Sunday Steamers at Dunoon

on Mar 31, 2016

The pier at Dunoon is one of the most important on the Clyde, the major approach to the Cowal peninsula and an important hub for the major tours. The original pier, dating from about 1835, was built by a joint stock company but the rights to the pier and the ferry belonged to the Hafton Estate. This original pier was replaced by a new structure in 1845 and again in 1865 but by the end of the century, the single berth was a major source of congestion for the expanding steamer services on the Firth. The Trustees of the Hafton Estate, who owned the pier had proposed extensions as early as 1880 and had offered the pier to the Burgh on a number of occasions. Agreement on a price was finally reached and the Burgh purchased the structure on 31st December 1895 for £27,000 with an immediate plan to extend and reconstruct the pier for a further £15,000 that was put into action. Glasgow &...

The Sinking of the Comet

on Mar 6, 2016

“Melancholy Catastrophe.—Loss of the Comet Steam-Boat, (from the Greenock Advertiser of Friday, 21st October, 1825)— The Comet steam-boat, on her passsage from Inverness to Greenock, had reaches the point of Kempoch, at nearly two o’clock, when she was met by the steamboat Ayr, M‘Clelland, of Ayr, which was on her way to that port, from Greenock. The two boats going with considerable velocity, were very near each other before mutually observed. As soon as perceived, the person on the look-out, on board the Comet, cried to the pilot to pat the helm a-starboard, which order the pilot of the Ayr understood to be meant as instructions to him:—both vessels were in consequence directed towards each other, and before the unfortunate mistake could be remedied, they came in contact with such violence, as to stave in the starboard bow of the Comet, which vessel, in a few minutes, went down, and...

North British Steamers

on Feb 28, 2016

The North British Railway Company had taken over the Helensburgh Railway in July 1866, a subsidiary, the North British Steam Packet Co., formed to run steamer services with their new well-appointed saloon steamers Meg Merrilies and Dandie Dinmont, immediately pressured the Helensburgh authorities for improved steamboat accommodation and a railway connection with the pier. The failure of this initial venture to attract a greater portion of the coast trade with steamers so obviously superior to those on other routes with the exception of the Iona must have been a tremendous blow to those involved. At the end of the season, Meg Merrilies and Dandie Dinmont were laid up in Bowling and offered for sale. The former was sold in 1868 to Turkish owners. Meg Merrilies Dandie Dinmont was moved to the Forth and tried on ferry services there. Her deck space was unsuitable for the requirements of...

Sailing to Islay

on Feb 13, 2016

Sailings by steamboat from West Loch Tarbert to the Highlands and Islands began with the Maid of Islay in the 1820s. The route became an established connection with the Castle Company and subsequently Messrs Hutcheson and their successor Messrs Macbrayne. The West Loch towards its head was shallow and consequently the steamers serving the Islay and Jura routes were paddle steamers.  By the middle of the 1880s, Messrs Macbrayne were using the Fingal of 1877, sailing to Islay. Fingal at West Loch Tarbert There were complaints about Fingal on the service and in 1890, the veteran Glencoe was placed on the route until replaced by Pioneer in 1905. Glencoe at West Loch Tarbert Glencoe at Port Ellen, Islay, with the puffer Elizabeth Messrs Macbraynes also provided an alternative sea route to Islay using the two-funneled Islay, purchased second-hand as Princess Louise from the Stranraer and...

Macbrayne’s Second Mountaineer

on Feb 6, 2016

The Hero steamer was part of the purchase of William Buchanan when he took over the assets of Messrs Keith & Campbell in 1884. She did not remain long in the fleet, and was sold to owners on the Tay early in 1886. “River Steamboat Sale.—Yesterday the well-known river steamer Hero was sold to the River Tay Steamboat Company (Limited), of which Messrs Simpson & Dow are the managers. The Hero will in future be employed on the Tay, plying between Dundee and Perth as a passenger steamer, a trade for which she is admirably fitted, being both commodious and steady. Occasional trips will also be made down the Firth during the season. The Hero, which was built by Wingate at Whiteinch in 1868, was latterly owned by Captain William Buchanan. She was for years employed on the Glasgow and Arran station, and did her work most admirably. The Hero left the river yesterday for her destination...

Wemyss Bay

on Jan 15, 2016

At the half-yearly meeting of the Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway Company on September 30, 1869, the Chairman remarked that the numbers of passengers using the route had dropped in the pervious period, as had passenger receipts but that he was pleased to report the arrangements had been completed with Captain Gillies and Mr Alexander Campbell to run services to Largs, Millport, and Rothesay, taking over from the Wemyss Bay Steamboat Company (Limited) which had withdrawn from the route. The opening of the Wemyss Bay Railway in 1865 running onto a new pier constructed in the shelter of Wemyss Bay promised a new fast route to Rothesay, Largs and Millport. Indeed the M‘Kellar fleet that had dominated the Largs, Millport and Arran trade for almost thirty years had received no new investment since the railway had been announced and quickly went out of business. Largs at Rothesay with Iona...