KINTYRE‘S

WESTERN

and
© 2004 P. Donald M. Kelly

IRISH FERRIES The right of P. Donald M. Kelly to be identified as Author of this book
is hereby identified by him in accordance with The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

P. Donald M. Kelly

© 2004 P. Donald M. Kelly.

1
 Introduction Acknowledgements

G I
iven the geography of Kintyre and given, within modern times, the fact that
Western Ferries’ little “Sound of Islay” opened local minds to the potential of
a car ferry service crossing to Ireland, it makes sense to bring together the
histories here.
The history of the West Loch Tarbert to Islay service is inextricably linked with the
services from East Loch Tarbert to the upper reaches of the Clyde and to
complement the story are the histories of the West Loch ferryboats and those that
too have served the island of Gigha.
Here too is the story of the Tarbert-based hovercraft which too, during the 1966
national seamen’s strike, took supplies to Islay.
The history of the Kintyre’s Irish ferry services, that given by Western Ferries’ little
“Sound of Islay” and that by The Argyll & Antrim Steam Packet Company’s ex-
CalMac “Claymore”, will undoubtedly be of interest to many.
n compiling the story here, it was inevitable and necessary to refer to many
published ‘standard’ references.
Other ‘standard’ references included the various editions of Duckworth and
Langmuir’s “”Clyde River and Other Steamers” and their “West Highland Steamers”, Alan
J.S. Paterson’s “The Golden Years of The Clyde Steamers (1889-1914)”, Brian Patton’s
“Scottish Coastal Steamers 1918-1975”, Fraser G. MacHaffie’s “The Short Sea Route”,
Fred M. Walker’s “Song of The Clyde” and to many other corroborative items in the
pages of “Ships Monthly” and “Sea Breezes” and to many old and local newspapers
and to a miscellany of steamer enthusiast sources and references. A special note of
thanks to my late father who developed my interests in shipping and to Duncan
MacMillan of Kintyre’s Antiquarian and Historical Society without whose generosity
and support little of this work would have been possible, to Duncan Ritchie of
Carradale, to Hamish Mackinven of Edinburgh, to Captain John Leesmoffat, to
the late Ian Shannon and to the many other, some long departed, friends that I
made through our mutual interest in ‘steamers’.

That there has always been a large lack of understanding about the Irish ferry Donald Kelly, Kintyre, 2004.
service’s potential, it is appropriate to set out here the set of traffic projections
which founded an earlier proposal, one which involved no subsidies for its ‘survival’
or success.

It is left to the reader - and to subsequent history - to reflect upon the accuracy of
the traffic projections which were, at least initially, rejected without further scrutiny
by those who so ill-advisedly persuaded the ill-fated operation of the “Claymore” in
the 1990’s.

As a now occasional visitor to these southern waters of The Hebrides, the story of
former MacBrayne car ferry “Columba”, now the “Hebridean Princess” has been
extracted from the early business prospectuses which sought funding to ‘float’ her
ventures.

Donald Kelly, Muasdale, Kintyre, 2004.

2
 Contents Clyde Steamers On Video

T
Across The Sea to Ireland 1 hough the days of the Clyde Steamers are now but distant memories, the
atmosphere and prosperity of their times has been captured and preserved on a
Rule “Britannia” 2 number of VHS-video films which will trigger many people’s memories of their own
childhood days and the glories of suumers past. Readers of “Ships Monthly” and “Sea
Breezes” magazines will already be familiar with the advertisements of companies and indeed
Fancy Tarbert ? 4 individuals from whom such video films can be purchased and a list from Mainmast Books,
251 Copnor Road, Portsmouth, Hants. PO3 5EE Telephone number 023-9264-5555 is
MacBrayne’s Royal Route 9 indicative of those available.

The Campbeltown - Tarbert Mail Coach 15 * CLYDE STEAMER MEMORIES (Part 1) (8356)
recording the period from 1919 to 1949 its commentary given by
The “Queen Alexandra (II)”/ “Saint Columba” 16 Largs-based BBC presenter Iain Anderson. Black and White
* CLYDE STEAMER MEMORIES (Part 2) (8357)
The West Loch Ferries 18 continues the story from 1949 through to 1989. Colour
* CLYDE STEAMER MEMORIES (16180)
* DOON THE WATER (16252)
“Maid of Islay” to “Islay” 19 is a compilation of British Transport Commission films, the “Coasts
of Clyde”, its commentary by the late Bernard Braden, includes film
Eilean Sea Services 31 of the turbine steamer “Duchess of Montrose” on a trip to Arran.
* WEST HIGHLAND STEAMER MEMORIES (16201)
Western Ferries 32 looks at the MacBrayne fleet and West Highland services.
* PADDLE STEAMERS OF LOCH LOMOND (16195)
The Gigha Ferries 38 covers the steamer history of the loch from 1820 to 1990 when the
former Loch Awe motorship“Countess Fiona” / ”Countess of
The Hovercraft and The Catamaran 41 Breadalbane” was finally withdrawn.
* THE GOLDEN YEARS OF THE P.S. “Waverley” 1947 - 1997
covers her first 50 years around the coasts. (16196)
“Islay” to Red Bay 45 * Excursion Ships in The Wake of The Paddlers (16314)
features 21 ships from around the U.K. including “Waverley” and
The Ballycastle Ferry 47 “Balmoral” and the ill-fated “Southsea” which, as the “Prince
Ivanhoe”, was wrecked on the Welsh Gower Coast.
Full Circle 55 * Ships of The Clyde (16194)
shows the vasr variety of ships, from clippers to liners, from paddle
“Calvin B. Marshall” 58 steamers to tugs, which appeared on the Clyde between 1859 and 1959.
* Isle of Man Steam Packet - The Island Lifeline (16148)
The “Pibroch” and An “Eagle” 59 features the Manx ‘baby-liners’“Lady of Mann” and “Ben-My-Chree”
which often sailed from Ardrossan to Douglas and too looks at the cargo
ships and ‘ro-ro’ car ferries on the Isle of Man services.
The “Hebridean Princess” 61
* The Video Film Prices Listed Here should be checked with advertisers.

3
 Across The Sea to Ireland Morrison had lost two boats, worth £60, in the previous eighteen months and the
cost of blasting away the offending rocks, just £15, was subsequently paid out by
the Argyll Estate - two years later !

T
here were many vessels sailing between the two shores. These used many of
the little and primitive ports such as at Marypans, Carskey, Pollywilline,
Four years after that, a local survey was carried out by George Langlands and it
Glen-hervie and Feochaig but the most frequented port was that at
resulted in the lower Conie Water being straightened out, in 1817, which made for
Dunaverty, sometimes referred to as Machrimore, where too there was a
a safer landing for the ferries.
customs officer !
In 1802, the regular Cushendun-based ferry was the fifteen ton “Rattlesnake”, an
Besides being situated at the extreme end of the Kintyre peninsula, it offered
open boat, captained by Charles McAllister.
different landing sites which could be used according to the different wind
directions. If wind and tide permitted, the normal landing place would be within
On March 2, 1808, the Campbeltown Customs Collector, in a letter to his Board
the mouth of the Conie Water, under the shelter of Dunaverty Rock.
in Edinburgh regarding a vacancy for a tidewaiter, customs officer, at Southend,
noted the ferries as being “ the principal communication betwixt this country and
If landing there were impossible, a boat could pull up in Dunaverty Bay “the beach
Ireland from whence there is daily intercourse”.
being contiguous to the Water of Machrimore on the East side.” Landings and
departures at Dunaverty were often difficult, sometimes impossible. In September
The ferry seems to have continued running passengers and cargo till around the
1802, John McKillop, master of the Cushendun-based ferry-boat “Mary Ann”, an
1850’s when it was overtaken by the convenience and the comfort of the many
open boat, found that the southerly wind made landing impossible and simply
steamer services which now plied The North Channel.
threw his load of fifteen cattle into the sea to make their own way ashore !
Sometime around 1909, The Glasgow and South Western Railway Company drew
For the Antrim glensmen, the short crossing was undoubtedly a blessing. Until the
up plans to to run a light railway to Southend and re-open the Irish ferry.
Antrim coast road was built in the 1830’s, those living in the glens had no easy
access to their hinterland as the barren plateau behind and the precipitous
promontories of Park Head and Garron Point effectively cut them off from the rest
of Ireland. They were thus largely dependent upon neighbouring Kintyre for the Rule “Britannia”
sale of their produce and the purchase of the requirements they could not provide

I
for themselves. n 1814, two men, Lewis M’Lellan and Alexander Laird, entered partnership
and began to take a prominent interest and an active part in the development of
Two ferry boats operated, one from Cushendun, the other from Dunaverty, the steamship business, their enterprise was backed by Archibald Mactaggart,
operating his service under a lease from The Duke of Argyll. an open-minded Campbeltown distiller.

