Pirnmill and the west of Arran

on Apr 29, 2018

The hamlet of Pirnmill on the west coast of Arran derives its name from the mill set up by the Clark family of Paisley for the production of bobbins or pirns. The photograph above shows the pirn mill itself after it became Currie’s grocer and general merchants. With the advent of the steamboat, Pirnmill became a calling point, served by a ferry-boat. It was the Campbeltown and Glasgow Steam Packet Co. that opened up the trade and included the ferry stop in its itinerary, and for many years this was the only regular stop on the west coast of Arran. In the 1860s, the steamboat Herald was placed on a new route to Campbeltown from Fairlie and it called at the ferries of Pirnmill, Machrie and Blackwaterfoot, favouring the Arran shore of the Kilbrannan Sound rather than Carradale and the Kintyre shore. Indeed the calls at Blackwaterfoot and Machrie were also made by the turbine steamers...

Campbeltown Steamboat Company

on Oct 16, 2016

The Campbeltown and Glasgow Steam Packet Joint Stock Coy. Ltd., had a long history, stretching back to 1826. Rather than writing a separate account, I have chosen to use the company history that was published for the centenary in 1927 and illustrate it with some of the original illustrations augmented with some photographic material of my own. The Campbeltown route by the west coast of Arran has a special place in my family’s history. My mother was brought up in Tangy, just north of Campbeltown, and later removed to High Dougarie farm on the west coast of Arran. The family travelled often on the Campbeltown steamers. The steamers were particularly handsome with their well recognized funnel-coloring: black-red-black. With black hulls and pink water-line, they presented an attractive picture, particularly the yacht like Kintyre and Kinloch. Funnel colors and houseflag The period...