Coals to Cowal

on Feb 1, 2024

One of my favourite old postcard views shows the Royal Marine Hotel in Hunter’s Quay. The Hotel was built in 1890 to the design of the Glasgow Architect, Thomas Lennox Watson, and replaced an earlier hotel that was destroyed by fire. It received its “Royal” designation because it was the home of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club for many years. The photograph from which the postcard was printed was taken by Messrs Poulton in the 1890s. Their negative stock was purchased by Messrs Ritchie of Edinburgh and released as postcards as part of their “Reliable Series.” Poulton collotype of the above view Of particular interest are the two old steam lighters, Effort and Advance, on the beach. Both are of the old style and steered by tiller, rather than having a wheel. The Effort looks the simpler and older of the two. Indeed, she was launched by Messrs William Swan & Son at Kelvindock on the Forth...

Dr James Stevenson

on Dec 1, 2023

I enjoy finding sources of the impact of the steamboats on the Clyde that others might overlook. One such is the “Salt-Water Gazette,” a literary and satirical publication that lasted a season in 1835. In one issue there is the tale of Mr. John Guy, porter at Helensburgh Quay, and his journey by steamboat to Glasgow. A contemporary view of Helensburgh Quay is shown above, courtesy of Helensburgh Library. After spending some time on deck, Mr Guy was beckoned “down into the little chamber, built by the proprietor, Doctor Stevenson, for the refreshment of pilgrims.” Here is the name of the steam-boat owner, and the implication is that he was widely known in his day by the traveling public. A little research reveals that Dr. James Stevenson was a Royal Navy surgeon and the 1841 Census has him living in Clyde Street, Helensburgh, aged 50 years with his wife Elizabeth 45 along with a maid...

Early days at Largs

on Nov 1, 2023

Even before the steam-boat age, the village of Largs was a popular summer destination for sea-bathers and pleasure seekers. Sheltered from the prevailing winds by the Isle of Cumbrae, the climate was mild. The good folk of Paisley found it particularly attractive, and the advent of the steamboat meant that a tedious journey under sail or uncomfortable progression by road could be avoided. The old part of the town was built up north of the Gogo burn and by the time that steamboats arrived, new building was beginning south of the burn, including the celebrated Curling Hall. The first steamboat advertised to call off Largs was the Glasgow. Built of wood towards the end 1813, by Messrs John Wood of Port Glasgow, she was 67 feet in length. Her first engines were furnished by Henry Bell and were constructed by Messrs Anderson & Campbell of Greenock, but were not a success when she...

Graham Brymner

on Oct 1, 2023

Graham Brymner was born on 27th January 1827 in Greenock, the son of Elizabeth (neé Fairlie) and Mr Alexander Brymner, who was the cashier in the Greenock Bank, and was at one time editor of the Greenock Intelligencer. Graham was educated at Greenock Grammar School and afterwards sought his fortune as a planter in the West Indies. On returning to Greenock in the 1840s, he took up office work, and then started a business with his elder brother, Douglas, who was at the time engaged as a shipping clerk. The firm of Messrs D. & G. Brymner were coal and lime merchants, with premises in East Quay Lane. The vessels they used were mainly wooden gabbarts or small schooners. The Alexander, presumably named after their father, was built for them by Messrs Scott & Sons, Greenock. The Mount Stuart was built by Messrs M‘Lea on the slip at Rothesay in 1855 and Strath Clutha the following year...

Loch Lomond Steamboats in Mid-Victorian Years

on Jun 1, 2023

A previous article details the development of the Lochlomond Steam-boat Company to 1855. At that time, the Company had two steamers, Prince Albert, built in 1850, with a flush deck, and Queen Victoria, built in 1852 to incorporate the engines of the old Waterwitch. She had a raised quarter-deck that gave her better saloon accommodation. On the Loch itself, there were piers at all the calling places. The route ran from Balloch to the Inverarnan Canal, where connections with coaches to Perthshire and the north were made. At Tarbert, there were coach connections to Inveraray, Oban and the west, and to Arrochar where the Dumbarton steamers called to provide a circular tour from Glasgow. At Inversnaid, there were connections with the Trossachs tour and Loch Katrine. That year, a consortium of interested hotel proprietors and the Lochlomond Company shared the cost of a new steamer, Rob Roy,...

To Inveraray by the Loch Eck Route

on May 1, 2023

It was David Napier, one of the pioneers of steamships on the Clyde, who opened up the route to Inveraray by Loch Eck and Strachur. In 1827, he placed the iron-bottomed Aglaia on Loch Eck and the old Marion from Loch Lomond, renamed Thalia, to sail between Strachur and Inveraray. In 1829, he introduced steam carriages on the connecting roads from his pier at Kilmun to the foot of the Loch and from its head to Strachur. The steam carriages were quickly withdrawn as too heavy for the road surfaces, but the route proved popular with coaches instead of the steam carriages, and the whole road along the side of Loch Eck was improved at this time. At the end of the season in 1835, Napier sold his steamboats on the Clyde and moved his enterprise to London. Among the steamboats sold was the Aglaia, and her subsequent adventures on Loch Fyne as Strachur, and on the Clyde as the James Gallacher...