In 1792, Kenneth Morrison, the ferryman and innkeeper at Muneroy in Southend,
who used two half-decked boats for the service, petitioned The Duke of Argyll to
clear two rocks in the middle of the river mouth at Southend as they were adding to
difficulties in southerly and westerly winds.
The clearance of the river-mouth and, Morrison hoped, the provision of a “safe and
commodious harbour that might induce Argyll’s other local tenants to ship their grain, butter and
cheese for Greenock or Campbeltown, to obtain a better and more ready market.”
4
Rothesay, Tarbert, Inveraray and Campbeltown were all ‘faraway places’ served by
sailing smacks and gabbarts and M’Lellan and Laird seem to have realised at an early
stage that The Clyde itself would soon become crowded with competitors and
determined to extend the benefits of steam navigation to places where the coming
of the steamship was but an echo.
In 1815, they placed an order with John Hunter of Port Glasgow for the 73¼ ton
“Britannia”, 93’ 4” long, 16’ 5” beam and 8’3” in depth, engined by D. McArthur
& Company. With Captain Wise in command, her first trip, in 1816, from
Glasgow to Campbeltown took just 14 hours, a very notable change from the
sailing packets’ sailing times.
The arrival and departure of the sailing packets were at irregular intervals. When a
boat was ready to set out on a particular day, the fact was announced throughout
the burgh by the ‘town crier’ who usually described such sailings as “about to start
from The Neb,” the term then applied to The Old Quay.
It was a quaint tradition handed down to very recent times that these vessels, the
sailing packets, went so leisurely that the skipper could get planting his potatoes in
Arran or Bute on the outward journey and dig them up on the return trip. The
people in Campbeltown two hundred years ago were evidently as much inclined
then, as they are to this very day, to poke fun at the public services by means of a
little exaggeration.
The fact seems to be however, that it normally took the sailing packets one week
for the outward journey and another week for the return. The voyage to Glasgow
was looked upon as ‘very hazardous’ by many people and while twelve days was
considered a tedious passage, the journey in stormy weather often took very much
longer.
Sometimes, it is said, that goods were ordered from Glasgow, duly shipped with
bills at three months drawn from the day the vessel sailed and the bills had become due
before the goods were even in sight of the town let alone delivered. Such
experiences, one would fancy, were the exception rather than the rule and most
likely in winter when the storms ensued.
Such was the success of the “Britannia” that, almost immediately, in 1816, the
partners placed a second order with John Hunter in Port Glasgow for the 90-ton
“Waterloo (I)”, 72-feet long and 16-feet in beam, this time the engines were
supplied by one James Cook.
The two steamers now plied regularly, about three times a fortnight, between
Glasgow and Campbeltown and every Saturday during the summer one or other of
them would sail from The Broomielaw to Greenock, Rothesay, Tarbert, Ardrishaig
and Inveraray, returning from Inveraray on the following Monday for Glasgow.
Again the M’Lellan, Laird partnership had hit success and in 1819 the first
“Waterloo (I)” was sold off and the 200-ton “Waterloo (II)”, 100-feet long and 16-
5
feet in beam, ordered from Scott & Sons of Greenock, again James Cook was to
supply her machinery, two independent 30-horsepower engines.
M’Lellan and Laird’s success, encouraged the Campbeltown ‘worthies’ to take stock
of their position and to form themselves into a company which might serve the area
in an even better and more intimate way than hitherto.
When Alexander Laird’s son joined the business, the partnership would acquire two
new steamers, the “Clydesdale” and the “Londonderry”, for a new tri-weekly
service linking Campbeltown with Londonderry and, no doubt anticipating such
kind of developments, the Campbeltonians felt that any such expansions might
detract from their own direct links to Glasgow.
As events too were to turn, the “Waterloo (II)”, renamed “Maid of Islay (I)”,
would extend her run - and via Stranraer too - to Islay in 1825, a fact which may
further have had bearing on the thinking of the Campbeltown ‘worthies’.
Another, perhaps worrying, element in the equation was an announcement in ‘The
Glasgow Chronicle’ of March 15, 1825 that anyone trying to send whisky on the only
two Greenock - Liverpool steam packets would be prosecuted !
Fancy Tarbert ?
“Dream no more southern rambles ! Snowy Alp or Castled Rhine;
Step on board the good “Columba”, Book for Tarbert on Loch Fyne !”
O
n September 2, 1812, just a month after making her debut sailing between
Glasgow and Greenock, Henry Bell’s “Comet (I)” extended her route via
Tarbert and The Crinan Canal to Oban, Port Appin and Fort William, the
return journey taking four days. The first “Comet (I)” was wrecked near
Crinan on December 13, 1820.
A second “Comet (II)” was built in 1821, one of the shareholders was Neil Malcolm
of Poltalloch, at Lochgilphead, who subscribed £50. So seemingly too did his wife
who, like her husband, very trustingly left the cash in Henry Bell’s own hands !
Bell too was financially embarrassed at the time and one report has it that Bell had
never settled accounts for the first “Comet (I)” ! The new “Comet (II)” was run
down and sunk off Gourock by the “Ayr” on October 21, 1825 - the 20th
anniversary of The Battle of Trafalgar !
The little 1815-built “Greenock”, which, in 1844, would become a ferry ‘cross The
Mersey, was advertised to take farmers and ‘trippers’ to Tarbert Fair in August 1815
- The Battle of Waterloo was, of course, on June 18, 1815. Only small vessels
could actually tie up alongside Tarbert’s Old Quay, in the harbour and the bigger,
early, steamers had to rely on ferries to land and load passengers and cargo.
After Tarbert, the early steamers made a call at Sir John Orde’s Kilmory Pier, on
the east side of Loch Gilp, until 1817 when the remedial work finished on The
Crinan Canal and Ardrishaig Pier extended, in 1817.
In 1825 the laird, Campbell of Stonefield, extended the harbour and built the ‘New
Quay’. Again it would be the Stonefield laird, Colin George Campbell, who built
the outer pier, East Loch Tarbert’s pier, in 1866 and it was itself rebuilt in 1879
when MacBrayne’s new 301-foot long paddle steamer “Columba” arrived on the
scene, too long to go alongside the 1866 pier.
For the better part of the first thirty years of steamer services, Tarbert’s trade was in
the hands of the ‘Castle’ steamer owners - The first Hutcheson (MacBrayne)
steamers did not ‘cast off’ till Monday, February 10, 1851.
Despite their seemingly common fleet names, the Castle steamers, nearly twenty,
were each owned by separate companies and ‘the company’ served Loch Goil as
well as Loch Fyne. The first to appear in Loch Fyne was the 1816-built “Rothesay
Castle”, which would be joined later by the 1814-built “Inveraray Castle (I)”
In 1822, Loch Fyne would be served thereafter by the 1820- built “Inveraray Castle
(II)“ and the new 1822-built “Toward Castle” and then the 1826-built “Dunoon
Castle” partnering the old “Rothesay Castle” till the end of the 1820’s when the
latter was sold, later lost and a large number of passengers drowned off Beaumaris.
A daily service was given every lawful day - not Sundays - between Glasgow
andInveraray with calls at Port Glasgow, Greenock, Gourock, Dunoon, Rothesay,
Tarbert and Lochgilphead, each ship returning the following day.
The ‘company’, advertising its, then four, ships as ‘Royal Mail Steam Packets’, also
operated a steamer to run mail on Sunday mornings from Rothesay, at 8.30 a.m. to
Greenock, leaving there for the return trip at 11 a.m. It too, then in 1829, ran
twice a week from Glasgow to Brodick and Lamlash. Running to Lochgilphead,
thrice weekly, were 1825-built “James Ewing”, “St. Catherine” and the 1830-built
“Superb”.
6
In 1832, the “Windsor Castle (I)”, owned by the consortium of Finlay, Watson
and Miller. Under the command of Captain Don Currie, she was on the Glasgow
to Inveraray run until 1838 when replaced by another, “Windsor Castle (II)” given
a figure-head of Queen Victoria.
Then came the 1836-built, three - masted “Tarbert Castle” which was wrecked
opposite Tarbert at Ardmarnock Beach on January 17, 1839. By the time the new
1838-built “Argyle”, owned by James Fleming, James McDonald and William
Ewing, went to her assistance everyone had been safely evacuated.
The ‘Tarbert’, known as ‘the long Tarbert’, was refloated but her hull beyond
economic repair, her machinery was salved and given to the new 1839-built
“Inveraray Castle (III)“, now built to oppose the “Argyle” !
The origins of The Castle Steam Packet Company are somewhat obscure but its title
is noted in 1832 when the ‘Castle’ steamers were transferred to its trustees. The
company was reconstituted in April 1842 as The Glasgow Castle Steam Packet
Company and among its trustees was one Robert Thom, a Rothesay cotton spinner.
In the summer of 1842, the 1837-built “Rothsay Castle” - note the spelling - left
Glasgow at 6 a.m. every weekday morning for Greenock, Dunoon, Rothesay,
Tarbert and Lochgilphead, on Saturdays she extended her run to Inveraray. At
Tarbert, she linked with the “Toward Castle” which had been on the West Loch to
Islay run since 1838.
Now the 1842-built “Duntroon Castle”, a single funnel and a female figure-head.
She was unusual in that she had two masts, both of them rigged to carry square-
sails !
The next ship, the 1844-built “Cardiff Castle”, the first Clyde Steamer to be fitted
with a ‘double diagonal’ engine, is of particular interest for two other reasons,
firstly, because it is generally agreed that she inaugurated the famous ‘Royal Route’ to
The Isles and, secondly, because she ended up in the ‘Sunday Trade’, from
Glasgow to Millport, in 1866, under the ownership of Glasgow publican Harry
Sharp, a sorry end for an otherwise interesting ship. Her builder’s certificate is one
of the oldest known Clyde Steamer records reads
“We, Caird & Co., engineers and founders in Greenock, County of Renfrew, built
in our building yard here, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-four
and launched from thence on the third day of June of the same year the steamer
“Cardiff Castle”, John Campbell, master, being a square-sterned, clinker-built
iron vessel, constructed to be propelled by steam, rigged, two-masted schooner,
with one deck, a scroll head and quarter pieces and that her length, from the inner
part of the main stem to the fore part of the stern post aloft, is one hundred and
seventy feet three-tenths, Her breadth amidships on deck is nineteen feet; depth of
hold amidships, nine feet three-tenths; and the admeasures after deducting the
engine room. And that William Campbell Esq. of Tilliechewan; John Watson Esq.,
merchant, Glasgow; James Hunter Esq. of Hafton; Alexander Struthers Findlay
Esq., merchant in Glasgow and other partners of The Castle Steam Packet
Company, are the first purchasers and sole owners and that the said vessel was never
registered before. Given under our hands at Greenock this eighteenth day of
September, one thousand eight hundred and forty-four. Caird & Co..”
A new “Windsor Castle (III)” was built in 1845, the fastest ship on The Clyde
covering the Glasgow to Rothesay run in a record 2 hours and 28 minutes ! She was
indeed a very ‘tender’ ship and was scrapped after her very first season and her
engines would be fitted into the 1846-built “Dunrobin Castle” which was
occasionally on the Loch Fyne run till 1851 when she was sold to Russia.
Now, in June 1846, The Glasgow Steam Packet Company, though its steamers
continued to be advertised till 1848 under its name, was acquired by G. & J. Burns,
the ships being registered in the name of the Trustees of The Glasgow & Liverpool
Steamship Company, in whose name all Burns’ Highland ships were registered.
When Burns had introduced through shipping services, via The Crinan Canal, to
the West Highlands in 1839, they had placed the four-year old “Helen McGregor”
on the Oban to Crinan service and a year later on the through Glasgow to Inverness
service and, towards the end of 1843, she gained the dubious honour of being the
first ever vessel to sink in The Crinan Canal ! She was salvaged and served on the
same run till 1848.
The through route from Glasgow to Inverness was jointly worked between Burns
and Messrs. Thomson & MacConnell whose paddle steamer “Brenda” covered the
Glasgow to Lochgilphead route.
To cover The Crinan Canal section, the “Thornwood”, a horse-drawn ‘track-boat’,
was brought down from The Monkland Canal. She was succeeded for the 1847
season by the track-boats “Maid of Perth” and “Sunbeam”, the latter conveying
Queen Victoria along the canal to Crinan in August that year.
7
For the occasion, the “Sunbeam” was was specially fitted out, her two plate- glass
windowed 20’ by 6’ and 18’ by 10’ cabins being hung with curtains and drapes and
an 18’ by 10’ timber canopy, supported by four pillars surmounted with gilt crowns,
extended across her after deck. A decorated scroll filigree style panel ran the outside
length of her cabin roofs.
“At five we reached Loch Gilp and landed at Lochgilphead,” wrote Queen Victoria. “We and
our people drove through the village to the Crinan Canal where we entered a most magnificently
decorated barge drawn by three horses ridden by posthillions in scarlet.”
In fact, she had come ashore in Ardrishaig and was driven to the ‘Poltalloch Posting
House’ where, supposedly, she walked up the, somewhat steep, little steps behind
what would be re-named The Royal Hotel to the canal.
Burns took over William Ainslie’s three Fort William-based steamers in June 1849,
including the 1844, Wingate-built “Queen of Beauty” which was sent back to
Wingate’s for dismantling, her machinery, Robert Napier’s very first marine engine,
from the 1823 “Leven”, to be used in a new ship, the “Merlin”, which made her
inaugural trip on the Glasgow to Ardrishaig route on Saturday, April 20, 1850. On
that run, her owners and friends aboard, she made the 80-mile run against the tide
in five-and-a-quarter hours, much to the delight of all on board.
The following year, at 6 a.m. on Monday, February 10, 1851, the former Castle
Company steamer “Pioneer” took over ‘The Royal Route’ as David Hutcheson &
Company took over control of ‘The West Highlands’.
David Hutcheson retired from the company in 1876, his brother Alexander two
years later, in 1878. This left the third partner, Burns nephew David MacBrayne,
to carry on the business which he now did, in his own name.
MacBrayne’s Royal Route
F
ollowing Queen Victoria’s passage through The Crinan Canal and her passage
on to Inverness in 1847, the route became known as “The Royal Route”, a
title which would be promoted enthusiastically by Hutcheson and MacBrayne
over the next years and decades.
Towards the end of 1851, the year of The Great Exhibition in London, a new ship,
the “Mountaineer”, was ordered for the Clyde section of the route. She was
launched from J. & G. Thomson’s Govan yard on May 29, 1852 by Master David
Hutcheson, a nephew of two of her owners and on July 22nd “ran the lights”
