Life on the Clyde

Reading Bill Paterson's Credo feature [May 2021] sent me on a trip down memory lane. I, too, spent much of my childhood zipping up and down the Clyde on the paddle steamers. It was the best bit about summer holidays, trundling up and down the river on this big vessel and meeting other school children doing exactly the same with their families.

One particular memory has stuck with me all these years. My grandmother was standing beside me as we watched one of the boats go by, her bright pink lipstick smeared round her mouth as we both indulged in an ice cream. Mine splatted on the pavement, of course, while I was distracted by the magnificent boat steaming past. I can't say I've ever recovered from the trauma and I no longer eat ice cream from a cone – it's tubs all the way for me.

Much like Bill and fellow acting legend Robbie Coltrane, my long-suffering friend Peter Carrigan, who I have known since school days and who has put up with my ramblings for as long as I can remember, sat down with me to reminisce over a nice cup of tea.

Those were the days... David Murray, Glasgow