Kathryn Polley Photography

28/07/2026

A wonderful sunset cruise on PS Waverley, from the Glasgow Science Centre to the Tail of the Bank and back. It felt a bit like every second provided a photo opportunity, but here are just a few of my favourites.

26/07/2026

Last week, I thoroughly enjoyed the sunset cruise on the Waverley from the Science Centre in Glasgow, down the Clyde to the Tail of the Bank and back. There was a chap nearby making a video and I did wonder at the time if it was the same man whose recent videos of Geilston Garden NTS and other spots around Helensburgh I'd also enjoyed watching. Turns out it was. I've shared his video below and will post some of my shots shortly. I have a terrible memory for events and often have to rely on photographs to keep things alive for me - being able to watch the video is an extra bonus in my book. Just need a fan on to get the sense of the breeze out on the water! What About

Great to be on board Paddle Steamer Waverley once again. This time ...

24/07/2026

From strong leading lines, to a riot of colour, to a study in delicacy. Taking three, intentional shots rather than arbitrarily snapping away gives you more sense of a place later on and your storage medium (hardrive or cloud) will thank you for it later! From the last workshop I ran with Friends of Geilston at Geilston Garden NTS

23/07/2026

Thank you for all the support you have given to Helensburgh Community Council and our campaign to protect the waterfront’s Common Good land so we can all enjoy it now, along with generations to come.

Common Good land, including the site Argyll and Bute Council want to sell for a supermarket development on the waterfront, is a special category of land protected for public benefit and use. But for many of us, there is much we don’t know about how this land came about, what protections it has and what difference this makes to what we can do with it in the future.

Find out what Common Good land is and why we should protect it at a public meeting on 30 July

We are delighted that Scottish land expert, Andy Wightman, will be speaking at a public meeting about the future of Helensburgh’s Common Good land, next Thursday 30th July, 7 - 9pm in the annexe at the Civic Centre on East Clyde Street, Helensburgh.

Andy Wightman is a writer and researcher focussing on land governance, land ownership and community land rights. He is the author of publications including Who Owns Scotland (1996), Scotland: Land and Power (1999), Common Good Land: a review and critique (2005), Community Land Rights: A Citizen’s Guide (2009) and The Poor Had No Lawyers (2010). He runs the
www.whoownsscotland.org.uk
project. From 2016 to 2021, Andy was a Member of the Scottish Parliament 2016-2021.

We have invited a panel of expert speakers, both for and against the proposed sell off, from Argyll and Bute Council and the Helensburgh Community Council

Peter Brown, convenor of Helensburgh Community Council will be chairing the meeting. We have also invited Pippa Milne, chief executive of Argyll and Bute Council, and Ross Moreland, deputy leader of Argyll and Bute Council, to set out their vision for the waterfront and explain their proposal to sell the Common Good land. We’ll share updates on the campaign and make sure there is plenty of time for questions and answers.

Everyone is welcome. It’s a great opportunity to find out what is going on and how you can make sure your views are heard on the future of the waterfront.

We look forward to seeing you at 7pm on 30 July!

21/07/2026

One of the brilliant things about a garden, and especially this time of year, is that there are always plants at different stages of life to see. Nothing is static, everything is growing, bursting, fading, curling. Finding plants at different points on that journey and grouping three shots together tells yet another story.

These were from my workshop for Friends of Geilston at the beautiful Geilston Garden NTS in Cardross. We're doing another one on the 10th October where we'll be looking at expressing mood through what I hope will be autumn light - but even if it's rain , we can use that too. To book, email the Friends here: [email protected]

And check out the rest of their events here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTTQUh547HcMKfR3qT-zQxPeaNvC8z1YjjFzcQvGj9M0RdEqAjRBREyg9-GWaRxUCsajmqgXJ5JkXuF/pub

20/07/2026

Another set, this time plotting the story of the redcurrants in the kitchen garden at Geilston Garden NTS during the workshop I ran for the Friends of Geilston on Saturday. These unlocked a childhood memory for me - summer gardening alongside my dad (not that I think I was being particularly helpful!), fruit compotes, and later, cheesecakes smothered in summer fruits. Yum!

19/07/2026

It was my absolute pleasure to run a photography workshop for the Friends of Geilston this weekend. Geilston Garden NTS has to be one of my top favourite places to spend an afternoon and we were blessed with gloriously warm sunshine on Saturday.

Our aim was not merely to take photographs of the plants and flowers, but to consider how we might tell something of a story about the place we were so lucky to be in. A tried and tested way to do this is to take three shots, moving from a general establishing shot to a specific subject, to a detail. In this way, here is a story of hunting down the chard in the veg plot!

Our next workshop will be on Saturday 10th October when we will be thinking about how we can use photography to express mood as we take in the wooded areas of the garden, and some of the water features. Please book by emailing [email protected]

16/07/2026

Our next event is a summer photography workshop with Kathryn Polley Photography. Kathryn is a local professional photographer who has a great love for the garden. This is a great opportunity to work on your skills and maybe get some pictures to enter into the 2027 calendar competition. Looks like it will be a perfect day with a warm, dry day with sunny intervals forecast. Contact [email protected] to book a place.

14/07/2026

Looking forward to another photography workshop at Geilston Garden on Saturday. This time we're focusing on the Kitchen Garden and orchard and thinking about how to tell the story of a space.

To book, email: [email protected]