between the Cloch and the Wee Cumbrae at a fraction under 15 knots.
Single-masted and two-funnelled, she was flush-decked, with a slanting stem finely
decorated on each side with a guilded carving of a Highlander in full costume
holding a greyhound on a lead and had a square stern, which too was embellished.
On the hatch-cover of the lower saloon companionway was a wooden carving of a
goat. The artists and decorators had indeed liberally and lavishly decorated the new
ship and such was her success on the Ardrishaig run that she was succeeded by the
first “Iona (I)” in 1855 and thereafter the “Mountaineer” would only to the route
in spring and autumn.
The route to Tarbert and Ardrishaig did not have a daily service until the winter of
1867-1868 and, from November 1869, Greenock became the route’s winter
terminal with Glasgow through sailings operating only in summer.
The first “Iona (I)” too was a ‘crack’ ship and then, The American Civil War came
along and, in September 1862, she was sold as a blockade-runner to The
Confederates who had been under blockade since April 1861.
Laden with coal and now fitted with a main-mast, she left Glasgow around 2 p.m.
on October 2, 1862 for Nassau in The Bahamas. She spent the afternoon
adjusting her compasses at The Tail of The Bank and then at about 7 p.m., just off
Gourock was run down and sunk by the new “Chanticleer” which was returning up-
river after running speed trials on the Skelmorlie Measured Mile. The “Chanticleer”
was still ‘at speed’ and sliced through the starboard side of the “Iona (I)” cutting to
within just a couple of feet of her port hull. Both ships had steaming lights and the
collision is still something of a mystery.
The master of the “Chanticleer” vainly tried to push the “Iona (I)” towards the
shore and, unbelievably, the master of the “Iona (I)” refused assistance from a
passing tug arguing that the master of the “Chanticleer” should accept liability for
paying the tug ! Fortunately, no lives were lost in the collision and the crew of the
stricken “Iona (I)” plus a stowaway all got safely ashore !
Today the “Iona (I)”, her stern pointing towards Helensburgh, Henry Bell’s last
abode, sits upright in about 90-feet of water at about 55° 57’ N 04° 47’ W and
some three-hundred feet or so south-east of the Whiteforeland Buoy, her coal
bunkers strewn in mounds beside her wreck.
8
With the sale of the first “Iona (I)”, Hutchesons ordered a replacement ship, the
“Iona (II)”, from J. & G. Thomson’s Govan yard again. She ran her trials on
Wednesday, June 24, 1863, attaining some 18 knots and a feature about her
appeared in “The Illustrated London News”.
The 245-foot long ship, driven by twenty-foot feathering paddle wheels, had her
engine-room open to view on three sides, enclosed only by rails. Her main-deck
passenger saloons, fore and aft of the engine and boiler space, totalled some one
hundred and eighty feet and her dining saloon, on the lower deck about seventy-
five feet in length. Described as “a floating mansion in which a person may go to
sea without losing the sense of home,” she too had a post office on board.
After only working the 1863 season, shee too was sold for blockade running to
Charles Hopkins Boster of Richmond, Virginia and, like her predecessor, also
ended up sunk in British waters, off Lundy Island, in The Bristol Channel, on
February 2, 1864 when outward bound to America. Her wreck, about 51° 11’ N
04° 38’ W , was discovered in 1976 and she is now listed as one of Lundy Island’s
diving attractions. Some items retrieved from the wreck are in Greenock’s McLean
Museum.
Now Hutcheson’s built “Iona (III)”, launched on May 10, 1864 and she would
serve the company until broken up at Dalmuir in April 1936. Many of her internal
fittings and furnishings had come from “Iona (II)”, not needed by the blockade-
runner. Her navigating bridge was raised to paddle-box height in the winter of
1870-1871 and two years later, in 1873, she was fitted with steam steering gear and
Chadburn’s engine-room telegraphs. She was reboilered in 1875 and again in 1891
and too, in 1880, had been given an oil-gas lighting installation and a third lifeboat
for working out of Oban to Crinan and Corpach.
In 1866, The Crinan Canal ‘track-boats’ gave way to the “Linnet”, a twin- screw
steamer, based at Crinan, which made the two-hour passage through the canal to
meet up with the “Iona (III)” at Ardrishaig in summer-time. The “Linnet” would
survive until the end of the 1929 season when she was sold to The Glasgow Motor
Boat Racing Club at Shandon, in The Gareloch. She arrived there in June 1930 and
was wrecked in a storm in January 1932.
The Glasgow and Inveraray Steamboat Company’s “Lord of The Isles (I)”, built in
1877, called at many of the piers used by “Iona (III)” and Hutcheson’s now ordered
another new ship for the Ardrishaig run, hoping to take away some of the
‘intermediate pier’ passengers from the rival ‘Loch Fyne’ ship.
Again they went to Thomson’s and, for around £28,000, got the wonderful 301-
foot long “Columba” complete with post office, book and fruit stalls and a
barbers’s shop which even had a steam engine to drive the hair brushes ! The Post
Office service was withdrawn at the start of the 1914-1918 war and not reinstated.
Too, with the arrival of the new 301-foot long ship, Tarbert’s East Loch Pier had
to be extended.
When reboilered in 1900, the “Columba” was raised some five inches out of the
water and her speed increased from 18 knots to 19½ knots at 40 r.p.m. Her engine-
room was however a very dark and gloomy place until 1929, when a small electric
light plant was fitted. Her only drawback was her coal consumption, some 18 to 20
tons daily.
With the arrival of the new “Columba”, the “Iona (III)” became ‘spare’ in the
main part of the season, although she carried out the Clyde service in the spring and
autumn, the winter runs being carried out by the “Mountaineer”.
In 1879, the “Iona (III)” found herself doing Glasgow Fair cruises to the newly
opened pier at Skipness but was otherwise idle and the following years found her
sent to Oban until, in the summer of 1886, she found herself back on the summer
Ardrishaig station, in concert with the “Columba”. A ‘rival’, Alexander Williamson,
had had the temerity to try running a weekend-only service to Tarbert and
Ardrishaig, berthing his ship at the latter over The Sabbath Day and now, given the
return of the “Iona (III)”, the ‘rival’ disappeared !
The “Columba” left Glasgow’s Broomielaw at 7 a.m. and then returned to
Glasgow leaving Ardrishaig about 1 p.m.. The “Iona (III)” balanced the service
leaving Ardrishaig at 5.45 a.m. and then left Glasgow at 1.30 p.m. In 1901, the
“Iona (III)”, on Friday, June 14th - the local holiday, called at Queen’s Dock on
the upward run to give passengers a chance to visit The Glasgow Exhibition and,
delaying her return trip, a 6 p.m. call was made at Partick to take everyone home
again.
In 1904, the “Iona (III)” had her route shortened and, still leaving Ardrishaig at
5.45 a.m., ran to the piers in The Kyles of Bute, Rothesay and then on to Wemyss
Bay to leave at 10.40 a.m. and run direct to arrive back in Ardrishaig at 12.50 p.m.,
more or less with the “Columba”. On Wednesdays and Saturdays during July and
August, she would go on to Otter Ferry and, departing there at 1.45 p.m., would
retrace her route back to Wemyss Bay, then back to Ardrishaig, a 10 p.m. finish
after a 17-hour day.
9
On Monday, August 14, 1905, with a large complement on a beautiful moonlit
night singing and dancing to the music of The Argyll and Bute Asylum’s band, the
“Iona (III)”, doubling round on her service run, picked up evening cruise
passengers from Tighnabruiach at 7.15 p.m. ret. 10.30 p.m., Auchenlochan at 7.20
p.m., ret. 10.35 p.m., Kames at 7.25 p.m., ret. 10.40 p.m., Tarbert at 8.15 p.m., ret.
11.20 p.m. and Ardrishaig at 8.50 p.m.. The cruise, back down to The Kyles of
Bute - possibly circling through ‘the narrows’ and ‘the south channel’ - did not
return to Ardrishaig till 1 a.m.. On the following Saturday, the “Iona (III)” had to
anchor for two hours off Ardlamont, due to overheating engines, on her midday
run from Wemyss Bay to Ardrishaig !
In 1909, on Friday, August 6 and in aid of funds for Ardrishaig Public Hall, the
“Iona (III)” was chartered for a ‘Grand Moonlight Cruise’ to Crarae and round the
Minard Islands, leaving Tarbert at 8 p.m. and Ardrishaig at 8.40 p.m.. Ardrishaig’s
Pipe Band was on board and a concert too had been arranged, the inclusive charge
being 2/- per ticket or, just 1/6 for the cruise. 500 passengers were carried and the
gross takings were £42 .13/-. Outlays, “including the cost of the steamer charter
from Messrs MacBraynes on very liberal terms” amounted to just £11.17/- and the
profits were thus £30.16/-.
The 1914-1918 War saw the “Iona (III)” running the Ardrishaig service from
Wemyss Bay, the anti-submarine boom closing the river north of the line between
The Cloch Lighthouse and Dunoon.
The “Columba” took over again from August 1916 and the sailings from Greenock
and Gourock were resumed on February 1, 1919, initially by the “Chevalier”
which, until she stranded on the south-east of Barmore Island, en route for
Ardrishaig on March 25, 1927, would also cover the winter reliefs, these then being
covered by the “Fusilier”.
After the war and until 1927, the “Iona (III)” would be the summer steamer on the
Lochgoilhead and Arrochar run, originally served by the ‘Castle Company’ ships
and would do the spring and autumn ‘shoulders’ on the Ardrishaig run.
On October 12, 1931, the new diesel-electric “Lochfyne”, her first and later
summers spent at Oban, took over the winter Ardrishaig service. She was the first
British passenger vessel to have electric motors, supplied current by diesel engines,
which directly drove her propellors, much was written about her in ‘the technical
marine press’. The “Lochfyne” would thereafter carry out all the winter reliefs,
occasionally relieved by the “Lochnevis” and too would provide the service through
the 1939-1945 war years from Wemyss Bay.
On October 3, 1935, MacBrayne’s, in conjunction with The London, Midland &
Scottish Railway Company, acquired the ships of Turbine Steamers Ltd. and
Williamson-Buchanan Steamers, the “Queen Alexandra (II)” and the “King
George V” going to MacBrayne’s.
The “Queen Alexandra (II)”, built in 1912, was given a mainmast and a third
funnel and renamed “Saint Columba” put on to the summer Ardrishaig run and
the old ships “Iona (III)” and “Columba” broken up at Dalmuir in April 1936,
the bell from the “Iona (III)” can be seen today in The Puffer Aground Restaurant
at Salen, on Mull.
Requisitioned as an accomodation ship for Greenock’s East India Harbour in
January 1940, the “Saint Columba” returned to the summer Ardrishaig run on
May 19, 1947 though now only operating from Gourock, the crew-hours from
Glasgow out-weighing any thoughts of resuming sailings from Glasgow.
With World War I, the “Saint Columba” was requisitioned as a troop transport and
was fully engaged in this work from February 7, 1915 until May 10, 1919. Just a
year and a day before she was released, on Thursday, May 9, 1918, when under the
command of her old skipper, Captain Angus Keith and west of Cherbourg, at 49°
49’ N, 01° 40’ W, she depth-charged, then rammed and sank the German Coastal
Type UB III submarine “UB 78” at 0050 hours in the morning, none of the
submarine’s 35 crew survived. Captain Keith received an O.B.E. and a
Distinguished Service Cross as a reward for his initiative.
The “Saint Columba” ran aground in fog at Ettrick Bay on Bute in August 1953
and then, in her final year of service, 1958, was given a radar ! She was towed to
Smith & Houston’s yard at Port Glasgow for breaking up - hauled stern first on to
the shore as was their custom - on December 23, 1958.
The “Lochfyne”, relieved occasionally by the “Lochnevis”, then became the all-
year-round Ardrishaig ‘steamer’ - She was also relieved by the turbine “King George
V” at the beginning of November 1960 as the “Lochiel (IV)” had broken down on
The West Loch Tarbert to Islay service.
In turn, on September 30, 1969, the “Lochfyne” too was withdrawn and, in
January 1970, was sold to the Northern Slipway Ltd. of Dublin but spent some time
10
at Faslane supplying power there to the ship-breaking yard. Then she was sold to
Scottish & Newcastle Breweries, docked at Govan and renamed “Old Lochfyne”
but too ended up being scrapped, at Dalmuir in 1974. The Ardrishaig service, now
under the control of The Scottish Transport Group, was operated, only to Tarbert
that winter of 1969. First by the “Maid of Skelmorlie” and then, in the spring, till
May 29, 1970, by the “Maid of Argyll” which effectively brought ‘The Royal
Route’, through The Kyles of Bute, to an end.
Now the Fairlie-based car ferry “Cowal (II)” began a daily service Fairlie - Keppel
Pier (Millport) and Brodick to Tarbert. This service was, essentially, ‘unadvertised’
as it was designed to provide a relief for the sometimes over-loaded Ardrossan -
Brodick car ferry “Glen Sannox (III)”. Much to STG’s surprise and thanks largely
to the editor of the weekly “Autocar” magazine, quite a considerable traffic built up
for the Tarbert section !
Perhaps as a consequence, the decision was taken to operate a car ferry from
Lochranza and the little car ferry “Kilbrannan” duly opened the new service from
Lochranza to Claonaig, near Skipness on July 8, 1972.
The Campbeltown - Tarbert Mail Coach
T
hough the coming of the railways had sounded the death knell for the stage
coach - the last ran between London and Norwich in 1846, Campbeltown’s
own mail coach did not enter service until 1871 when John Stewart,
Chamberlain of Argyll and the Laird of Largie, at Tayinloan, decided that the
days of the post-gig should be ended and a proper coach put into service.
To this end, the gentlemen approached William Young, born in Beith and son of a
farmer, to instigate a new coach service. Young was already a contractor and would
become tenant of the Drum Farm and, later, Glencraigs.
The coach, carrying passengers inside and out, was, throughout its service, most
usually driven by Young himself, he only latterly allowing his assistant Jim McPhee
the reins. Every morning too, Young had to ride the 4½ miles in to Campbeltown
from the Drum Farm and then, in the evening, had to ride out home again after
the day’s run was finished, a long hard day.
The coach left Campbeltown every weekday at 6 a.m. and made the first change of
horses at Bellochantuy. Further changes were made at Tayinloan, Clachan and then
Tarbert, the coach returning to Campbeltown for 6 p.m..
At each change of horses, the driver took his mail bag to the village post office thus
giving the passengers a few moments to refresh themselves at the adjacent inn,
Young himself was never known to accept a drink from passengers.
The inns, the “Tippling Houses at Stages on the Main Road”, had been established
over a century before in the days of the old post-gig and that at Bellochantuy, just
to the north of the present hotel, was built about 1733, the same architect building
the house on Cara Island - Bellochantuy’s post office and church were demolished
in the early 1980’s to make way for a new alignment of the main road.
