The hamlet of King’s Cross has a historical association as the spot from which King Robert Buce embarked from Arran to return to the mainland of Scotland and begin his campaign to free the country from the English. Whether the tale is true or not, there has long been a cairn to commemorate the event, not far from the remains of an early fortification last occupied during the Viking era. As the closest spot on Arran to Holy Isle, it has had a ferry from early times and subsequent to the extension of the Ardrossan steamboat service from Ardrossan to Whiting Bay, the ferry at King’s Cross became a port of call for steamers between Lamlash and Whiting Bay. It was never a busy call in its own right, but before the introduction of Whiting Bay Pier, when the weather prevented the call at Whiting Bay ferry, passengers used the more sheltered King’s Cross ferry. Service was maintained till...

Of the three piers on the east Arran coast, Whiting Bay was the longest, and last to arrive on the scene. The broad bay, stretching from Kings Cross in the north to Largiebeg in the south was slow to develop. South of Brodick, the road, constructed in 1810, terminated just south of Lamlash. New roads from Brodick were added in 1817; across the island to Blackwaterfoot, and north to Sannox. In 1822, Lamlash was linked across the Ros to Sliddery, but it was 1843 before the collection of houses along Whiting Bay was provided with improved communication by land. In the 1840s, Brodick and Lamlash had small stone harbours, used mainly by fishing boats. Whiting Bay had a crude stone quay, and the nine fishing boats registered there in 1847, sailed directly from the shore. Produce from the local crofts and farms faced similar challenges to get to market. There was for a time a meal mill on the...

Stranraer is not a Clyde resort that springs readily to mind. Nestled at the head of Loch Ryan, it provided a safe haven for the traffic to northern Ireland from the earliest days of steamboat travel. A stone quay was erected in 1820 at a cost of £3,800 and was extended in 1855 to make it accessible at all states of the tide. A second pier, associated with the railway expansion was completed seven years later. Regular steamboat communication with between Stranraer and Glasgow began in 1820 with Highland Chieftain that was replaced on the route around 1824 by the Dumbarton Castle, and for a time, Maid of Islay. In the 1830s, the steamers on the station were Hercules and Argyle, with the Ayr, Nimrod, Northern Yacht, and Lochryan involved later in the decade. In the 1840s as steamships transitioned from wooden to iron hulls, and the railway arrived at Ayr, the Albion, Queen of Scots,...

In the late 1840s, Clyde steamer services were controlled by monopolies that provided year-round service and at a reasonable price to the general public. The Castle Company that had dominated the sailings to Dunoon, Rothesay, the Kyles of Bute, and Loch Fyne since the 1830s had recently been taken over by Messrs Burns, expanding their hold on the tourist routes to the Western Highlands and Islands. They had also taken a lease on the Bowling to Balloch Railway, providing access to steam-boat services on Loch Lomond, and had the fast two-funnelled steamer, Plover, built by Messrs Wingate in 1848, to provide the connection between Glasgow and Bowling. The south-bank services to Largs, Millport, Ayr, and Arran had been in the hands of the Union Steam-Boat Company since 1846 with Duncan M‘Kellar as the principal owner. Messrs Henderson & M‘Kellar (Alexander M‘Kellar, snr., was the elder...

While going through a collection of old sepia photographs, I came across one that attracted my attention; it did not look quite right. The photograph shows Marchioness of Breadalbane at the Millport berth at Wemyss Bay with a paddle box that is black. Many will of course recognize that this dates the photograph to 1919, when the Marchioness was demobbed from service as a minesweeper in April, and quickly refurbished. The conversion back to civilian life was rough and ready, and for that season only, she appeared with black paddle boxes when placed on the Millport roster at the beginning of June. As further units of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. were released over the following months, the Marchioness of Breadalbane was withdrawn in the third week of November, and reappeared in 1920 in her old livery, and complete with electric light. Marchioness of Breadalbane at Wemyss Bay I have...