Excursions from Ayr

on Aug 14, 2021

In the summer of 1906, a well-to-do family took a house in Ayr, the town of “honest men and bonnie lasses”. There was at least one of the family with an interest in photography and this article highlights the results of the various activities and excursions undertaken that were contained in an old photograph album. None of the photographs is captioned and so what follows is a best attempt to describe the routes and the scenes. Many of the excursions were by sea, in the Ayr excursion steamer, Juno, built in 1898 by Messrs John Brown & Co., at Clydebank. The “big, beamy, beautiful Juno” was larger and more heavily built than most of the contemporary Clyde railway steamers and was ideal for excursions from the lower Firth. While few of the photographs show steamships, they do provide an interesting perspective of the scenes viewed from on board. Consequently, photographs from the...

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...

Garelochhead Pier

on Jun 3, 2021

The steamboat pier at the head of the Gareloch was erected in 1845 by Sir James Colquhoun to serve the village of Garelochhead, then described as an “increasing clump of cottages.” The population of the district had been in decline for some years as farms and small-holdings had been combined and farming had become more efficient with a focus on livestock in adjoining Glen Fruin. However, the beauty of the surroundings and the new fashion of sea-bathing was bringing visitors to the area in summer and the proximity to Glasgow and the Clyde attracted new residents. Around 1838, a Church had been built in the village that lay six miles from the Parish Church of Row. About the same time, a Hotel was opened, a popular spot since the adjoining parish of Roseneath was “dry.” Garelochhead before the pier around 1840. The church, built in 1838 is visible. Steamboat communication had begun early,...

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...

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.,...

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...