While only two horses were needed to take the coach north to Tayinloan, a third
was then added to power the coach over the hills at Ronachan and Clachan. The
three horses were harnessed “French Fashion”, abreast - Had the third horse been
added to lead the other two, the leader would have been known as ‘the Unicorn’.
Little time was wasted at the inns and the coach would not stop or slow down on
the approach to hills. Anyone wanting to put a letter on to the coach between the
inns would place the communication in a cleft stick to be held out towards the
coach driver as the vehicle approached, the same principal as was adopted for mail
trains picking up mail at speed at intermediate stations.
The coach also picked up lists for farm and household goods and dropped these off
on the return trips, eventually The Post Office instituted a parcel service and the
mail contractor then awarded an increase in his contract fees.
Though most coach passengers preferred the comfort and warmth of the inside, the
seat of honour was on the box beside the coach driver and many famous men,
famous in politics, the church and buisness, sat beside the driver. On one
occasion, a schoolgirl was ordered to vacate the comfort of the inside and sit on the
box beside the driver to allow a calf to be put inside, a far more valuable passenger
indeed !
Only once was it reported that anyone had got the better of coach driver William
Young. “What is the fare ?” asked an attractive young lady. “A kiss from you, my
bonnie lassie,” replied Young. She quickly kissed him and as quickly made off,
leaving him breathless - and fareless ! The return fare between Campbeltown and
Tarbert was £1.00 in the final years of the service.
11
The first motor car appeared in Campbeltown in 1898 and the mail-coach, said to
‘circumnavigate The World’ once- a- year, gave way to the age of the motor-bus in
1913, the mail coach making its last run on Saturday, August 30, 1913.
The “Queen Alexandra (II)” / “Saint Columba”
T
o replace the original fire-damaged ship of the same name, now sold to The
Canadian Pacific Railway, Captain John Williamson wrote to Denny’s on
October 7, 1911 and placed a £39,000 order for her successor, Yard No
970, the “Queen Alexandra (II)”. She was launched by fellow director
Captain Leyland’s ward, Miss A.M. Chetwynd on Tuesday, April 9, 1912, exactly
ten years to the day after the launch of the first ‘Queen’ and a week lees a day before
the “Titanic” sank !
The “Queen Alexandra (II)” carried out her speed trials, reaching 21½ knots, on
Saturday, May 18, 1912 and now, with a 50% improvement in her reversing
power, attained an astern speed of 12½ knots too. In the first ‘Queen’, the astern
turbines included six expansions, each of four rows of blades, now there were
seven expansions, each with six rows of blades. In the new ship too, all three
propellors were of the same 3’ 8” diameter, revolving at 800 r.p.m. and the new
boilers worked too at a slightly higher pressure, now 155 lb per square inch. To
improve matters further, she was equipped with a telemotor for operating the steam
steering gear, the first in a Clyde steamer and, she had a bow rudder, another
feature new to The Clyde.
Under the command of Captain Angus Keith who had served in the old ‘Queen’,
her first public sailing took place on The King’s Birthday Holiday, Thursday, May
23, 1912 when she ran outwards from Greenock and Gourock, via The Kyles of
Bute, to Campbeltown, returning via the Garroch Head.
The following Monday, June 3, 1912, the new “Queen Alexandra (II)” took up
the the regular daily Campbeltown run from Greenock’s Prince’s Pier with calls at
Wemyss Bay, Fairlie, Lochranza, Pirnmill and Machrie Bay.
With World War I, she was requisitioned as a troop transport and was fully engaged
in this work from February 7, 1915 until May 10, 1919. Just a year and a day
before she was released, on Thursday, May 9, 1918, when under the command of
her old skipper, Captain Angus Keith and west of Cherbourg, at 49° 49’ N, 01° 40’
W, she depth-charged, then rammed and sank the German Coastal Type UB III
submarine “UB 78” at 0050 hours in the morning, none of the submarine’s 35
crew survived. Captain Keith received an O.B.E. and a Distinguished Service Cross
as a reward for his initiative.
Reconditioned after the war, she was placed on the Inveraray run until 1927 when
she returned to the Campbeltown run. To conform with the other newer turbine
steamers, her upper deck was enclosed to form an observation lounge in 1932 and
then, on October 3, 1935, she was sold along with the 1926-built twin screw g e a r
e d turbine steamer “King George V”, to David MacBrayne Limited. Now as
renamed the “Saint Columba” and with a third, dummy, funnel added, she
replaced the grand old 1878-built paddle steamer “Columba”, on the Tarbert and
Ardrishaig run from Glasgow, in May 1936 and, the following winter, was
converted to oil-firing.
Requisitioned at the start of World War II, she was used as an accommod- ation
ship for Boom Defence personnel, lying in Greenock’s East India Harbour from
1939 till 1946. Reconditioned, she returned to the Ardrishaig run, now beginning
her run at Gourock, in 1947. Apart from grounding in fog at Ettrick Bay, on the
west side of Bute in August 1953, her final days were uneventful.
In her final year, 1958, she was finally fitted with radar and then, on Tuesday,
December 23, she made her final voyage, under tow, to Smith and Houston’s
yard at Port Glasgow, there to be broken up, winched stern first on to the shore.
The West Loch Ferries
he two West Loch Tarbert ferry crossings, from Dunmore to Kilchamaig,
T
for Whitehouse and from Ardpatrick to Portachoillan, at the entrance to the
loch and near Clachan, are of ancient use.
The Dunmore ferry (Kintyre Ferry ‘No 1’) used by the Kintyre Jacobite supporters,
Macdonald of Largie, MacAllister of Loup and Macneill of Gallachoilly when they
went to Tarbert to face William of Orange’s troops in 1689, came to an end, due to
lack of demand, about 1926, the standard passenger fare being just six pence.
The Ardpatrick ferry (Kintyre Ferry ‘No 2’), run by the MacAllisters of Loup, appears
to have been in operation in the early 1600’s and last longer, into the very early
1950’s and even in the late 1940’s was used to tranship cargo to and from Glasgow,
12
the route then being still from Glasgow to Port Ellen, onto to the West Loch
Steamer and then off-loaded on to the 16-foot long ferryboat which could take
about two’cart-loads’, around one ton of cargo, ashore.
The 1891 ‘Schedule of Fares’ charged single passengers 1/- (5p) but halved the rate
if more than one passenger boarded the ferry. Cows and bulls cost 1/- to 2/- each,
calves and pigs 3d to 6d or, if over a hundredweight, 1/- each and like charges
were made for unaccompanied parcels and luggage.
Around the same period, by way of comparison, the ‘West Ferry’ between
Dumbarton and the south shore of the Clyde, charged 2/6d for a four-wheeled
chaise and two horses; 1/6d for a one-horse gig; 1/2d return for a single horse-
drawn cart; 4d per horse; 2d per cow; and 1/- per score of sheep. Passengers paid
1d each if crossing the river, 2d if going out to board a steamer - that latter charge
still then being listed despite the opening of Dumbarton Pier in 1875 !
Both Ardpartick and Portachoillan had a ferry-boat and a signal pennant was hoisted
on the required side of the steamer’s mast to call out the required ferry, both
pennant flags raised if the ferries from both sides were needed. A flagpole on each
side of the loch’s entrance served to tell the steamer of intending passengers and
cargo.
Sometimes, in later years, a white towel would be waved from the ferry as the
steamer approached and sometimes too, in misty weather, an old hunting horn
would echo out across the loch.
Until the 1950’s, when a fixed light was built at Corran Point, a light in the porch
of the old Portachoillan ferry house was lit to act as a marker for the loch entrance,
it too giving a fixed bearing to check if the ship was dragging when anchored off
Ardpatrick waiting for the ferry to come alongside.
 “Maid of Islay” to “Islay”
he first known regular ferry service to West Loch Tarbert began in 1767
T
when the islanders of Colonsay outraged the established Jura ferry owners,
operating to Knapdale and Craignish, by building their own boat, at a cost
of £200, to carry passengers, freight and mail between the island and West
Loch Tarbert via the Sound of Islay but it was not until November 1878, when a
proper pier was built at the West Loch, that Gigha and Islay would receive anything
much other than a weekly / bi-weekly passenger and cargo service, everything until
then coming and going to Glasgow via the Mull of Kintyre. Perhaps it was just as
well for half of the steamers serving Islay in the period up to 1905 would sink or be
stranded at some time in their careers and not even MacBrayne’s “Lochiel (IV)”
and Western Ferries’ “Sound of Gigha” and “Sound of Jura” were to prove any
less accident-prone !
The first part of the story concerns the Glasgow to Islay and the West Loch steamer
services and covers the period from about 1826 to September 1875, when
Hutcheson’s, later to become MacBrayne’s, entered the scene and the steamers of
these early years were owned variously by Walter Frederick Campbell of Islay, John
Ramsay, William Mutter, Alex MacEwan, C. Morrison or Thomas G. Buchanan
working either alone or in partnerships.
Until the rebuilding of the West Loch pier at the end of 1878, sailings were limited
to only one a week and only then in the summer months. Though usually operating
out of the loch on Tuesdays, there were occasional Friday sailings to Oban and
beyond.
In 1826, the paddle steamer “Maid of Islay (I)”, built in 1815 as the “Waterloo”
and now lengthened for her new service, began a service from the West Loch itself
to connect with steamers arriving at Tarbert’s East Loch Pier on Loch Fyne.
Sailing outwards on Tuesdays to Port Askaig, Iona and Staffa and returning to the
West Loch the Thursday morning, the “Maid of Islay (I)” then sailed on Thursday
afternoons for Oban, then reaching Tobermory, Isleornsay and Portree on the
Friday where she lay till the Monday morning before returning via the same route to
arrive back at the West Loch on the Tuesday morning.
13
The following year, 1827, the ship, now referred to as “Maid of Islay No 1” was
transferred to the Clyde to operate a connecting service between Glasgow and
Tarbert, Loch Fyne and a second ship, the “Maid of Islay No 2”, now put on the
West Loch services to Islay and Skye. In winters, the “Maid of Islay No 2” alone
carried on the Islay and Skye services from Greenock via the Mull of Kintyre, the
“Maid of Islay No 1” being laid up.
Then, in 1831, the “Maid of Islay No 1” was sold off to operate alongside the
“Toward Castle” on the Glasgow - Lochgilphead run and the “Maid of Islay No 2”
then partnered on the Glasgow - Tarbert, Loch Fyne station by Napier’s “St. Mun”.
The owners of the “Maid of Islay No 2” at that time also ran joint adverts with
Napier’s for both the “St. Mun” and the “James Ewing”, with McKenzie’s
“Superb” and M’Kinnon’s “Rothesay”, their common agent being one Alexander
Graham.
In 1842, the 1822-built “Toward Castle”, sold by the Castle company in 1831 and
now under the agency of Thomson & McConnell, began sailings from Glasgow to
Portree ‘every second Monday’ and on Tuesdays in the alternate weeks ran to Port
Ellen o r Port Askaig and going on to the West Loch to give a connection with the
“Castle” steamers running from Tarbert, Loch Fyne to Glasgow.
In 1842 too, the Castle company itself began advertising a once-weekly Tuesday
Glasgow - Tarbert connection with the “Maid of Islay No 2” on the West Loch
service and three years later, in 1845, she was bought by the Castle company which
then was taken over by Messrs. Burns in July 1846.
From August 1845, Morrison’s steamer “Falcon”, sailing from Ardrossan via
Campbeltown, was also advertised to call at Port Ellen en route to Oban,
Tobermory and Portree, her partner being the “Maid of Galloway”.
With the departure of the “Maid of Islay No 2”, John Ramsay bought the 1836-
built Dundee & Leith Steam Packet Company’s wooden paddle steamer “Modern
Athens” to sail from Glasgow to Port Ellen every Monday. She then made two
return trips during the week to the West Loch and set sail for Glasgow again on
Fridays.
Such was the success of the new service that John Ramsay ordered a new steamer,
the first “Islay (I)”, from Tod & McGregor., the “Modern Athens” then being
‘traded-in’ as part-payment for the new iron-built ship which came into service in
October 1849.
Two years later, in May 1851, the “Islay (I)” dropped one of her West Loch
Tarbert returns and extended her weekly roster to reach Oban and Portree.
In 1853 she was partnered by the Ardrossan Steam Navigation Company’s “Glow
Worm” and the following year by Hutcheson’s “Chevalier (I)” and it was not until
1858 that she again concentrated on the Glasgow - Islay run, this now giving a
weekly call at the West Loch to connect with Hutcheson’s 1855-built “Iona (I)” on
the Glasgow - Tarbert, Loch Fyne service.
In July 1853, John Ramsay, Thomas Buchanan, William Mutter and Walter
Graham got together and bought the 97-foot long screw steamer “City of
Worcester” for cargo sailings and extended these to the West Loch for the
convenience of Islay passengers. The venture was short-lived, the ship being
wrecked in 1855.
Twelve years later, in 1867, the same partners built the paddle steamer “Islay (II)”
and put her on the Glasgow - Portrush - Islay run, occasionally extended to Jura.
The Portush call was dropped soon after the ship was taken over by Hutcheson’s in
September 1875 and the Glasgow - Islay cargo service was taken over by
Hutcheson’s “Clydesdale (I)” for a time in 1882 before the “Islay (II)” returned
to the run.
Outer Hebrides and St. Kilda. Later, becoming McCallum, Orme & Co. Ltd., they
were taken over by MacBrayne’s in on January 1, 1948.
Recognising the success of Hutcheson’s new 1864-built “Iona (III)” - the 1855-
built “Iona (I)” had been sold as a blockade-runner and then sunk off Gourock on
October 2, 1862 at the start of her delivery trip, the next 1863-built “Iona (II)”
also being sold as a blockade-runner and faring little better, being sunk off Lundy
Island, in The Bristol Channel, on February 2, 1864.
Tarbert’s Stonefield Castle laird, Colin George Campbell, put up £1,600 to build a
new ‘outer’ pier, serviced by a new road, at the East Loch in 1866.
Now, in 1878, with the advent of the 301-foot long “Columba”, another new pier,
sometimes called ‘The Columba Pier’, had to be built to accommodate her and
Hutcheson’s, with these works at the East Loch in hand, instructed improvements
at the West Loch, the new pier there and at last a daily service to Gigha and Islay,
opened up by their 1846-built paddle steamer “Glencoe”.
The “Glencoe”, returning again to the Islay - West Loch run from 1890 till 1905,
had, at the time of her final disposal in the autumn of 1931, the distinction of being
the oldest passenger s e r v i c e steamer in The World.
Now the nearly-new, 1877-built single-screw steamer “Lochiel (I)” took over the
new Islay - West Loch service from 1879 - 1881 and the timetable shows

