The below images demonstrate details of the ideas and proposals so far. To see more detail, click the CLOSER LOOK button below each image to open a PDF in a new tab. Then use your browser to zoom in and out.
The first section shows the Placemaking proposal. Placemaking is a form of infrastructure development that makes a place look more vibrant, interesting and unique! It might be a creative object or natural element referencing a place’s heritage, culture, or history.
The second section of the page shows maps of the route with blow-outs showing key points in more detail.
Leave your comments and suggestions in the feedback boxes under each section. After viewing the designs, please complete our short questionnaire. You will find the link at the bottom of this page.
The placemaking strategy for this project is driven by 3 things:
-
Respecting how local people currently use the loch side route for exercise and travel, informed by observation on site and our review of the data of almost sixty thousand journeys logged on Strava.
-
Creating new connections into the community, making the active travel facility inclusive for all.
-
The history and identity of the Gare Loch, and its rich legacy of steamer and boat travel.
The route is approximately 10km long, and so we’ve focused placemaking around key markers along its length, for example:
-
Where people might set out on a journey from (e.g. Helensburgh, Rhu, or HMNB Clyde).
-
Visual markers, targets, or achievements (e.g. climbing to hill summit over the base, or a sprint between bus stops).
-
Prominent connections into the route (e.g. from Rhu Road Higher, or the Haul Road).
Our placemaking, in essence, takes the form of active travel laybys. These are off-route zones for walkers, runners and riders to pause for the view, wait on companions, or take a drink. The thirteen laybys have a similar make-up, including a change in the surface texture and a steel barrier embellished with wayfinding and interpretation, that could include text and imagery. Nine of the laybys also include a bell as a centrepiece.
Ships have had bells since the late 1400s, and still do today. The Waverley has a bell on-deck, as do all the Naval ships which sail on the Gare Loch. Historically, ship’s bells are sounded at 30 minute intervals, as a means of telling the time since the start of each new watch.
Organised in two sets, our nine bells are located at approximately 2.5km distances from one another. 2.5km is on average a 30 minute walk, 5km is about a 30 minute run, and 10km is roughly a 30 minute cycle – the same intervals of time used to ring the bells on ships.
In these locations users might cross over. Some will be starting journeys, some might be waiting for a bus, and some might be turning back, having used the bell as a destination. The bell is meant to be touched and interacted with by users, as a way to connect the activity on land, with the long history of activity on the water.
We are interested in how these bold, interactive markers, combined with the broader infrastructure project, could support active travel and inspire more recreational use of the route. The aspiration being to enhance opportunities for community wealth building through increased footfall while sharing the history and significance of the setting and enhancing wellbeing.
.jpg)
