Craigmore | Clyde River and Firth

This article centers on Craigmore, to the east of Rothesay on the Island of Bute, and the eastern coast of the island. For just over 60 years, Craigmore had an iron pier, much like the original pier that was erected at Brodick on Arran, and particular events associated with the pier are highlighted. The feuing of Burgh lands in the 1850s and 60s extended the town of Rothesay to the west and especially to the east round Bogany Point, with the construction of terraces and villas for the more affluent class of society. Craigmore was an attractive setting with fine views of the Firth and Rothesay Bay. The first serious proposal to construct a pier at Craigmore occurred in 1875 when a number of gentlemen contacted the Rothesay Harbour Trust, who controlled the foreshore around as far as Ascog. They sought the permission of the Harbour Trust to develop a proposal for a pier at Craigmore and...

Photographs of the Clyde Harbours and Resorts taken from the air and made into postcards have always been popular. They are an easy way of showing where you stay whether all-year-round, or on holiday. The earliest photographs of the Clyde that were released commercially appear to have been the work of an Edinburgh Company in the years shortly after the First World War, around 1920 or 1921. They are generally marked Aerial Photos Ltd., Edinburgh. They include a good selection of the Cowal Coast, including Dunoon, Rothesay and surrounding areas in Bute, and coastal towns in the Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire. The photographs are oblique, taken at an angle, rather than the vertical stereo-pairs associated with mapping of later years. Quite a few show some of the steamers of the day. It is not clear what aircraft were used to obtain these photographs. Hunter’s Quay and the...