbed, and officially named Jack and Victor in true Glasgow style. The chicks will feature on Landward on BBC Scotland on 12 June.' Bonnie and Clyde themselves were named in 2024 after the university invited staff and students to suggest names for the breeding pair. Over 300 suggestions poured in, with 'Bonnie' chosen as a nod to 'Bonnie Scotland', and 'Clyde' referencing the River Clyde. Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on Earth, capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 miles per hour as they dive to catch prey. Found across much of the world, they typically grow up to two feet tall with a wingspan approaching four feet. The Glasgow Peregrine Project has been closely monitoring the birds and has even held public watches in recent years, giving people the chance to witness the remarkable creatures up close. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The RSPB, the University of Glasgow, and the Scottish Ornithologists' Club are spearheading the project, with support from several other groups. Clarke Elsby, building surveyor at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC: "We're keen that Bonnie and Clyde, and now Jack and Victor, are kept in the best possible condition while sharing their stories with our Glasgow community. "Thanks to this project, we're not only preserving these remarkable residents, we're also inspiring a new generation of wildlife enthusiasts across the city." John Simpson, Clyde area bird recorder, added: "We're delighted to be able to contribute to the work of the Glasgow Peregrine Project, and today's work was vital in following the stories of Bonnie and Clyde."
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Popular Shubenacadie Wildlife Park bear dies
Bonnie Bear left behind a brother — Clyde. Meig Campbell has an update on how he is handling the loss.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Glasgow University tower
The University of Glasgow has named its two new peregrine falcons chicks Jack and Victor after the lead characters from BBC Scotland sitcom Still birds of prey hatched on the rooftop of the Gilbert Scott tower last university said the falcon parents Bonnie and Clyde, who are officially considered staff at the university, have nested on the rooftop of the tower each spring since were named in reference to the phrase "Bonnie Scotland" and for the River Clyde - as well as the notorious crime duo. The university installed cameras in the nesting area at the top of the Gilbert Scott tower and saw the eggs appearing to move last and Victor hatched on 27 April and the Glasgow Peregrine Project said it observed a "big change" in Bonnie and Clyde's behaviour at the project is led by the Scottish Ornithologists' Club, the University of Glasgow and the RSPB, with support from a number of other groups.A spokesperson said: "Once peregrine chicks hatch, the adults (especially the female) become fiercely protective, chasing away any threat including birds, mammals, and even humans."The parents "worked hard" to feed the chicks over the following weeks to keep up with their growing appetites. Last week, staff scaled the 278 feet (85m) tall Gilbert Scott tower to the rooftop so that the chicks could be tagged, weighed and swabbed for rings were fitted to their legs which contained tiny electronic microchips that act like allows researchers to identify and track the birds throughout their lives so they can gather data on survival, movement and university previously welcomed four peregrine falcon chicks on the tower last year. Clarke Elsby, building surveyor at the University of Glasgow, said: "We're keen that Bonnie and Clyde, and now Jack and Victor, are kept in the best possible condition while sharing their stories with our Glasgow community."Thanks to this project, we're not only preserving these remarkable residents, we're also inspiring a new generation of wildlife enthusiasts across the city."John Simpson, Clyde area bird recorder, said: "We're delighted to be able to contribute to the work of the Glasgow Peregrine Project, and today's work was vital in following the stories of Bonnie and Clyde."In recent years the Glasgow Peregrine Project has held peregrine watches at the university, allowing people to see the birds in their nest.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
JOHN MACLEOD: The Clyde no longer clangs with the sound of hammers, but still the silver ferry glides across its waves
It's a muggy day in August 1979 and, atop a bicycle slightly too big for him, a mop-haired 13 year-old heads determinedly through western Glasgow by Anniesland Road, Kingsway and the main drag to Dumbarton. He's a bit lonely, very bookish and, worst of all, thirteen. But he likes ferries. They suggest change, transition, deliverance. And so he pulls up his Raleigh Wayfarer at the top of the great cobbled slip and, for long soothing minutes, watches the stately craft chug back and fore, along heavy guiding chains, between Renfrew and Yoker – and life feels that wee bit better. Negotiating the thunderous local traffic nearly half a century later, I wonder what possessed me. Yoker Ferry Road seems longer than I remember. Much around the slipway has been demolished. But the Clyde is a great deal cleaner. And, shortly, the wee silver landing-craft purrs across the wavelets. Danny, the perky young skipper, relieves me of £3 and, shortly, I am on my way to the other shore and, indeed, another local authority. A similar craft is perched high and dry on the Renfrew slip. 