Dunglass Castle is thought to have been built some time in the 14th century, although it’s early history isn’t known. However in 1439 it was granted to Sir John Colquhoun who was beaten in a skirmish with the MacFarlanes of Arrochar in 1592 and fled to Bannachra Castle where he was killed by an archer who fired an arrow through a window. From 1893 until 1899 the designer Talwin Morris owned and lived at Dunglass Castle, and carried out some work on the interiors. In 1899 he sold the property to his best friend Charles Macdonald, the lawyer brother of the artist Margaret Macdonald who would later marry Charles Rennie Mackintosh who designed the interiors, in particular the drawing room and dining room.

The obelisk erected in 1838 is a Monument to Henry Bell who designed the paddle-steamer Comet. Launched at Port Glasgow in 1812, it provided the first regular steamship service on the River Clyde and paved the way for the Clyde’s place as a centre of shipbuilding and marine engineering.

I suppose there are a lot of people like me at this moment in time (Lockdown) finding it difficult to get a new take on our daily outings due to travel restrictions, so on a recent walk on a rather chilly day I took this photo looking down the River Clyde towards Dumbarton Rock from my local shoreline here in Erskine, Scotland. I'm waiting on the day when I can legally drive to the far away mountains and enjoy a closer view of them in their snow clad condition, but I have a feeling that the snow will have gone by then.....Oh my!!!......

A view across the River Clyde to the guardian of the river, the majestic "Dumbarton Rock" with the snow clad peaks of the "Lomond Mountains" in the background.