IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
West Clyde Street, HELENSBURGH, G84 8AR

According to their website, Vanilla has been supplying ice cream, artisan coffees and sweet treats to locals and visitors for over 10 years. The shop on the right appears to have been closed for at least that long.

'Vanilla' sells Italian ice cream, teas, coffees, Scottish gifts and novelty candy.

The Journey, on the corner of West Clyde Street and Colquhoun Street is a fitness centre. The Category B listed building [http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB34746] was built as the National Bank of Scotland in 1928.

The picture was taken from the start of Helensburgh's West Esplanade. West Clyde Street is in the background, and its junction with Colquhoun Street is located behind the pumping station. Later, when the John Muir Way was created, this building became its starting point; the sides of the old pumping station were decorated with murals, and an artwork and bench were installed nearby: see Image, which shows all of these features. See also Image and Image

The John Muir Way now begins here, and, in that connection, an artwork and a seat were installed beside the building, as shown in Image (compare Image, taken before the creation of the John Muir Way). As is clear from those pictures, the building stands beside a pedestrian crossing (see also the far left of the present photograph). The mural shows "John Muir's cabin home on the edge of Muir Glacier"; it has an inset (or, rather, taped-on) map showing the course of the John Muir Way, a 134-mile (215-km) route that starts right here. The same panel also provides some information about an artwork that stands beside this pumping station: Image The path that can be seen crossing the grass just to the right of the pumping station leads to that artwork. Image can be seen on the left.

In the foreground is the artwork "Overhead / Underfoot", shown also in Image The bench behind it is also intended as an artwork, as well as for sitting on, and it has carved on it the phrases "the sun shines not on us but in us" and "going to the mountains is going home". The small building behind it is an old pumping station, with murals that are related to John Muir. The side that faces the shops on the left is shown, with its artwork, in Image For comparison with the present image, see an earlier picture, Image, framed similarly, but taken before the creation of the John Muir Way.

A Second World War mine, now used as a donation box, beside West Clyde Street. It's not clear what the donations go to, as the sign is illegible.