Between July 1873 and the early spring of 1875, The Western Isles Steam Packet
Company’s “St. Clair of The Isles”, previously the “Lisboa”, a handsome paddle
steamer built in 1860 for The Lusitania Steam Company of Lisbon, had run a
weekly service, leaving Glasgow on Thursdays, to Skye, Barra and the Outer
Hebrides, calling en route at Port Charlotte, Bowmore, Small Isles (Jura) and Caol
Ila.
On her very first trip, the ship had to put into Campbeltown because of machinery
problems and a month later, having struck a rock in Loch Sunart, she was off for
some months while the damage was repaired. Amongst the company’s shareholders
was Captain John McCallum who would later join with Martin Orme, their
companies operating cargo-passenger services to the more isolated parts of the
14
Islay to Glasgow Glasgow to Islay Though the “Lochiel (I)” did not return to the Islay - West Loch run, it may be of
interest to note that she became involved in the 1883 Sabbatarian riots over fish
landings at Strome Ferry and then the following year, in 1884, was fitted out for a
Port Ellen (Not Tues) 0830 Glasgow 0700
three month charter to accompany a naval gunboat cruising off Skye in case of
Port Askaig (Tues Only) 0830 Greenock 0900 trouble following the initiation of legislation introduced by The London Land
Gigha (South Pier, Not Tues) 1005 Prince’s Pier 0903 Reform Association.
“ (North Pier, Tues Only) 1005 Kirn 0925
Ardpatrick/Clachan ferry 1040 Dunoon 0935 The crofters at Kilmuir, on Skye’s Trotternish peninsula, had united to form The
Dunmore/Whitehouse ferry 1055 Innellan 0950 Highland Land League in late 1884, a rent strike had been initiated and the
approach roads to Uig blocked. 350 marines and three naval vessels were sent to
West Loch Pier 1125 Rothesay 1015
the area and, on Tuesday, November 18, 1884, with a hastily recruited crew, her
Colintraive 1040 own crew having resigned in protest, the “Lochiel (I)”, chartered to accommodate
West Loch (Coach departs) 1130 Tighnabruiach 1055 the marines, joined the force. The marines were landed at Trotternish to march the
East Loch ( “ arrives ) 1205 Tarbert, East Loch 1145 ten miles overland to Staffin and quell any opposition but encountered only crowds
Tarbert, East Loch 1340 East Loch (Coach departs) 1150 of giggling girls, the “Lochiel (I)” returned to her ‘peacetime duties !
Tighnabruiach 1445 West Loch ( “ arrives ) 1235
Colintraive 1500 Two months later trouble flared at Glendale and on Wednesday, January 28, 1885,
the “Lochiel (I)”, then on the Stornoway mail run from Strome Ferry, was sent to
Rothesay 1530 West Loch 1240 Colbost where she arrived at 1.15 a.m. the next morning. About 6 a.m., H.M.S.
Innellan 1555 Dunmore/Whitehouse ferry 1310 “Assistance” arrived with 200 marines and the “Lochiel (I)” landed her own
Dunoon 1615 Ardpatrick/Clachan 1325 complement of twenty-five policemen who returned aboard her with six arrested
Kirn 1625 Gigha(South Pier, Not Mon) 1400 crofters who, together with more prisoners from Valtos in Lewis, taken aboard at
Staffin, were all duly delivered to the Portree court.
Prince’s Pier 1700 “ (North Pier, Mon Only)1400
Greenock 1705 Port Askaig (Mon Only) 1540
Out of all these ‘goings on’ came The 1886 Crofters’ Holdings Act guaranteeing
Glasgow 1845 Port Ellen (Not Mon) 1550 crofters security of tenure and fair rents and The Crofters Commission was born.

