Rothesay Front

This is the second article on Rothesay and takes the visitor along the front of the town.

The Harbour from the Albert Memorial Fountain. The Fountain was removed in 1947 to facilitate motor traffic

Along the front, Victoria Street is the location of many shops, restaurants, banks, and most of the important Hotels.

The Royal Hotel from Albert Place

The Royal Hotel

A view of Victoria Street from Duncan’s Building

Cabs awaiting hire in Albert Place

Guildford Square on Victoria Street was the main point where one could catch a brake to Kilchattan Bay to the east or, after the trams were introduced in 1882, a tram to Port Bannatyne and Ettrick Bay. It is bounded by the Watergate and the High Street.

A horse tram nearing the end of the line at Guildford Square in 1894. The Kilchattan Bay brake is next to the ornate drinking fountain

Guildford Square looking west in 1894. The Hotel on the corner of the High Street is M‘Kinlay’s Temperance Hotel

A later view with the Kilchattan Bay brake and trans at Guildford Square

The line to Ettrick Bay was electrified in 1902 and the track gauge was broadened. In this view looking east, the prominent Lorne Hotel forms the edge of the square. The building on the right contains the Bute Arms Hotel at the junction with the Watergate

Lorne Hotel

Lorne Hotel from the harbour

South of the Lorne Hotel, on the corner of the Watergate with West Princes Street was the Bute Private Hotel

Guildford Square looking west along Victoria Street

One of the famous toast-rack trams at Guildford Square

A tram at Ettrick Bay

The trams were withdrawn in 1936, in favour of motor buses

The western edge of Guildford Square is Rothesay High Street, leading to the ruin of Rothesay Castle

The Municipal Buildings on Castle Street, off the High Street, next to the Castle

Further south on the High Street lies Mansfield Place

Mill Street runs south from the west side of the Castle

The newsagent in Mill Street, Mr Mackie, managed to boost his business with a cart along the front

This view is from the edge of the High Street looking west along Victoria Street. On the left is M‘Kinlay’s Temperance Hotel. Further along the street is a hotel with iron ballustrades on the tower, the Victoria Hotel

Victoria Hotel

Lawson’s tea-room at 17 Victoria Street

Looking east along this stretch of Victoria Street from the bottom of the Gallowgate, showing the Victoria Hotel

Gallowgate

Where the Gallowgate meets Victoria Street was the Madeira Hotel

Medeira Hotel (Adamson)

Gallowgate extended along the front at one time but this part had a name change to Argyll Street

Argyll Street from the pier

East end of Argyll Street

The George Hotel was at 25 Argyll Street

The George was a Temperance Hotel but later obtained a license

The area in front of Victoria Street and Argyll Street was reclaimed from the sea in the early 1870s to form an esplanade and promenade. The steamer at the pier is the Inveraray Castle

The Russell Bandstand was erected in August 1873

Russell Bandstand on the esplanade

The Esplanade around 1877

The Esplanade from the pier with the Victoria Hotel beyond, around 1900

The Bandstand was replaced by a new Bandshell in June 1911. This is a view of the opening of the new Bandshell

The new bandstand could accommodate 100 seated patrons

The new bandstand

A concert in the new bandstand. The Rothesay silver band was popular at the venue

Royal Rothesay Silver Band (Adamson)

Fyfe and Fyfe also offered popular concerts in the Band Shell in the early 1920s

A statue of Alexander Bannatyne Stewart, Lord Bannatyne, of Ascog Hall, was erected in 1884 after his death in 1880. He was a patron of the arts, an orchid fancier, and benefactor of many public and charitable works in Rothesay and more generally in Bute

The A. B. Stewart statue

Pierrots on the Esplanade at the A. B. Stewart statue

The Promenade looking east with the new bandstand

Promenade and new bandstand looking west

In the early 1920s, a memorial to those killed in the first world war was erected on the east end of the esplanade

Putting Green and War Memorial around 1930 (Adamson)

In 1923, the bandshell was incorporated as the stage in the Winter Gardens

After the Winter Gardens opened, Fyfe & Fyfe continued to perform there. This is the line-up from 1933

The promenade around 1930

Williamson-Buchanan steamer Kylemore at the pier around 1930

The Winter Gardens and putting green around 1930

The Esplanade from the west around 1930

With the electricity supply in place with the trams, Rothesay esplanade could be lit up for the illuminations. A favourite time to visit on an evening cruise was when the lights were supplemented by fireworks.