Old Gourock

on Nov 28, 2014

The town of Gourock achieved some prominence when it became the home base of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co.’s operations on the Clyde around 1889. Before then it was a bathing resort, much frequented by the population of Paisley from where, when the pennies were short, the inhabitants could use Shank’s pony to reach the sea shore. Descriptions of the town appear in early guides to the Clyde including Lumsden’s “Steamboat Companion” of 1820:— “Having left Greenock, many neat villas are seen on the left along the shore; and, at a short distance, a small battery to protect the town. About 2 miles from Greenock, is the village of Gourock, resorted to, in summer, as bathing quarters; and above which stands the House of Gourock, Darroch; on the east side of the bay is a whin dyke running into the sea. Here are some mines which formerly produced copper and fluor spar, but are not now...

Collision in the Gareloch

on Nov 26, 2014

On 8th January 1912 the Lucy Ashton was sailing from Craigendoran to Garelochhead in a snowstorm when she ran into the stern of the Allan liner Siberian which was moored between Rahane and Mambeg. She was travelling at speed when the accident occurred and stove in her bow both above and below the waterline. The vessel was able to make Garelochhead and disembark her passengers. She then returned to the Siberian to see if assistance was required. The skipper was Roderick McDonald who had a reputation for driving the little steamer hard. The Siberian was laid up at the time.  Apparently, the moorings of the Siberian had dragged her anchor in the storm and moved her into the track normally taken by the steamer. Siberian in Service The following account is from a contemporary newspaper: “During the severe snowstorm in the Gareloch on Monday night the North British steamer Lucy Ashton,...

Hornby at Gourock

on Nov 26, 2014

On 23 March 1907 the tug, Hornby, sank off Greenock after a collision with MacBrayne’s Handa.  The Hornby was launched in 1890 from the yard of Samuel McNight & Co. Ltd of Ayr for the Alexandra Towing Co. of Liverpool. At 197 tons and with her engines delivering 80 hp to her two screws, she was a powerful vessel, capable of over ten knots in service.  She had been on the Clyde for some repairs and was returning to Liverpool when the accident occurred. Hornby sunk off Greenock MacBrayne’s Handa at Blackmill Bay The Hornby was beached next to the coastguard station at the end of the Caledonian Pier at Gourock. The photograph below shows two Ross and Marshall puffers, one of them the Mellite, and a diving barge in attendance.  The Hornby was raised and repaired and sold to French owners who used her on the Mediterranean under the name Lutece.  She was replaced by Alexandra...

Thomas Bollen Seath

on Nov 25, 2014

A small album of old cartes de visite of ships got my attention.  When it was opened, it revealed some images that were familiar and some that were not.  Many of the ships were connected with the Rutherglen shipbuilder Thomas Seath.  It took me quite some time to identify all the ships and the original owner and purpose of the collection still remains a mystery, but the little album remains one of my favorite finds. The most intriguing picture in the collection is a sweet pose of a young bearded man and, presumably, his wife.  The connections of the pictures of the ships to this picture is readily apparent.  The man is surely Tommy Seath, born on 20th September of 1820 at Prestonpans in East Lothian, and the young lady he married in 1848 was Helen Young. T B Seath and wife (Bell, Trongate, Glasgow) When he was eight years old, Seath’s family moved to Glasgow and at the age of...

Metagama: Liner and Cargo Steamer in Collision

on Nov 11, 2014

The Metagama, of the Canadian Pacific Line, outward bound from Glasgow for Quebec and Montreal, and the cargo steamer Baron Vernon, inward bound from Italy, collided in Clyde waters near Dumbarton Rock on Friday night, 25th May 1923, between nine and ten o’clock. On board the liner there were fully 1100 passengers, most of whom had retired to rest. For a while the vessels remained locked together, and, when the liner backed out, the Baron Vernon heeled over, having, been, holed below the water line; her port bows were stove in, and she was thrown stem first towards the north bank of the river. Realising the danger of the situation, the captain of the cargo steamer beached his vessel, grounding her in the mud at a point off Helenslea, not far from the Garmoyle light. The damage to the Metagama was comparatively slight. She had one of her plates broken on the port bow, about nine feet...

Clyde River and Firth

on Oct 27, 2014

For more than two centuries, the River Clyde has provided an artery for the industry and commerce of Glasgow while the Firth of Clyde has served as the playground for the population of the city, from the captains of industry to the most humble labourer.  Over the years the role of each of these two geographic areas has changed and the interplay between them provides a fascinating backdrop on the development of the West of Scotland.  There is no dearth of literature on the subject and this site will draw on much of this material.  There will be some focus on the early years of the use of steam in marine propulsion and marine engineering.  The development of the tourist trade in the area is another area that will focus on early accounts of the resorts both in text and in picture.  The great engineering feat of deepening the river to allow the flow of commerce into the center of Glasgow...