A Colourful Interlude (I)

on Sep 1, 2025

This summer I began rescanning my collection of glass slides and negatives. They are heavy and it would seem that a good digital record might be the best means of preservation. Many show the signs of the fungus that is their bane and required restoration. Although my focus has always been on black and white photographs that I convert to sepia as I find it provides a more pleasing way of capturing detail, I also began to play with colouring software. The high resolution of the slides and negatives (roughly x5 what I can post on this site) makes them good candidates for colourisation. I use an older version of photoshop that I frequently use to set the colours of the background and use the painting palette for the detail, keeping the opacity low to preserve shading in the original photograph. It is an exercise in colouring between the lines for the most part and quite straightforward. I...

Colour in the Highlands and Islands

on Aug 1, 2025

One of the most viewed articles on this site is “Colour on the Clyde” where a collection of coloured postcards of the steamers in Edwardian times are presented in more or less chronological order. A similar treatment might be possible for the steamers of the West Highlands and Islands. However, the material is much more scarce, and the general quality of the postcards is not as good as that for the Clyde, with less focus on steamers, and rather more on their surroundings. Some of the best material is published in Ian M‘Crorie’s book, “Steamers of the Highlands and Islands”, published by Orr, Pollock, & Co., Ltd., Greenock in 1987. This article will duplicate some of the material from that book but sourced exclusively from my own collection. No attempt will be made to produce a chronological order, and the best way to present the material focuses on the different routes on which the...

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...

The Latter Years of Iona

on Jun 13, 2017

In the previous article on MacBrayne’s Iona from May 31, 2017, the story left off when Iona had been displaced from the Ardrishaig mail service by Columba and sent to work out of Oban to serve the anticipated increase in traffic when the railway reached the town in 1880. The arrival of the Grenadier allowed Iona to return to the Clyde in 1886 where she provided a second service on the Ardrishaig mail run. Based overnight at Ardrishaig, she sailed for Greenock and the Broomielaw at 5:45 in the morning, making the usual calls at Tarbert, Tighnabruich, Colintraive, Rothesay, Innellan, Dunoon, and Greenock. She made her run from the Broomielaw, leaving at 1:30, and returning to Ardrishaig by the same route. Iona canting at the Broomielaw with Daniel Adamson and Benmore (Annan) Iona and Strathmore at the Broomielaw awaiting the 1:30 departure Iona and Strathmore at the Broomielaw...

The Latter Years of Columba

on Jun 7, 2017

An account of the early career of Messrs MacBrayne’s Ardrishaig Mail steamer, the stately Columba, can be found in an article of February 2015. In this article, more of an album than an account, the development of the steamer from the 1890s to her demise in 1935 will be traced. Some time in the 1890s, the promenade deck over the sponson houses fore an aft of the paddle wheels was extended and for the first time, Columba appeared with two lifeboats over the rear sponson houses, rather than a single boat aft. Columba with new lifeboats Columba in Rothesay Bay (Adamson) Columba leaving Innellan Columba Minor changes were also incorporated in subsequent years. The forward grandfather-clock ventilators for the aft saloon were turned around to face the stern following reboilering in 1900 and in the following year, a deck awning was erected aft of the funnels to protect the companionway to...

Saint Columba

on May 27, 2017

At the end of the 1935 season, Messrs David Macbrayne & Co. Ltd, took possession of the two turbine steamers, Queen Alexandra and King George V that had belonged to Turbine Steamers Ltd. In May 1936, Queen Alexandra reappeared from the yard of Messrs J. Lamont & Co. Ltd. of Port Glasgow, sporting a mainmast, and a much elongated upper deck to accommodate a third red, black-topped funnel, drawing immediate positive comment as it reminded Clydesiders of the Cunard-White-Star liner Queen Mary that had been such an important image of the slow recovery of the shipbuilding industry on the river. Though the third funnel was a dummy, the new name selected for the vessel, Saint Columba, was also inspired as it cemented the link to the famous Columba, scrapped at the end of the 1935 season, that she was to replace. Saint Columba 1936 (Robertson) Saint Columba 1936 (Valentine) Saint...