The Gareloch, as its name implies, is a short loch, merely six or seven miles in length from the narrows to Garelochhead. Before the age of steam, there were two important ferries, from Roseneath to Row point at the mouth of the loch, and between Rahane and Shandon about halfway up the loch towards Garelochhead. In 1833, Robert Napier, the engineer and shipbuilder, purchased a house at West Shandon, next to the ferry, and in the 1840s, expanded the house and its policies. At the time, the ferry at Shandon was a calling point for the steamers on the Gareloch. Feuing on the east bank of the Gareloch expanded from Row and the village of Shandon, at the southern end of the West Shandon estate, developed in popularity although the absence of a pier restricted its appeal. Robert Napier died in 1876 and West Shandon was sold. The new owners had plans to turn the lavish mansion into a...
