Toward Pier

on Sep 28, 2018

“About 6 miles from Dunoon the district of Toward commences, and extends along the coast for a distance of about 4 miles. There is no village of the name; but about the centre of the district there is a chapel in connection with the Established Church (Rev. James Geekie). Close beside the church is Toward pier and lighthouse, and Castle Toward. Old Castle Toward was at one time the seat of the ancient family of Lamont of Ardlamont. It was purchased many years ago, along with Auchenvulline and other adjoining estates, by the late Kirkman Finlay, Esq., of Glasgow, who erected the present stately mansion, and is now the seat of his son, A. S. Finlay, Esq., late M.P. for Argyllshire. The view from Castle Toward is most magnificent. Situated on a rising ground, it commands a prospect of great extent, including parts of Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, the two Cumbraes, Bute, and the distant hills...

Hunter’s Quay

on Sep 8, 2018

When a Greenock merchant, James Hunter, acquired the Hafton estate from its original Campbell owners in 1816 he extended the existing Hafton House and began to develop feuing in the area. One of the early arrivals was James Ewing, then Lord Provost of Glasgow, who built the Castle House in Dunoon 1822. It was such gentlemen and their families that attracted the early steamboat traffic to the area. As in other coastal communities, feuing was encouraged by the provision of a pier and James Hunter provided one of the first on the Cowal shore in 1828. Hunter’s Quay was a stone built quay with a wooden extension where the steamboats could dock. Isle of Bute approaching Hunter’s Quay in 1841 The building of villas along the south shore of the Holy Loch and the Cowal shore of the Firth followed quickly afterwards. The location of the pier at Hunter’s Quay was protected from the worst of...

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...

Ossian on Loch Etive

on Aug 10, 2018

The Callander and Oban Railway runs along the southern edge of Loch Etive from Taynuilt to Connel Ferry from where it takes a sweep to the south to Oban. When the railway was opened in 1880, it provided an opportunity for a steamboat service on Loch Etive, and a pier was built at Auchnacloich where the railway adjoined the Loch. The steamer allowed access to the remote head of the loch from where a coach completed a tour through the attractive and dramatic scenery of Glen Etive and Glen Coe to Ballachulish Pier where steamer connections to Oban and Fort William were available. “Steamer on Loch Etive. On Saturday the new steamer Glen Etive, with a specially-invited party and the owners board, sailed up Loch Etive the head of the Loch. That route, which is to opened to the public to-day, is one of the most interesting in Scotland, the scenery being grand, and the historical associations...

Round Ardlamont

on Jul 29, 2018

Ardlamont, that point that marks where the Kyles of Bute meets lower Loch Fyne and the Kilbrannan Sound has a reputation for stormy passages and strong currents. The picture above shows Arran from Ardlamont and the beauty of the vista is a further notable feature of the landscape. Ardlamont never did have a pier, Ardlamont House, the most important in the area, was conveniently served by Kames or Tighnabruaich. Ardlamont House itself was built around 1820 and was the home of Major General John Lamont. Its major claim to fame, however, came much later in 1893 when it was the scene of a celebrated murder on August 10th of that year. The trial took place in the High Court in Edinburgh before the Lord Justice-Clerk in December and lasted ten days. The prosecution was led by the Solicitor-General, Mr Alexander Asher, and the defence by the notable advocate, John Comrie Thomson. The Scotsman...

Kirn

on Jul 5, 2018

As feuing to the east of Dunoon expanded in the 1840s, the convenience of a pier for this affluent extension of the village towards Kirn became a priority. The pier opened in 1846 and was built opposite the Kirn Inn that had been opened in 1837 and, after the accession of Queen Victoria, changed its name to the Queen’s Hotel, . “Kirn Pier Opening Dinner. On Wednesday last, a most influential and highly respectable company of gentlemen met at dinner in the Wellington Hotel, Dunoon for the purpose of celebrating the completion and opening of the splendid and powerful new wharf at Kirn. The chair was ably filled by John Leadbetter, Esq., the vice-chair by Robert Knox, Esq., writer, Glasgow. To those unacquainted with this important locality, it may be necessary to state, that although the population has been rapidly increasing for years back, the only mode of embarking or disembarking...

Dunoon

on Jun 16, 2018

At the beginning of the steamboat age, Dunoon was not regarded of great importance. It consisted of a few houses and most important, a ferry-inn, the abode of the ferryman on the crossing to the Cloch. In 1820, it is described in Lumsden’s Steamboat Companion:— “The Steam Boats, if required, will land passengers at Dunoon; from whence there is also a road to Inverary by Strachur, to which place gigs can be had, at a moderate rate. From Strachur there is a regular ferry across Lochfine to Creggans, and where boats can be procured direct to Inverary the distance up the loch being about 5 miles “Dunoon is of considerable antiquity, and was once the seat of a castle, very important in point of situation, and often the scene of contest during the violent struggles of clanship. Near the latter period of episcopacy in the Highlands, it was the occasional residence of the bishop of Argyle;...

Southwestern Steamers in L.M.S. days

on May 13, 2018

The post World War I fleets of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co., Ltd. and the Glasgow and South Western Railway Co., Ltd, have been documented in a previous article, along with their amalgamation on January 1, 1923, and the initial years under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Co., Ltd. In 1923, the Glasgow and South Western steamers came under the ownership of the newly formed railway company while the Caledonian steamers remained with the Caledonian Steam Packet Co., allowing them greater freedom to sail to destinations on Kintyre and Loch Fyne. Both sets of steamers retained their hull colours but appeared with yellow funnels with a red band and black top. In the following year, the hull colour was standardized to black. This article follows the steamers from the 1925 season when the red band was removed and the fleet had the yellow black-topped funnel that...

Lochfyne

on May 8, 2018

At the Dumbarton yard of Messrs William Denny & Brothers, Ltd., on March 20, 1931, Lochfyne was named by Lady Stamp, wife of Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the L.M.S. Railway Co., and she slid down the ways to the accompaniment of bagpipe music. So began the story of a vessel built for the Clyde and West Highland trade of Messrs David Macbrayne (1928) Ltd., with an innovative Diesel-electric propulsion. The year 1927 had not been kind to Messrs Macbrayne. In that year, two fine paddle steamers, Chevalier and Grenadier had been lost and the subsequent reorganization of the struggling company promised the addition of four new vessels to the fleet. The Lochfyne was the last of the four, and some idea of the novelty she provided can be gleaned from her description in “The Rock” magazine. “Twin Screw Diesel-Electric Vessel Lochfyne “This vessel has recently been delivered to Messrs...