Paisley Photo-Walk by Fiona Wallace
Wednesday 23rd June saw Irvine Camera Club take to the streets of Paisley for our Wednesday evening photo-walk. Having lived in the area for some time, I volunteered to take a group of club members on a tour of the town centre. The photographic themes for the evening were Murals, Spires, Domes & Turrets and, appropriately enough, Buddies, and the town threw up plenty of examples of the first two categories, even if the buddies were not so forthcoming owing to the less than clement weather.
The tour started at the iconic finishing mill with its fabulous waterfall, and although the sun didn’t grace us with its presence, the cloud over the mill and waterfall lent itself to some dramatic skylines. And because of the relative lack of rainfall, the group were able to get out on to the rocks beside the falls with no casualties.
The party then followed the town centre parts of the Paisley Mural Trail, starting with the Johnston Street Kingfisher before heading over to Sma’ Shot cottages where Gerry Rafferty towers above Chic Young and the mural homage to St Mirren FC’s Scottish Cup victory of 1987 – the third time the local club had won the trophy in its history.
A further wander up through the university buildings took the group to the stunning Coats Memorial church where spires, domes and turrets were easily spotted. The last leg of the tour took us down High Street into the town centre and onwards to the Town Hall and Abbey.
The members were amazed at the wonderful architecture along the way and it was deemed a must that we should return later in the year when many of the town buildings would be floodlit. The tour was so successful that several members went back over the following days to see items missed on that evening, including the Paisley Abbey Alien.
All in all, Paisley did itself proud on the evening and we were very aware that we had only scratched the surface of what this very interesting town has to offer.
We are continuing to hold weekly photo-walks all throughout the summer. Everyone is welcome to come along and you can find details of what we have planned on our website www.irvinecc.co.uk
