Early days at Largs

on Nov 1, 2023

Even before the steam-boat age, the village of Largs was a popular summer destination for sea-bathers and pleasure seekers. Sheltered from the prevailing winds by the Isle of Cumbrae, the climate was mild. The good folk of Paisley found it particularly attractive, and the advent of the steamboat meant that a tedious journey under sail or uncomfortable progression by road could be avoided. The old part of the town was built up north of the Gogo burn and by the time that steamboats arrived, new building was beginning south of the burn, including the celebrated Curling Hall. The first steamboat advertised to call off Largs was the Glasgow. Built of wood towards the end 1813, by Messrs John Wood of Port Glasgow, she was 67 feet in length. Her first engines were furnished by Henry Bell and were constructed by Messrs Anderson & Campbell of Greenock, but were not a success when she...

To Inveraray by the Loch Eck Route

on May 1, 2023

It was David Napier, one of the pioneers of steamships on the Clyde, who opened up the route to Inveraray by Loch Eck and Strachur. In 1827, he placed the iron-bottomed Aglaia on Loch Eck and the old Marion from Loch Lomond, renamed Thalia, to sail between Strachur and Inveraray. In 1829, he introduced steam carriages on the connecting roads from his pier at Kilmun to the foot of the Loch and from its head to Strachur. The steam carriages were quickly withdrawn as too heavy for the road surfaces, but the route proved popular with coaches instead of the steam carriages, and the whole road along the side of Loch Eck was improved at this time. At the end of the season in 1835, Napier sold his steamboats on the Clyde and moved his enterprise to London. Among the steamboats sold was the Aglaia, and her subsequent adventures on Loch Fyne as Strachur, and on the Clyde as the James Gallacher...

James Gallacher

on Dec 8, 2014

In the Post Office Directory for Glasgow for 1838-1839 there is an intriguing entry referring to a steamboat James Gallacher of 25 tons, listed as sailing to Dalmuir. Who was James Gallacher and why was there a steamboat carrying passengers to Dalmuir? To add to the intrigue, in “The Fouling and Corrosion of Iron Ships” (1867) by Charles F.T. Young, the James Gallacher is claimed to be none other than the Aglaia, built by David Napier in 1827 and reputed to be the first iron steamer. Young notes that Aglaia had an iron bottom, and wooden sides above water, and that her dimensions were; length, 62ft 8in; breadth, 13ft 0in; depth, 4ft 6in; gross tonnage, 49 and 36/94 tons. Is there really a connection between the Aglaia and the James Gallacher? In 1826 Napier had purchased the estate of Glenshellish at the north end of the Loch Eck and built Kilmun pier to which he ran his...