In June 1879, just a few months after the “Lochiel (I)” took over the West Loch -
Islay service, David MacBrayne, now aged 65, became sole partner of David
Hutcheson & Company trading now in his own name. One of his innovations was
to publish a guide for his steamer services, much of its contents being written by
himself.
Next on the West Loch run was the 1877-built “Fingal (II)”, a smaller edition of
the “Lochiel (I)”. She covered the 1881/82 winter service and then returned
operating from 1885 till 1890 when the service was taken over by again by the
“Glencoe” until 1905. Various ships appear to have covered the 1882-1884 seasons
and the 1883-built “Cavalier” may have covered the winter rosters.
15
While there was now an all-year-round daily passenger service to Islay, though
never yet on Sundays, the Islay and, consequently Gigha, cargo services continued
to be operated twice a week from Glasgow, the “Islay (II)” coming to grief and
wrecked in Red Bay, Cushendall, County Antrim, in December 1890 and the
1884-built screw steamer “Speedwell” then covering the run until the appearance of
the “Islay (III)”, her first service run from Glasgow taking place on Monday,
February 16, 1891.
The twin-funnelled, 212-foot long, 1872-built paddle steamer “Islay (III)” had
served on the Stranraer - Larne route for eighteen years, then named the “Princess
Louise”. Like the 1846-built “Glencoe”, she had a two-cylinder steeple engine, a
type of engine design that was already obsolete by the 1860’s. The old “Glencoe”
(ex- “Mary Jane”) survived in MacBrayne’s service until 1931 and her steeple engine
was removed to the basement of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery where it lay until
World War II when it was melted down for scrap, it was indeed ‘an original’ having
worked reliably and pretty continuously all-year-round since its building in 1846.
The “Islay (III)” was relieved from time to time by a number of chartered ships,
the “Rossgull” taking over from May 8 to July 11, 1895; the “Honfleur”, from
May to June 1897 and then the “Madge Ballantyne”, during June 1899. At about 2
a.m., on Tuesday, July 15, 1902, the “Islay (III)” stranded in dense fog near Sheep
Island, Port Ellen. There were no casualties but the ship herself was written off as a
total loss and three months later an October gale broke her up, the after end of the
hull sliding off the rock into deep water.
As luck would have it, MacBrayne had bought the Great Western Railway
Company’s paddle steamer “Great Western” on April 9, 1891, and now, renaming
her “Lovedale”, MacBrayne were able to put her on the Glasgow - Islay run to
replace the ill-fated “Islay (III)”. A month after purchasing the “Great Western”,
on May 19, 1891, MacBrayne’s had also bought the former Campbeltown
company’s paddle steamer “Gael” from the Great Western Railway Company too.
Both ships had at some time or other operated on the G.W.R. service between
Weymouth and Cherbourg, the now named “Lovedale” having spent most of her
time on the Milford Haven - Waterford run. As a consequence of the loss of the
“Islay (III)”, there had been some juggling around of ships and yet another
second-hand paddle-steamer, the 1875-built “La Belgique”, formerly the
“Flamingo”, launched at Elder’s Govan yard as the “Paris”. After her purchase on
September 8, 1902 and renamed “Glendale”, she replaced the “Lovedale” on the
Glasgow - Islay run but her career was short, the ship being wrecked, outward
bound from Glasgow, at Deas Point, Kintyre on July 20, 1905, it being concluded
later that, due to an error in identifying the Sanda and Mull of Kintyre light
positions, her course had been altered too soon and that she had consequently
grounded.
At this point, looking back, seven of the ships on Islay service had ended up
stranded or sunk. “Islay (I)” had stranded at Port Ellen at the end of 1857 and then
again in 1866 only to be saved again and, renamed “Dolphin”, continued in service
until July 1868. “Chevalier (I)” was wrecked on the Iron Rock in the Sound of
Jura on November 24, 1854. The “City of Worcester” was wrecked in 1855.
16
The “Islay (II)” was wrecked in Red Bay in December 1890, “Islay (III)” (ex-
“Princess Louise”) then being wrecked at Port Ellen on July 15, 1902. Then came
the loss of the “Glendale” at Deas Point, Kintyre on July 20, 1905. Now at long
last, came a fairly stable period and the “Glendale” was succeeded by the newly
built “Clydesdale (II)” which had been intended for the Glasgow - Inverness
service, the “Clydesdale (II)” would be on the Glasgow - Islay for most of the next
thirty years or so, her reliefs, after 1919 and the end of World War I being
provided by the former 1906-built Channel Islands screw steamer “Devonia” ,
renamed “Lochiel (III)”, which was in MacBrayne’s fleet until February 1937.
Also on occasion relieving the Glasgow - Islay cargo run was the “Lochdunvegan
(I)”, built in 1891 and acquired by MacBrayne’s in 1929, she was withdrawn in
April 1948 and the “Clydesdale (II)” again returned to the run until December
when the new “Lochbroom”, designed as a coastal patrol boat for The Far East but
never commissioned and subsequently converted to carry cargo, was brought into
service. She continued on the Islay run until about 1964 when replaced by the
“Loch Ard”, she then serving until the arrival of the car ferry “Arran (V)”, in
January 1970.
From April 1905, the new Inglis-built paddle steamer “Pioneer (II)” took up the
Islay - West Loch run and, like her predecessor the “Glencoe”, she also included
calls at Bruichladdich in the early years of her service. Until World War I, her
schedule gave her four days a week to Port Ellen, calling en route at Gigha’s South
Pier and two days a week to Port Askaig when she called at the north end of Gigha,
where the ferry met her and then to Craighouse before going on to Islay.
After World War I, she served Port Ellen and Port Askaig on alternate days and
was based at Port Ellen over the weekends. Between 1905 and 1937, the
winter/overhaul relefs were given by MacBrayne’s paddle steamer “Mountaineer
(III)”, broken up in the autumn of 1937 and in the following winters the reliefs
were given by the 1908-built “Lochinvaar”.
In October 1936, G.G. Jackson & Co. chartered a small cargo steamer, the
“Hamilton”, to open up a new service from Glasgow to Port Ellen, Craighouse,
Ardlussa, Luing, Loch Aline, Salen (Mull), Tobermory, Mingary, Mallaig,
Armadale, Kyle of Lochalsh, Portree, Gairloch, Aultbea, Ullapool and Baden
Baden. A short time later Lochinver and Stornoway were added to the list of calls
and The Point Steamship Company, under the management of Colin McPhail and
Urquhart & Co., was registered to run the service with the “Rubaan”, “Rumore”
and the “Rustoer”. With the loss of the “Rumore” in February 1948, Jackson’s
retired from the West Highlands.
The last ‘conventional’ passenger-cargo ship to be built for the Islay - West Loch
service was the twin-screw 14-knot motorship “Lochiel (IV)”, launched on April 4,
1939. Although she had been specifically designed for the service, she spent the
summer of 1939 on the Oban - Fort William station as dredging work had to be
undertaken on the upper section of the West Loch and, for various reasons, the
old “Pioneer (II)” continued on the Islay - West Loch service until November 15,
1940 before relieving on the Oban station till March 9, 1942 when she was for a
time laid up on a buoy off Tighnabruiach in The Kyles of Bute.
“Pioneer (II)” was requisitioned by The Admiralty for use as the headquarters ship
of the North Atlantic submarine control centre at Fairlie and was later fitted out as a
research ship for the Director of Submarine Warfare and then employed in
underwater telephone work. Renamed “Harbinger” and her paddle wheels
removed in January 1946, she was towed south to be used as a floating laboratory in
Portland Harbour where she was later joined by the former 1906-built Clyde turbine
steamer “Duchess of Argyll”. On March 8, 1958 “Pioneer (II)” left The Solent in
tow for the scrapyards at Rotterdam, the “Duchess of Argyll” surviving in use till
1970.
In 1941, MacBrayne’s took over the Islay bus services operated by Neil McGibbon
of Bowmore, this was MacBrayne’s first island bus venture.
Following the outbreak of war and the re-introduction of an anti-submarine boom
between the Cloch and Dunoon, the Ardrishaig mail service was operated, as in
World War I, from Wemyss Bay. The October 1939 rail and steamer timetable
finds the outward (inward) timings as Glasgow Central 0835 (1851), Wemyss Bay
arrive 0933 (return departure 1750), Wemyss Bay 0948 (1700), Rothesay 1015
(1630), Colintraive 1040 (1540), Tighnabruiach 1055 (1525), Tarbert 1155 (1425)
and Ardrishaig 1240 (1345).
In postwar years, “Lochiel (IV)”, fitted with a mainmast in 1953, would be
relieved by the diesel-electric “Lochnevis”, built essentially as a replacement for the
old 1846-built “Glencoe” which had been scrapped in 1931. The “Lochnevis”,
generally operating the Mallaig - Kyle - Portree mail service, had spent the first three
months of 1940 on the Wemyss Bay - Ardrishaig mail service and then,
requisitioned in December 1940, had become H.M.S. “Lochnevis”, a minelayer.
Returned to MacBrayne’s in 1944, she was again on the Ardrishaig mail run in June
that same year and then in November 1945.
In April 1949, Colonsay, previously served from Oban, was given its service from
the West Loch, twice a week in winter, four times a week in summer, there then
being two morning and two evening extensions of the Port Askaig service. By the
summer of 1954, the West Loch timetable had been further modified so that
Colonsay was given steamer calls on Monday and Friday evenings and departures
for Port Askaig and the West Loch on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.

