A letter to the editor of the Morning Journal on September 9, 1858 was headed—

“Loch Awe and Steamboat Proprietors”

“Sir,—Loch-Awe, as I understand, is the longest fresh-water loch in Scotland; in extent is ‘about thirty miles long, and from one to two broad.’ It starts at the south end, about eight miles north of the west end of the Crinan Canal, and then runs in a northerly direction—through a sequestered district, rich in beautiful scenery—until it reches Glenorchy at the north, at a point leading northeasterly by way of Tyndrum and Taymouth; west by Bonawe and Oban; and east by Tyndrum and Lochlomond. Loch Awe at present—so far as a public conveyance or coach is concerned—can only be reached in the summer months, by coach from Inverary via Kilchrennan (i.e., crossing Loch-Awe about twelve miles from the north end of the loch), and then passing on by Bonawe to Oban. In summer there is also a coach in connection by the head of the loch.

“Now, Sir, my principal object in this note is to ask how is it that some of the enterprising steamboat proprietors have not thought of placing a steamboat on this loch for passenger and general traffic. It would pay just now, from the general passenger and goods traffic, in connection with a bonus from tourists; then who will say that it would not be a good speculation, if a railway were formed between Lochlomond and Oban, passing not far from the head of Loch-Awe.

“The roads at both ends of the loch, I have been told, are in excellent condition.”—A Suggestor, Glasgow 25th September, 1858

This was by no means the first consideration of placing a steamboat on the Loch. In 1846, Sir Alexander Campbell had approached the Lochlomond Steamboat Company to introduce a service in anticipation of a railway to Oban but the company decided not to act. The letter above from 1858, was reprinted in other papers around the north of the country and was brought to the attention of Mr. David Hutcheson, then the principal figure of Messrs. D. Hutcheson & Co., the predecessors to Messrs. Macbrayne. It was, however, not Mr. Hutcheson who responded. A small steamboat, Eva, just over 50 feet long, was built by Messrs Swan & Co., at Kelvindock in Maryhill and found its way to Loch Awe, most likely providing the ferry service from Port Sonachan to Kilchrennan as well as other excursions. The route from Inveraray to Port Sonachan with the ferry connection to Kilchrennan and Glen Nant and on to Oban was an important one for general travelers and the picturesque scenery attracted tourist traffic. An anecdote from 1855 from the Greenock Advertiser relates where a traveller gave the ferryman a shilling for his efforts rowing across the loch, and after moving some way, the man called him back saying “ye hae gi’en me a saxpence owre muckle,” and handed him back the change. Such self-denying Gaels were reckoned to be “few and far between.”

“Steamer on Loch Awe.—A steamboat, Eva, of Loch-Awe, has been launched on the still waters of this beautiful but comparative little known lake. It conveyed the people of Kilchrennan down to the Sacrament at Dalavich, to the wonderment and delight of the mountaineers.”—Dundee Courier of July 29, 1861

The Eva had a limited career and was offered for sale at Inveraray in 1862. The following year, in the last week of September, a larger vessel, 80 feet in length, appeared. Queen of the Lake, was a wooden screw steamer launched in the neighbourhood of Port Sonachan and intended to ply with goods and passengers. She connected at Ford at the southern end of Loch Awe with a coach from Ardrishaig with passengers from Iona. She sailed to the Pass of Brander, at the north end of the loch from where passengers continued by coach to Oban.

Glasgow Herald, August 25, 1865

Glasgow Herald August 10, 1867

Glasgow Herald, June 30, 1871

Messrs Hutcheson took an interest in the Loch Awe service and acquired the Queen of the Lake in the early 1870s. It was recognized that the service was less than perfect and in 1876, Messrs Hutcheson had Lochawe designed and framed by Messrs A. & J. Inglis and built and engined by Messrs Muir & Caldwell of Glasgow. The new steamer appeared in June and was 105 feet in length and 17 feet in breadth with accommodation for 450 passengers. Her fittings were of a high standard. The cabin in the fore part of the ship had facilities for dining for 70 persons and was described as elegant, light and airy. “The seats are cushioned with rich crimson velvet, the paneling is of bird’s-eye maple, the framework of mahogany, and the cornices and capitals of gilt.”—Glasgow Herald, June 22, 1876.

Lochawe at Ford with Countess of Breadalbane in the distance

Lochawe was under the command of Captain Archibald Baxter and her sailing from Ford to Pass of Brander was 26 miles, and she called at Port Sonachan where a pier was under construction, and Cladich. Travelers remarked that as the steamer entered the Pass of Brander with its steep sides, the noise of the steamer’s simple engines exhausting through the funnel fractured the extreme stillness.

On Loch Awe, looking to the Pass of Brander

Lochawe

Lochawe at Ardchonnel

Construction of the Callendar and Oban Railway was in progress and anticipation of a rail connection to Oban from the northern end of the Loch spurred interest in the route. From 1880, the terminus was at Loch Awe Pier where there was a railway station. A tour leaving by coach at 9:30 in the morning from Oban through the Pass of Melfort to Ford on Loch Awe connected with Lochawe, sailing to Loch Awe Pier, and returning to Oban by rail.

Loch Awe station with the 10:49 down leaving for Oban

Loch Awe Pier with a steam yacht, possibly the Sonachan from Port Sonachan Hotel meeting hotel guests off a train

An interesting letter to the Editor of the Glasgow Herald on September 13, 1880 related a problem where the Lochawe left the railway station at Loch Awe Pier at 9:30, 15 minutes after time and was half an hour late when it reached Ford. On the coach ride to Ardrishaig, telegrams were sent to the effect that there were nine passengers for Columba but they arrived at 1:25 p.m., ten minutes after Columba left at her regular time, much to the intending passenger’s inconvenience.