'Been there two year,' says Danny. 'They were supposed to change the ramp, and guys duly came and cut the old one off. We never saw them again.' 'Really?' 'They stopped returning our calls,' says Danny darkly. 'Good you're still going. I thought the new bridge...' 'It's hit us, aye – numbers are down half, about half – but there's still many that like the ferry.' The swingbridge in question, which finally opened earlier this month, is about ten minutes' walk downstream and, already, evidently popular. I amble across it, add West Dunbartonshire to my footfall, and note not just the steady purr of cars and vans – the new connection is especially useful for Braehead shopping – but a surprising number of pedestrians: young mums and dads with pushchairs. I glance upriver, and Danny is traversing the straits again, the sunlight glinting on his little 12-passenger vessel. The Clydelink landing-craft is not, of course, the ship I remember. She – imaginatively named the Renfrew – was a great square double-ended chain-ferry, diesel-electric, built in 1952, able to bear two dozen cars and for an era when thousands crossed the Clyde daily for work. And when she had occasionally to be drydocked and overhauled, a similar if smaller vessel – steam-powered, repurposed from Erskine upon 1971 redundancy – could relieve her. It might have seemed prosaic, but in its own wee way the Renfrew ferry is part of Greater Glasgow's rich tapestry. When the King and Queen in 1934 descended on Clydebank to launch the Queen Mary, it is said the Renfrew ferry that day conveyed some 22,000 excited sightseers. On two dreadful nights in March 1941, the ship toiled from dusk to dawn, flashes and explosions all around her, conveying ambulances and fire-engines to stricken Clydebank. And one of the Renfrew ferry crew was even a key witness in the 1958 trial of the murderous Peter Manuel. Even then, this was still one of many craft – some vehicular; other little launches for passengers only – that criss-crossed the river under the auspices of the Clyde Port Authority and when Glasgow was not just still the Second City of the Empire but the workshop of the world. All the ferries, in fact, were free, except for those at Renfrew and Erskine which were partly and wholly outwith Glasgow Corporation bounds. But life then began to grow lonely. Opened in 1963, the Clyde Tunnel was the finish of the ferries at Govan and Whiteinch. Other services – Stobcross, Meadowside, Finnieston – soon disappeared too and, with the demise of the little Kelvinhaugh ferry in 1980, the Renfrew was on her lonesome. And losing money in epic quantities, jangling back and fore with just two or three cars at a time. It was bonkers and, on a wistful day in May 1984, she voyaged for the last time, children and locals turning out in great number to make rather a gala of the occasion. It was not the end of the service. Two small bow-loading ferries – for passengers only, though capable of taking an ambulance over in emergency – assumed the crossing, and till 2010 the Renfrew Rose and the Yoker Swan served loyally and well. But the operational losses were increasingly crazy and they were finally withdrawn for new careers, respectively, on the Cromarty Firth and in the south of Ireland. Indeed, last year and in her new Hibernian briny the Yoker Swan, laden with finalists, had a chug-on part in Masterchef: The Professionals. Clydelink now took on the Renfrew to Yoker passage, with their glorified lawnmowers. 1984 was not quite doom for the broad-beamed chain ferries. The Renfrew floats to this day as an static, popular quayside venue upriver and, during the Glasgow Garden Festival, her older sister briefly served in a similar capacity. But by November 2000 Scotland's last steam-powered ferry, last of the long line of Erskine vessels, had foundered in Renfrew's little harbour, and was shortly demolished. The Clyde's latest bridges – a passenger swing-bridge opened between Govan and Partick last September – have proved rather a hit. It's good that the Clyde has now been so cleaned up that salmon have been running it happily, anew, since the late Seventies. Indeed, they were historically so plentiful that, according to tradition, Govan tradesmen could not feed it to their apprentices more than twice a week. But, steaming downriver on the Waverley or even just going for a long determined walk by its shores, by derelict this and gap-site that, one feels sad to see one of the greatest rivers in the world reduced to little more than a bit of pretty. Great tides of working men no longer flood Dumbarton Road as the end-of-shift siren wails, Glasgow is no longer reduced to a ghost-town in Fair Fortnight, and the merry chink and clang of hammers no longer reverberates in Scotstoun and Whiteinch. Danny is having a joyously busy day and, as I retrace my steps down the Renfrew cobbles, he is just sweeping in with his latest complement of passengers – Maw, Paw and three happy weans. The children turn and wave exuberant goodbye as I again cross Danny's palm with silver and his little craft backs out with a growl of outboard. Danny was in Lewis once. Lewis is nice, aye. 'Aye, I get lots of children. Kids just love the ferry…' And, of course – it was shut for some hours yesterday – the competing new bridge is not always available, adding further joyous footfall. Danny and colleagues are determined to maintain a service now at least in its fifth century – and I, for one, hope there is always a Renfrew ferry.