The “Lochiel (IV)”, with the exceptions of May 1942 and June 1943 on the
Wemyss Bay - Ardrishaig mail service, spent the war years, from November 1940
onwards, on the Islay - West Loch service and was eventually relieved by the now
elderly steamer “Robina” to allow her an overhaul in the autumn of 1946. During
the war years, “Lochiel (IV)”, like some of the other MacBrayne ships, including
the “Lochfyne” and the “Lochnevis” serving on the Wemyss Bay - Ardrishaig mail
run, was given a black funnel and ‘horizon yellow’ superstructure, in later war years
she was painted completely in grey. On a passing note of interest, Royal Mail pillar
boxes in towns and cities were also given the same ‘horizon yellow’ tops, supposedly
a ‘gas-detecting paint’ ( ! ) and white white bases to make them more easily seen in
the wartime black-outs.

17
Colonsay /Islay to Glasgow Glasgow to Islay/Colonsay had to find some better way of dealing with the Islay car traffic and they then agreed
proposals for a dedicated purpose-built car ferry on the route.
Colonsay (Tues Sats Only) 0715 Glasgow 0825
Port Askaig (Tues Thus Sats) 0850 Gourock 0930 A new terminal, to be owned by Argyll County Council, could be built on the West
Loch at Redhouse, the calls at Gigha, Jura and Port Ellen would be dropped and
Craighouse (Tues Thus Sats) 0950 Dunoon 0945
the new ferry then extend her run from Port Askaig on to Colonsay where the
Port Ellen (Mons Weds Fris) 0850 Innellan 1000 island’s first proper pier had just opened that year, 1965. With these proposals in
Gigha (South Pier, MWF only) 1015 Rothesay 1030 place, the following summer, 1966, the “Lochnevis”, herself able to carry 9 cars,
“ (North Pier, Tu Thu Sats) 1015 Tighnabruiach 1110 was back on the Islay run to support the “Lochiel (IV)”, but this time only at
weekends and, as the councillors of Argyll County and the islanders continued to
Tarbert, West Loch 1135 Tarbert, East Loch 1200
debate MacBrayne’s plans, the seamen went on strike !
Ardrishaig 1300 Ardrishaig 1245
Tarbert, East Loch 1340 Tarbert, West Loch 1250
Tighnabruiach 1440 Gigha(South Pier, Tu Th Sat)1410
Rothesay 1530 “ (North Pier, MWF only)1410
Eilean Sea Services
Innellan 1550 Port Ellen (Tues Thu Sats) 1600
n 1964, Norwegian shipping consultants had guided the then Zetland County
Dunoon
Gourock
Glasgow Central
1610
1625
1754
Craighouse (Mons Wed Fris)1500
PortAskaig(Mons Weds Fris)1600
Colonsay (Mons Fris Only) 1800
I Council with the planning of a series of new inter-island ferry routes using small
‘Norwegian-type’ vehicle ferries. In 1966, to demonstrate that the principles
were well suited to West Coast of Scotland, John Rose, Gavin Hamilton and
Christopher Pollok founded Eilean Sea Services and ordered a 78-foot twin-screw
‘landing craft’ from Bideford, in Devon and she, the “Isle of Gigha”, under the
The 1954 fares list too makes interesting reading, a two-class fare system still being command of an Australian skipper, with Muasdale man Hector Thomson as mate,
in operation, the respective 1st class (3rd class) returns from Glasgow to Tarbert or was delivered to Kintyre in June 1966, in the middle of the seamen’s strike and
Ardrishaig 24/4d (17/7d), and to Jura or Islay 47/1d (29/5d). The West Loch found herself immediately busy running emergency supplies to the islands.
Tarbert fares, again either 1st (or 3rd class), to Jura or Islay being 29/7d (14/9d)
and from Port Askaig to Colonsay 10/6d (8/-). The pier dues and bus fares
between the Tarbert piers were extra too. Also involved in the ‘strike breaking’ was one of Peter Kaye’s Clyde Hover Ferries’
two Westland SRN 6 hovercraft which had been trying to establish a new service on
the Clyde since the previous year, the hovercraft took just 45-minutes to do the
To meet the demand for car traffic during July and August 1960, MacBrayne’s single West Loch to Islay crossing.
introduced a twice-a-day servive to Port Askaig, on Wednesdays and to Port Ellen,
on Saturdays. Early that winter, on Saturday, October 8, 1960, the “Lochiel (IV)”
struck submerged rocks in West Loch Tarbert and was subsequently out of service In November 1966, the “Isle of Gigha” capsized, two men were lost in the
until the following March. accident and, though the barely six-month old ferry was quickly salved, she was laid
up. Even though the company was now without a working ship and in financial
difficulties, the seamen’s strike had focused minds on alternatives to MacBrayne’s
Such was the success of the summer ‘car ferry’ service that, in the summer of 1965, proposals. Now came Western Ferries, with John Rose as manager, it funded to
the “Lochnevis” was put on the Islay - West Loch mail run to allow the “Lochiel the tune of £100,000 by many parties who had commercial interests in Islay and
(IV)” to concentrate on the car traffic. Even by the end of June 1965, MacBrayne’s Jura.

