The Rise of the M‘Kellar Fleet

on May 1, 2024

This article continues from the description of the steamboats on the Largs and Millport trade, and covers the decade of the 1840s. Part of the story is the subject of an entertaining chapter “An Exchange of Compliments,” in “Echoes of Old Clyde Paddle Wheels,” by Andrew McQueen. It is a story that bears retelling. The decade marked the ascension of the M‘Kellar family that had entered the Largs and Millport trade in 1833 with the Hero, and in 1839 had the Victor and the new Warrior as their steamers, competing with the Sir William Wallace and the Robert Burns belonging to Mr William Young and his associates. These steamers, products of the 1830s, were all of wood, and the 1840s also saw the supremacy of iron shipbuilding in the Clyde fleet. The year 1840, signaled a dramatic change in the conveyance of passengers and goods to the Ayrshire coast. In July, the Glasgow, Paisley,...

Clyde River Piers

on Apr 1, 2024

Lord of the Isles heading up the River Clyde with Dumbarton Rock in the distance With the exception of the Broomielaw and Bridge Wharf, photographs of pleasure steamers at the piers on the River Clyde are quite rare. In latter years, the usual stopping places were the piers at Partick, Govan, Renfrew, Bowling, and, for a brief period, Dumbarton. This article provides some background on the piers and the photographs I have of them. In the early years of steamboat traffic on the river, a journey might begin at a ferry point where the passengers would be rowed out to the passing steamboat by the ferryman. Common points on the river where there were ferries were at Govan; at the mouth of the Kelvin; at the “Water Neb,” the mouth of the Cart at Renfrew; at Dunglass point; and at the West Ferry crossing to Dumbarton. Boarding or disembarking a steamboat from or onto an open rowing ferry-boat...

Puffers and the Crinan Canal

on Mar 1, 2024

The Crinan Canal has been featured previously on this site, in an article on the passenger and luggage boat Linnet, part of the Royal Route to the Highlands. This article presents some views of puffer traffic on the canal, a subject vital to the livelihood of the inhabitants of the western islands and highlands. The locks on the Crinan Canal can handle boats 88 feet in length by 20 feet in breadth, with a draft of just over 8 feet. The Canal itself is nominally 10 feet in depth. Vessels that transit the 9 miles and 15 locks of the Crinan Canal but did not have to negotiate the Forth and Clyde could therefore be 20 feet longer than the standard Clyde Puffer. However, in practice, most of the steam lighters originating on the Clyde, were of the standard type. Anzac, Pibroch, Moor, and Glen Rosa at Crinan This photograph shows four puffers waiting for the tide in Crinan basin around 1950....

Coals to Cowal

on Feb 1, 2024

One of my favourite old postcard views shows the Royal Marine Hotel in Hunter’s Quay. The Hotel was built in 1890 to the design of the Glasgow Architect, Thomas Lennox Watson, and replaced an earlier hotel that was destroyed by fire. It received its “Royal” designation because it was the home of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club for many years. The photograph from which the postcard was printed was taken by Messrs Poulton in the 1890s. Their negative stock was purchased by Messrs Ritchie of Edinburgh and released as postcards as part of their “Reliable Series.” Poulton collotype of the above view Of particular interest are the two old steam lighters, Effort and Advance, on the beach. Both are of the old style and steered by tiller, rather than having a wheel. The Effort looks the simpler and older of the two. Indeed, she was launched by Messrs William Swan & Son at Kelvindock on the Forth...

Old Largs

on Jan 4, 2024

Over the years I have acquired a fair number of old engravings, photographs and postcards of Largs. These mostly relate to the Edwardian era into the 1930s and in this article I will attempt to present an album of captioned pictures to give a sense of the town and some of the events that distinguish it. The account covers little beyond the second world war. Largs had two excellent photographers who produced postcards during the early and middle part of the 20th century; Hampton, and Simpson. Both feature strongly in what follows. Simpson also published copies of earlier photographic work by Poulton. Another important photographer was Fergus who, in addition to portraits, also included views of the town. I will start with some early views from engravings and phtographs taken from paintings, moving into the photographic era with more specific topics. In the early years, the main part of...

Dr James Stevenson

on Dec 1, 2023

I enjoy finding sources of the impact of the steamboats on the Clyde that others might overlook. One such is the “Salt-Water Gazette,” a literary and satirical publication that lasted a season in 1835. In one issue there is the tale of Mr. John Guy, porter at Helensburgh Quay, and his journey by steamboat to Glasgow. A contemporary view of Helensburgh Quay is shown above, courtesy of Helensburgh Library. After spending some time on deck, Mr Guy was beckoned “down into the little chamber, built by the proprietor, Doctor Stevenson, for the refreshment of pilgrims.” Here is the name of the steam-boat owner, and the implication is that he was widely known in his day by the traveling public. A little research reveals that Dr. James Stevenson was a Royal Navy surgeon and the 1841 Census has him living in Clyde Street, Helensburgh, aged 50 years with his wife Elizabeth 45 along with a maid...