Houses along the loch side

Kilchurn Castle (Valentine)

Pass of Brander (Valentine)

The increased tourist traffic prompted the construction of a new hotel on the Loch. The Loch Awe Hotel opened to the public at the end of April, 1882. Constructed in the Scottish Baronial style and situated in a magnificent setting, 65 feet above the loch, it was under the management of Mr. Duncan Fraser. Among the backers was the Earl of Breadalbane who was president of the company.

Waterfall on Cruachan Burn near Loch Awe Hotel (Washington Wilson)

Loch Awe Hotel

Loch Awe Hotel and Kilchurn Castle

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Among the attributes of which the hotel could boast was a steamboat, Countess of Breadalbane. Designed by Mr. G. L. Watson, she was first constructed at Messrs Hanna, Donald & Wilson’s Abercorn Works at Paisley and then taken in parts to be reassembled on a temporary slip near Loch Awe Pier where she was launched on May 29, 1882 by Miss Young of Edinburgh. The steamer was about 100 feet in length by 14 feet in breadth and fitted with engines of 150 horse power. Countess of Breadalbane could accommodate 250 passengers and had saloons forward and aft of her funnel. Her fittings were of polished pitch-pine and crimson velvet. The dining room was placed aft.

Countess of Breadalbane

Countess of Breadalbane at Loch Awe Pier with a lighter

Countess of Breadalbane at Port Sonachan in 1910

Countess of Breadalbane

Countess of Breadalbane (Robertson, Gourock)

Countess of Breadalbane took up service in June, sailing from Ford to Loch Awe Pier in connection with the Loch Awe tour and in direct competition with Lochawe. In her first two years, Countess of Breadalbane suffered from vibration problems. These were remedied in the spring of 1884 when she was re-engined with a compound set supplied by Messrs Hawthorne & Co. of Leith and Newcastle. On trials, she attained a speed of 12 miles an hour.

Countess of Breadalbane at Ford

Loch Awe Map

Port Sonachan Hotel

Taychreggan Hotel, across the loch from Port Sonachan with passengers for the Glen Nant Tour

Taychreggan Hotel with coach for Glen Nant (Washington Wilson)

Tailor’s Leap on the Glen Nant Tour

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The owner of the Port Sonachan Hotel, Mr Thomas Cameron, next entered the passenger steamboat trade with a small iron steamer, Kilchurn Castle, constructed by Messrs Dunsmuir & Jackson, Ltd. of Govan and launched on the loch in 1883. She connected with the railway at Loch Awe Pier and ran in connection with the Glen Nant tour.

Caledonia at Port Sonachan

Port Sonachan

Caledonia

The Kilchurn Castle was replaced by a larger vessel, Caledonia, that ran her trials on the loch on Saturday, June 15, 1895. She was a twin-screw vessel, 80 feet long by 14½ feet in breadth, built by Messrs Bow, M‘Lachlan & Co. at their Thistle Works in Paisley. With a roomy deck running nearly the whole length of the vessel she was attractive with her white funnel, black top and a narrow blue band, the colours also used by Kilchurn Castle. She had salons fore and aft of the engines that were upholstered in a tasteful and luxurious manner. Her propulsion consisted of two pairs of compound surface condensing screw engines with steam supplied by a horizontal marine return tube boiler.

Caledonian at Port Sonachan with tourist party

Caledonia and Port Sonachan Hotel

Caledonia

In addition to these principal passenger craft, there were a number of smaller craft and steam yachts that were used on the loch. What follows are some photographs of steamers on Loch Awe around 1900 that I have not identified definitively. Perhaps others can. My best efforts are recorded with reference to the fourth edition of Messrs Duckworth and Langmuir’s “Clyde River and Other Steamers,” Glasgow, Brown, Son, and Ferguson, 1990.

A puffer from Loch Awe quay in 1910

Growley from Port Sonnachan Hotel 

Steam launch Growley in choppy waters from Loch Awe quay in 1910

This has the look of an estate yacht.

Steam yacht

Mona, was a small wooden steam launch associated with the Loch Awe Hotel and used for excursions.

During the first world war, Lochawe and Countess of Breadalbane were laid up and the former was scrapped in 1925, never re-entering service. Countess of Breadalbane was returned to service in 1922 under the ownership of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. Ltd. In her last season, 1935, the level of the loch had dropped so much that she could not be launched until the beginning of July, delaying the start of the season by a month. Caledonia was sold to Belgian owners in 1918 and was dismantled at Port Sonachan and conveyed in parts to Loch Awe Station but was broken up by her new owners.

In 1936, Countess of Breadalbane was replace by a new twin-screw motor vessel of the same name, built by Messrs William Denny & Bros. Ltd., of Dumbarton. She was just 91 feet long by 18 feet in the beam and powered by Gleniffer diesel engines. In service, summer only, she left Loch Awe Pier at 11:40 in the morning and returned from Ford at 3 in the afternoon with calls at Port Sonnachan and Kilchrennan.

Countess of Breadalbane at Ford

Countess of Breadalbane at Ford in July 1937

Ford Village in July 1937

During the second world war she was laid up and after re-entering service in 1948, the decision was taken to move her to the Clyde. Her hull was moved by road to Inveraray in April 1952 and she continued for more than two decades in her new environment.

Crossing the Oban line near Dalmally (Illustrated London News)

Careful traction on the highland roads (Illustrated London News)

Arrival at Loch Fyne (Illustrated London News)

Countess of Breadalbane at Dunoon around 1960