NOW here is a picture that could have been taken at any time in the past 100 years. It is the Crocodile Rock at Millport on the island of Great Cumbrae.
My old colleague David Steele, a bit of a Millportphile, explains: “Back in Victorian times three gentlemen came out of the Tavern Bar in Glasgow Street, or so the story goes, after a right good liquid lunch, and one of them said, ‘doesn’t that rock look like a crocodile?’ His pals told him he was talking mince so the bold boy went home, came back with tins of red, white and black paint, and painted in the crocodile’s eyes and teeth.
“Since then a million children have had their pictures taken at the Crocodile Rock.”
Victorian paint doesn’t last that long, and every so often a volunteer from Cumbrae Burns Club tarts up the crocodile.
Adds David: “At high tide the waves lap under its chin which can be dramatic, and at low tide you can walk under the chin. It’s a real landmark in the town.”
That’s the thing about Scottish seaside towns – if you don’t think that a painted rock is much of a highlight then fly off to your Disneylands, but if your child being photographed standing on a rock which he will then repeat with his own children is a satisfying right of passage, then get yourself over to Millport.
The children here were photographed in 1959 when it appeared shorts were compulsory for boys and all girls wore sandals.
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