Gourock Railway Pier

on Jun 18, 2021

In 1865, the Caledonian Railway Company purchased the harbour and pier at Gourock. The move anticipated the changes taking place as their main rival, the Glasgow and South Western Railway company sought access to the coast at Albert Harbour in Greenock through the proposed Greenock and Ayrshire Railway, that also provided a route to Greenock from Glasgow. The Greenock Railway, taken over by the Caledonian in 1851, had long enjoyed a monopoly of access to the coast and had built up connecting services to the coast towns and resorts with the private steamboat owners. This monopoly was threatened, not only by the Glasgow and South Western Railway, but also by the North British Railway, on the cusp of the opening of the Helensburgh line providing access to the coast on the north bank of the Clyde, and the Wemyss Bay Railway, offering services provided by the Caledonian itself. 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...

A New Lord of the Isles — 1891

on Dec 28, 2016

By the beginning of the 1890s, the general standard of facilities offered on-board the new railway steamers meant that the privately owned vessels were largely outclassed. This prompted the Glasgow and Inveraray Steam Packet Co. (Ltd.) to approach Messrs D. & W. Henderson & Co. with a view to replacing their aging tourist steamer, Lord of the Isles. The old steamer, built in 1877, had opened up the tourist traffic to Inveraray from where Oban and Loch Awe could be reached by coach. It had also popularized the Loch Eck tour, connecting Dunoon and Strachur by a combination of coaches and the steamer Fairy Queen on Loch Eck. This provided a round trip that encompassed spectacular scenery on the Loch Eck route and the route by water through the Kyles of Bute and up Loch Fyne and could be performed in either direction. The old Lord of the Isles (Adamson) The old Lord of the Isles...

Down the Water—and weekly chit-chat

on Apr 13, 2016

A strange little newspaper published on Saturday June 4th, 1887 was aimed at providing the public with a “pleasant hour in the wearisome tediousness of a steamship or railway journey” down the water. The editorial statement indicated that it was to be issued every Saturday morning at 47 Oswald Street, Glasgow  but that “owing to an accident, we are a little behind this week.” There are no advertisements in the first issue but they offered to carry advertisements at the rate of 1/6 an inch. Many of the articles have a strange feel for the most part and look to have been lifted piecemeal from an American publication although there are a few domestic “gems”: “Papa” asked a young hopeful the other day. “Is Queen Victoria’s other name Lize.” “No my son, why do you ask?” “Why, you know, I’ver just heard...