The Great Canal

on Jan 10, 2020

The construction of the Great Canal between the Forth and Clyde was begun at its eastern end on the Carron in 1769. The enterprise had authorized capital of £150,000. By the time excavations reached Stockingfield, then on the outskirts of Glasgow, in 1775 the project was £40,000 in debt. However, the Glasgow branch to bring the canal closer to the center of the city was begun the following year and completed to the basin at Hamiltonhill in 1777. A loan of £50,000 from the fund created by the estates forfeited after the ’45 rebellion, allowed the extension to Bowling on the Clyde to begin. At that time also, the new harbour at Port Dundas, near the center of the city was built and the proprietors of the Monkland Canal agreed to provide a link to that waterway. Port Dundas The Forth and Clyde Canal was opened throughout in 1790 with a depth of 8 feet and locks roughly 70 feet long and 20...

Queen of Loch Earn

on Jan 5, 2020

Loch Earn had to wait until 1922 before her waters were graced by a vessel in public service. The Queen of Loch Earn was a 56 foot motor vessel built in Fraserburgh for Mr. Peter Crerar. Mr Crerar was an enterprising char-a-banc owner from Crieff who had popularized “Crerar’s Tours” that provided trips to the picturesque beauties of Perthshire and surrounding area. He also opened a cinema in Crieff and in Auchterader and eventually had interests in cinemas and theatres in Glasgow, Kircaldy and Dunfermline. The country areas were not left out and he ran a “travelling cinema” for villages in Perthshire. “Motor pleasure boat on Loch Earn. Launched this week. Early on Thursday morning, the motor boat, Queen of Loch Earn, intended to ply as a pleasure craft between St Fillans and Lochearnhead, was successfully launched at the former place. thus in a manner placing the lovely Loch Earn on a...

Some Puffer Tales

on Dec 5, 2019

The origins of the Clyde puffer are perhaps as murky as the depths of the Forth and Clyde Canal on which they first appeared. With a length constrained to 66 feet to fit the 70 feet locks of the Canal, they are first mentioned in the 1850s when efficient screw propulsion became possible. Steam lighters built on the Clyde prior to 1857 tended to be larger craft, not able to fit into the constrained locks on the Canal. “The Samson, an iron steam lighter, with two screw propellers, one each side of the stern post, was tried on Thursday last, when the satisfactory speed of 7 knots hour was obtained. She is propelled by an engine of 20 horse-power. The Samson was launched sometime ago by Messrs Bourne & Co.”—Greenock Telegraph, April 3, 1855 The late puffer historian, Dan McDonald, suggests that the conversion of the iron canal barge, Thomas, to steam propulsion in 1856, marks the...

Blairmore Pier

on Nov 16, 2019

The pier at Blairmore replaced a large and commodious ferry boat at Portinstuck when it was built in the summer of 1855. The new landing point was particularly needed by the feuars who had built houses on the north bank of the Holy Loch as the piers at Kilmun and Strone had fallen into disrepair, and indeed, the pier at Strone was closed to traffic for a while in a dispute arising from the ownership by Mr. David Napier. “A new pier about to built at Blairmore, situated upon Lochlongside, and at distance of a mile or so from Strone Point. A number of feus have been taken in the neighhoorhood, and the pier will be a source of convenience to all the feuars north of Port-in-Stuck. The bank of Lochlong, from Strone to Ardentinny, is admirably adapted for marine villas, and there is no doubt that after the erection of the pier, the shore will be dotted with a goodly number.”—Greenock...

A wreck at Tiree

on Nov 3, 2019

On the night of Friday, February 13, 1931, the Finnish steamship Malve lost her bearings between Coll and Tiree. There was poor visibility with gale-force winds and driving snow she, at low tide, she went aground on rocks at Balephetrish Bay on the north coast of Tiree. Initial reports were confused with indications that four men stranded on board were lost, but this report turned out to be incorrect and all were saved. “Finnish ship aground.—S.O.S. Calls from Tiree. On Saturday the Finnish steamer Malve, 2412 tons register, stranded on Tiree, two miles southwest of Gunna Sound. Being fitted with wireless she sent out messages for assistance which were picked up by the Malin Head station and relayed to Ballycastle life saving station and Tobermory. The Portrush and Campbeltown lifeboat stations were informed to hold themselves in readiness if required. A later message said the ship...

