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...

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...

Aerial Views of the Clyde

on Mar 4, 2017

Photographs of the Clyde Harbours and Resorts taken from the air and made into postcards have always been popular. They are an easy way of showing where you stay whether all-year-round, or on holiday. The earliest photographs of the Clyde that were released commercially appear to have been the work of an Edinburgh Company in the years shortly after the First World War, around 1920 or 1921. They are generally marked Aerial Photos Ltd., Edinburgh. They include a good selection of the Cowal Coast, including Dunoon, Rothesay and surrounding areas in Bute, and coastal towns in the Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire. The photographs are oblique, taken at an angle, rather than the vertical stereo-pairs associated with mapping of later years. Quite a few show some of the steamers of the day. It is not clear what aircraft were used to obtain these photographs. Hunter’s Quay and the...

Sunday Steamers at Dunoon

on Mar 31, 2016

The pier at Dunoon is one of the most important on the Clyde, the major approach to the Cowal peninsula and an important hub for the major tours. The original pier, dating from about 1835, was built by a joint stock company but the rights to the pier and the ferry belonged to the Hafton Estate. This original pier was replaced by a new structure in 1845 and again in 1865 but by the end of the century, the single berth was a major source of congestion for the expanding steamer services on the Firth. The Trustees of the Hafton Estate, who owned the pier had proposed extensions as early as 1880 and had offered the pier to the Burgh on a number of occasions. Agreement on a price was finally reached and the Burgh purchased the structure on 31st December 1895 for £27,000 with an immediate plan to extend and reconstruct the pier for a further £15,000 that was put into action. Glasgow &...