Coals to Cowal

on Feb 1, 2024

One of my favourite old postcard views shows the Royal Marine Hotel in Hunter’s Quay. The Hotel was built in 1890 to the design of the Glasgow Architect, Thomas Lennox Watson, and replaced an earlier hotel that was destroyed by fire. It received its “Royal” designation because it was the home of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club for many years. The photograph from which the postcard was printed was taken by Messrs Poulton in the 1890s. Their negative stock was purchased by Messrs Ritchie of Edinburgh and released as postcards as part of their “Reliable Series.” Poulton collotype of the above view Of particular interest are the two old steam lighters, Effort and Advance, on the beach. Both are of the old style and steered by tiller, rather than having a wheel. The Effort looks the simpler and older of the two. Indeed, she was launched by Messrs William Swan & Son at Kelvindock on the Forth...

Marchioness of Lorne 1935

on Apr 20, 2016

As a replacement for the Marchioness of Breadalbane in 1935, the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. went to Fairfields for a smaller version of the paddlers Caledonia and Mercury built the previous year. She was well photographed by the Messrs Adamson and Robertson during her trials when sporting the Fairfield flag. Marchioness of Lorne on trials (Adamson) Marchioness of Lorne on trials (Robertson) Marchioness of Lorne was designed for the Holy Loch ferry route where the ability to maneuver at the many piers is more important than speed. The new steamer was capable of just 12 knots in service, requiring some adjustments to the time table. Despite some misgivings, the improved accommodation, meant that the new steamer became a strong favourite with the Holy Loch regulars Marchioness of Lorne (Feilden) Marchioness of Lorne in 1936 Marchioness of Lorne’s summer schedule was demanding,...

Campbell and Kilmun

on Nov 29, 2015

The pier at Kilmun, the first on the Cowal peninsula, dates from 1828 when David Napier purchased land on the north shore of the Holy Loch. Napier’s vision opened up the feuing of the region and he built a number of villas along the shore. It also opened up a new route to Inveraray by way of Loch Eck and Strachur and his efforts to popularize this route will be found in other articles on this site. In Napier’s biography an advertisement of 1829 is quoted “At Kilmun there is now a substantial quay built, where passengers can land at all times. Houses to let, ground to feu,” and Napier had his steamers Kilmun and Earl Grey built to serve the needs of his feuars and the new route patrons. The boiler explosion of the Earl Grey steamer in 1835 signaled the end of David Napier’s interests in owning a steamboat fleet on the Clyde. The steamers, Kilmun, Saint Mun, Cupid, and the wreck of the...

Kilmun—David Napier on the Severn…and briefly on the Clyde

on Oct 21, 2015

The saga of David Napier’s rotatory steamer, Dumbarton, on the Clyde, and his frequent references to the success of a steamer on the rotatory principle on the Severn merits investigation. Napier had moved his business dealings to London in the middle of the 1830s but by 1850, he was living in Gloucester, though he maintained connections in London and Glenshellish near Loch Eck. He also owned and fued land in the vicinity of Kilmun where had built and still owned the pier. David Napier The first attempt to bring a steamboat to the upper reaches of the Severn in 1850 appears to have had limited success.  The Star was too long for the locks and the twisting navigable channel. The improved patent suggests that the Star might have had a rotary engine. “Passenger steamer on the Severn.—A steamer has arrived in the Severn from Glasgow. She is named the Star, and is intended to trade between...