Excursions from Ayr

on Aug 14, 2021

In the summer of 1906, a well-to-do family took a house in Ayr, the town of “honest men and bonnie lasses”. There was at least one of the family with an interest in photography and this article highlights the results of the various activities and excursions undertaken that were contained in an old photograph album. None of the photographs is captioned and so what follows is a best attempt to describe the routes and the scenes. Many of the excursions were by sea, in the Ayr excursion steamer, Juno, built in 1898 by Messrs John Brown & Co., at Clydebank. The “big, beamy, beautiful Juno” was larger and more heavily built than most of the contemporary Clyde railway steamers and was ideal for excursions from the lower Firth. While few of the photographs show steamships, they do provide an interesting perspective of the scenes viewed from on board. Consequently, photographs from the...

William M‘Kim — Renton photographer

on May 14, 2021

William M‘Kim was born in 1883 in the village of Renton in the Vale of Leven where his father was postmaster. He was apprenticed as a draughtsman. Early in his life he and his younger brother David, developed an interest in photography that led to the production of postcards, mainly of scenes around his native village. “The Renton” as it is known was a thriving centre for the bleaching and dyeing industry. Renton from the lower slopes of the Carman hill, looking to Dumbarton and showing the chimneys of Dalquhurn works around 1908. The railway station is on the extreme right. Renton from the west looking down King Street to Renton Cross around 1908. In the foreground are the houses of Back Street and beyond those of the Main Street. Across the River Leven are the policies of the Strathleven estate. Renton Main Street with the tramline to Loch Lomond. Renton from further north on the...

MacBrayne’s Comet

on Feb 21, 2019

The twin-screw motor vessel Win was built on the Thames by Messrs A. W. Robertson & Co. in 1905. She was just 65 feet long and 14 feet in the beam, 43 tons, and was powered by two 4-cylinder paraffin motors. In 1907, Messrs MacBrayne acquired the little craft and renamed her Comet. For the next ten years she was employed on Loch Leven and the Caledonian Canal. In 1917, Comet was transferred to the Clyde and became the Lochgoil Mail Steamer sailing from Greenock and Gourock to Lochgoilhead. The route by road to Lochgoilhead was difficult and the direct sailing was viewed as an essential lifeline for the villagers, especially over the winter months. Comet at Gourock (Robertson) Glasgow Corporation received the Ardgoil Estate as a gift from Mr A. Cameron Corbett in 1906. During the summers, Lochgoilhead was a popular destination for steamers that allowed the good folk of Glasgow...

To Dark Lochgoil

on Dec 22, 2016

The importance of the Lochgoil route to Inverary and the Highlands was recognized from the beginnings of steamboat traffic on the Clyde and the early developments will be documented in a separate article. The Lochgoil & Lochlong Steamboat Company dated from 1825. From the beginning, the company adopted a bold and attractive colour-scheme for its funnels: red with a black top surmounting alternating white-black-white bands. The Lochgoilhead mail contract provided a subsidy that ensured year-round service. The Company and its steamers had a reputation for being well run and sailed through some of the most dramatic scenery on the sea-lochs of the Clyde. After leaving Greenock, Blairmore, Cove, Ardentinny, Coulport, Portincaple, Carrick Castle (in the photograph above by Annan), Douglas Pier and Lochgoilhead were the places where calls were made, initially by ferry but later, piers...

Alliance

on Feb 9, 2015

In 1861, the Glasgow Publisher, John Cameron, produced a five-part serialization of Hugh Macdonald’s “Days at the Coast.” The parts were entitled “The Frith of Clyde, Descriptive Sketches of its Watering Places, Scenery, and Associations” and were illustrated with a number of engravings not found in earlier or indeed subsequent editions. One of the engravings illustrates an odd-looking craft sailing down the Gareloch off the village of Row, unmistakable because of its church spire. The odd looking craft is undoubtedly the Alliance, and a she was a complete departure from the sleek, fast greyhounds that comprised the usual craft on the Clyde. The origins of the Alliance come from the jaundiced eyes of some who had discovered the luxurious amenities available in many of the steamboats that sailed on the rivers of America. The idea of offering such craft on the Clyde dates to 1854 when...