Strone Pier

on Oct 20, 2019

The development of the north bank of the Holy Loch by David Napier proved to be a successful enterprise for the new landowner. The key to this success was the accessibility of the area by the provision of a pier and steamboat connections. With the opening of the Greenock Railway, there was a new incentive to acquire coast properties with easy access to Greenock, now within an hour of Glasgow. Opportunities for feuing and the construction of villas extended eastwards from the head of the Holy Loch towards Strone Point. However, this was inconveniently distant from Kilmun Pier for discerning Glasgow businessmen, and a new pier was required to encourage growth in the area. Although David Napier had left the area in the 1830s, he continued to respond to the needs of his feuars on the Holy Loch. The building of a pier at Strone, extending the stone quay and making it available at all states...

Edgar Battersby’s trip to Rothesay

on Sep 25, 2019

I was recently contacted by a gentleman by the name of Rupert Battersby who has a large number of quarter-plate glass negatives taken by his great uncle, Edgar Battersby. Some of these were taken on a trip to Scotland in August 1913, and just over twenty feature views taken on the Clyde and Loch Lomond. This is an important and interesting collection and I have been given permission to reproduce the photographs of the Clyde on this site. I have to point out that these images are copyright and any further use requires permission of the owner. The Battersby family were hat manufacturers from Stockport in Lancashire. A history of the business has been documented in a book “Battersby Hats of Stockport — An Illustrated History” also by Rupert Battersby and published by Amberley in 2016. The factory in Stockport closed in 1966. Edgar Battersby was a young man on his visit to Scotland. He is...

Kilmun Pier

on Sep 15, 2019

The early history of Kilmun Pier and its improvement by Mr David Napier when he used the location as the eastern end of his new route to Inveraray has been documented in a previous post. The subsequent history of the pier, and the service provided by the Holy Loch boats of Captain Campbell has also been recorded. This essay deals with more modern times, stretching into the 1950s. It is mainly a pictorial record of the village, stretching along the north bank of the Holy Loch, and the steamers that were associated with the route. In the years before the first world war, the North British Railway steamers, competed for the Holy Loch traffic with those of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company and Glasgow and South Western Railway. All three companies ran a service that provided frequent calls at the pier. Kilmun, with its sheltered location, was an overnight berth for the south bank...

David Napier on the Clyde

on Sep 10, 2019

In 1816, just four years after the Comet commenced her role as the pioneering steamboat on the Clyde, David Napier had a small steamboat built for himself. He named his little boat Marion, after his wife, and for just over a year she was well known on the Clyde, sailing to Greenock and Helensburgh. Her advantage was that she had a shallow draft and could sail at any state of the tide to provide a regular and reliable service. “The Marion steamboat will commence sailing to-morrow for Greenock and Helensburgh, and every lawful day at 8 o’clock morning) and on Saturday evening at 6 o’clock. Will leave Greenock for Glasgow at 2 o’clock every afternoon, and on Monday morning at 4 o’clock.  Those intending to go by the Marion will require to be on board by the hour fixed, or they will lose their passage.  From her draught of water she is enabled to sail at all times of the tide, and will...

The twins of 1937

on Aug 1, 2019

From 1930 onwards, the L.M.S. railway company had embarked on a program of replacement for the fleet of steamers built before the first world war. The Duchess of Montrose in 1930, Duchess of Hamilton in 1932, Caledonia and Mercury in 1934, Marchioness of Lorne in 1935 and Marchioness of Graham in 1936 had been revolutionary and a tremendous investment at a time when shipbuilding work on the Clyde was scarce and prices were low. Additional tonnage was required, however, for the popular routes to Dunoon and Rothesay and in 1936, an order was placed with the Fairfield Company in Govan for two steamers, designed as ferry-class vessels like Marchioness of Lorne, but with higher speed and greater capacity. The new steamers, to be named Jupiter and Juno, were built on the same slipway at the Govan yard. Although named after two steamers of the former Glasgow and South Western Railway Co.,...