Nationalization

on Feb 9, 2022

For a small boy, one of the treats when going for a sail on the Clyde or a holiday visit on the Firth in the 1950s was to go to the steamer shop or stationery shop when ashore and, after much deliberation, choose a postcard depicting a favourite steamer of the day. Particularly prized were the photographic cards produced by Messrs W. Ralston, Ltd., the premier marine photographers who were renowned for their images of ships on trials. Their series of cards of Clyde Steamers covered most of the important members of the fleet. With the exception of the MacBrayne vessels, the uniform buff, black-topped funnels of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. Ltd., gave the impression that this was standard for a passenger steamer, but careful attention to the photographs gave glimpses of a more colourful age that preceded the utilitarian post-war decade. This article is mostly pictorial in nature. The...

Pointing Porters of Rothesay

on Aug 18, 2018

The licensing and regulation of carters and porters was a feature of many municipalities around the Clyde, and the Burgh of Rothesay was no exception. The porters on Rothesay Pier were particularly famous for their “pointing” during the late Victorian and Edwardian period. They had a brief resurrection after the first world war but seem to have disappeared sometime during the 1920s. “No person shall be permitted to ply for hire as a Porter until licensed by the Trustees and furnished with a badge which must be constantly conspicuously affixed to his breast and his name painted on his barrow and all porters must be sober, steady and civil to every person and they shall not go on board the steamboat until called by some one of the passengers whose directions shall be immediately obeyed without waiting any other hire. No separate charge shall be made for letters and parcels or goods which...

Innellan Pier

on Aug 13, 2018

The origins of Innellan date from the 1840s. Before that time the coastal area, five miles or so south of Dunoon, was sparsely populated. There were a few secluded summer homes for some of the wealthy businessmen from Paisley and Glasgow but the coast was in a state of nature. The name Innellan supposedly refers to the Perch, a rocky island off the coast but its present spelling derives from the time, around 1850, when feus were made available. Greenock Telegraph, December 28, 1849 Greenock Telegraph, August 30, 1850 “The New Watering Place.—Innellan promises to become a favourite locality for summer retirement. It is only a week or two since it was proposed to feu there, and we hear that already almost a dozen feuars are forward, and as there is a certainty of many tasteful villas making their appearance in that quarter in the course of the next two or three months. Innellan is...

Tigh-na-bruaich

on Dec 16, 2017

The village of Tighnabruich lies west of the mouth of Loch Ridden in a sheltered location with spectacular views to the south, down the western arm of the Kyles of Bute. The remote site is passed over in the early guides and accounts of sailing through the Kyles. Lumsden’s Steamboat Companion gives no mention, even in its later editions:— “From Rothesay the channel, for some miles, takes a north-westerly course, leaving the Clyde, and taking the name of the Kyles of Bute, which encircles half the island. Opposite to Rothesay bay is Auchenwilliam, Kirkman Finlay, Esq.; and 2 miles on the left is Port Bannatyne Bay and Village which, as well as Rothesay, is the occasional retreat of sea-bathing visitors; at the head of the bay stands Kames Castle, Hamilton, a romantic situation; and near it, an old tower, in ruins. In sailing through this channel, several agreeable prospects are met...

Craigendoran Steamers between the Wars

on Apr 27, 2017

The North British paddle steamers sailing out of their base at Craigendoran were able to maintain services well into the early years of the First World War. In 1915, Waverley continued sailing to Arrochar and Lochgoilhead until September when she was called up to join Marmion which had gone in June. Kenilworth had been reboilered early in the year and appeared that season with her fore-saloon extended to the full width of the hull and her bridge brought forward of the funnel. She served the Dunoon and Holy Loch connection along with Talisman while Lucy Ashton maintained service to the Gareloch piers. Dandie Dinmont was the spare boat. It was 1917 before Talisman and Kenilworth went to war, leaving Lucy Ashton and Dandie Dimont to cover the Craigendoran services for the remainder of the emergency. Dandie Dinmont approaching Dunoon around 1920 (McGeachie)   Kenilworth in Rothesay Bay...

North British Steamers

on Feb 28, 2016

The North British Railway Company had taken over the Helensburgh Railway in July 1866, a subsidiary, the North British Steam Packet Co., formed to run steamer services with their new well-appointed saloon steamers Meg Merrilies and Dandie Dinmont, immediately pressured the Helensburgh authorities for improved steamboat accommodation and a railway connection with the pier. The failure of this initial venture to attract a greater portion of the coast trade with steamers so obviously superior to those on other routes with the exception of the Iona must have been a tremendous blow to those involved. At the end of the season, Meg Merrilies and Dandie Dinmont were laid up in Bowling and offered for sale. The former was sold in 1868 to Turkish owners. Meg Merrilies Dandie Dinmont was moved to the Forth and tried on ferry services there. Her deck space was unsuitable for the requirements of...