18
 Western Ferries
hile MacBrayne’s, The Secretary of State and Argyll County Council
W
dithered over the 1965 Islay car-ferry proposals, Western Ferries took
action and leased land to build a new terminal at Kennacraig, the linkspan
design developed by the company would later be patented and, being up
to 60% cheaper to build than other conventional linkspans, would be later adapted
successfully for installations at Guernsey and St. Malo. There was no question of
haggling for any capital or operating subsidies from government sources, the gross
cost of the Kennacraig and Port Askaig terminals was £114,000 and the only grant,
to which the company was entitled and got, was of £4,600 from ‘The Local
Employment Act’ for the terminal at Kennacraig, the comparable cost of just one
single conventionally built terminal would have been between £350,000 and £1.6
million !
The “Sound of Islay”, costing £168,500, was launched at Ferguson’s Port Glasgow
yard on February 27, 1968 and came into service from Kennacraig on Sunday, April
7, 1968. An expectant crowd of islanders watched her arrival at Port Askaig with
more than a little excitement, there would be ‘Sunday papers’ ! There were, but, to
add to the local drama, Sandy Ferguson, the captain of the new ship, had
mischievously hidden them in the boot of another car on the maiden trip and he
watched with amusement as the islanders now raced up the hill to where the car had
parked, boot open, to distribute the papers !
The new stern-loading ship, certificated for 80 passengers in summer, 35 in winter
and 7 crew, could carry up to 20 cars or 6 lorries. Fitted with twin screws, twin
rudders and a bow-thruster unit for easy manoeuvring, the ship’s major handicap
was that she had a top speed of only 10 ¾ knots.
Early in 1968, as the “Sound of Islay” was being fitted out, The Secretary of State
rejected proposals for an ‘overland route’ from Islay, via Jura, to the mainland on
the grounds of cost. On December 10, 1968, the new Western Ferries’ service
prospering well as a result of all the dithering, MacBrayne’s were authorised to place
a £740,000 order with Ailsa of Troon for a new drive-through car-ferry, the “Iona
(VII)” and Argyll County Council too were now authorised to go ahead with plans
for new terminals. Preliminary test borings went ahead at Redhouse and then, in
January 1969, Argyll County Council halted proceedings there on the grounds of
cost and other solutions sought.
19
Meanwhile, to consolidate their links, Western Ferries bought the former Eilean
Sea Services’ “Isle of Gigha”, reconditioned her as the “Sound of Gigha” at Port
Glasgow and, on Saturday, March 1, 1969, brought her into service on the short
Port Askaig to Feolin, Jura crossing. In 2002, the “Sound of Gigha” continues to
work on and has been seen around the north coast of Donegal.
Given Western Ferries obvious success on the Islay route, The Scottish Transport
Group, a combine of MacBrayne’s and The Caledonian Steam Packet Company,
which had been formed on January 1, 1969, announced in August 1969, that they
had decided to transfer the side-loading car-ferry “Arran (V)” from the Clyde to
the West Loch and talk of any new MacBrayne terminal on the West Loch died
away. In October 1969, the S.T.G. put the “Lochnevis” up for sale, the “Lochiel
(IV)” too would be advertised for sale in January 1970 when the “Arran (V)” took
up the Islay service.
Despite the slow speed of the “Sound of Islay”, the new Western Ferries’ service
had been an almost overnight success and not least because of the company’s close
relationship with the Mundell family, the Tarbert hauliers, who had had opened
depots near both ferry terminals and initiated the simple practice of using a single
tractor unit at each side of the crossing to haul trailers between the ferry and their
depots thus further cutting haulage costs to and from the islands. As it was noted
early on, the Mundell relationship with Western Ferries was always on strictly
commercial lines, the Mundell family never taking shares in Western Ferries and
always succeeding in extracting the maximum possible fare discounts !
In September 1969, with the prospect of the “Arran (V)” on the horizon, a
second ship, the “Sound of Jura”, was ordered, this time from the Norwegian
Ulsteinvik yard of Hatlo Verksted. It then being proposed that the “Sound of Islay”
be sent round to the Clyde, where Western Ferries already owned Hunter’s Quay
Pier, to begin a service to McInroy’s Point, to the west of Gourock, when the new
ship arrived at the end of 1969. In the event, the “Sound of Islay” went not to the
Clyde but to Campbeltown, to initiate a new ferry service to Red Bay, in Northern
Ireland.
The new £315,000 160-foot long “Sound of Jura”, able to carry up to 250
passengers and with space for up to 40 cars or 8 articulated lorries and 5 cars, had a
service speed of 14-knots, more than ample to enable her to do up to four round
trips each day and, she was the first ‘drive-through’ car-ferry to operate on the West
Coast. The only criticism of the ship was, that like her ‘sister’, she had no bar to
dull the rigours of the sometimes stormy crossing, perhaps just as well !
On March 23, 1970, the “Lochnevis”, sold to Dutch buyers, sailed from the
Clyde and, after a call at Holyhead two days later, arrived at the ship-breaking yard
of A. G. Sooten in Wormer, near Zaandam, where she was broken up in 1974. The
“Lochiel (IV)” also left the Clyde in March 1970, sold to Norwest Shipping Ltd.,
of Douglas in The Isle of Man. That summer only, renamed “Norwest Laird”, she
ran from Fleetwood to Barrow-in-Furness, a surprisingly successful run for various
reasons and also tried, unsuccessfully, running between Fleetwood and Douglas, a
six-hour long single journey. She was withdrawn at the end of the 1970 season and
eventually, in 1974, sold to Courage (Western) Ltd., the brewers, for use as a
floating bar-restaurant at Bristol where, despite attempts to preserve her, she was
broken up in 1995.
In 1971, Western Ferries began negotiations with The Scottish Office to become
the sole operator to Gigha, Islay, Jura and Colonsay and, in September 1971, the
Government announcing that they were going to withdraw MacBrayne’s subsidy for
the Islay, Jura, Gigha and Colonsay services, the S.T.G. announced the withdrawal
of their services with effect from March 31, 1972 but then, in February 1972 and
due to pressure from The Scottish Transport Users’ Consultative Committee in
Islay, the withdrawal was suddenly postponed. A public enquiry was announced
and 587 objections were lodged against MacBrayne’s ‘forced’ withdrawal from the
Islay service. In the end, MacBrayne’s were not allowed to abandon the Islay
service and their subsidy for the services continued.
Now, on August 15, 1972, The Scottish Transport Group opened up negotiations
to take-over Western Ferries and, according to an announcement on October 7,
1972, it seemed that, despite opposition from the Islay and Jura communities, the
principal shareholders would accept STG’s offer increased from £2 to £2.25p per
share. Then, on November 1, 1972, after a three-week campaign by Sir William
Lithgow, it was announced that, from April 1, 1973, the company, would be
taken over by Lithgow’s Dornoch Shipping Company and renamed Western Ferries
(Argyll) Ltd..
Given this news, The Scottish Transport Group now sent the “Arran (V)” to
Barclay Curle’s yard for conversion to stern loading on December 30, 1972. The
conversion work was not completed until April 1973 and, in the intervening period,
20
the S.T.G. abandoned the Islay station completely to Western Ferries’ two ships,
the “Sound of Islay” and the “Sound of Jura”. At the same time as the “Arran
(V)” was being converted, both Port Ellen and West Loch Tarbert’s terminals
were fitted with drive-on, end-loading, ramps.
With the “Arran (V)” away for conversion and Western Ferries no longer serving
Gigha, their linkspan at the north end of the island, opened in September 1970,
having been washed away in a big storm in January 1972, the puffer “Marsa” was
again put on charter, as she had been when the “Arran (V)” had been away for
overhaul, to take cargoes to Gigha. The “Arran (V)” returned to the Islay service
in April 1973, the roster being for three round trips daily from the West loch to
Port Ellen, the Port Askaig calls being dropped and left to Western Ferries, the
“Arran (V)” making one daily call in each direction at Gigha.
The “Arran (V)” was replaced by the newly-built £1 million “Pioneer (III)” in
August 1974, the new ship, specifically designed for the Islay service, able to carry
up to 30 cars or 6 40-foot articulated vehicles and 9 to ten cars and up to 273
passengers on her Class IIA certificate, had a speed of nearly 16-knots.
The trebling of oil prices following the Arab-Israeli war in the autumn of 1973 plus
inflation generally led to Caledonian MacBrayne applying to the Government for
fares increases on all ferry routes. As of May 1974, the increase was held down to
25% but, in October 1974, a further 25% increase in fares was approved by The
Prices Commission but held back by the Government pending a complete survey of
West Coast shipping services. Western Ferries were not consulted in any way about
the survey and on February 13, 1975, they wrote to The Secretary of State for
Scotland stating that if the company did not receive any subsidies, as were given to
CalMac, they would have to consider withdrawing their Islay services provided by
the “Sound of Jura”, relieved as required by the “Sound of Islay”.
In very simplistic terms, the total annual operating costs of Western Ferries’ Islay
service were around £200,000, almost the same amount as the apportionment of
CalMac’s annual subsidy for the Islay service.
Western Ferries’ contention was equally simplistic, withdraw the CalMac service,
give us the subsidy and Western Ferries would then be able to reduce fares and
further develop the Islay traffic to even greater levels. In fact, to illustrate the
principle of a ‘free’, or at least ‘near-free’ ferry service, Western Ferries and local
people decided to carry out a very practical exercise and, on Friday, June 13, 1975,
gave a ‘free’ return trip from Kennacraig to Port Askaig.
The company gave the ship for nothing, the fuel suppliers paid for the diesel oil,
the crew worked for free and also provided free food. Needless to say, the bar was
also free with all the island distillers supplying the whisky, Bowmore, Mackinlays,
Red Hackle, Findlaters and Long John - 1,300 bottles were given away that day.
Floating from the mast of the “Sound of Jura”, suggested by the local minister, the
Rev. Archie Lamont, was the signal “The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the
strong”, found in Ecclesiastes 9 : 11.
The islanders wanted Western Ferries to stay and, because a private company is
limited to fifty shareholders, they formed an association to buy shares in the
company, 670 people joined the association and bought nearly 1,500 shares. The
story was told of the barmaid who was asked if she would like to buy a share at
£2.25p. She did not hesitate, “Will I have to pay that every year ? “
There would be no subsidy forthcoming from either Central or Local Government
and, in July 1976, Western Ferries announced that they could no longer run the
“Sound of Jura” in competition with the CalMac ship, it now getting around
£500,000 a year in subsidies for the Islay service.
In September 1976, the ship was sold to the Mexican Government and, after an
overhaul at Troon and now renamed “Quintana Roo”, she set sail across The
Atlantic for Cozumel Island where, in 2002, she is still in daily service.
The “Sound of Islay” now took up Western Ferries’ Islay service again on her own.
When the company finally withdrew from the Islay service, on September 30, 1981,
she was sold, at around £275,000, to Newfoundland owners who registered her in
her own name at St. Johns and still today, in 2002, she continues to ply around the
coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
On Monday, June 26, 1978, the old West Loch Pier, in use from 1826, was
closed and CalMac’s Islay service was moved down the loch to Kennacraig,
alongside Western Ferries’ berth for the “Sound of Islay”, the “Pioneer (III)”
remainded now on the run till the following year when, on February 15, 1979, she
21
was relieved by the “Iona (VII)”, herself purpose-built in 1970 for the West Loch
service but only now introduced to the Islay run, Port Ellen pier had been extended
for her and then, in October 1979, she reinstated calls at Port Askaig, it too now
restored to accommodate bigger ferries.
“Claymore (III)”, taking over the Islay run in 1989, now initiated a late afternoon
service to Colonsay on Mondays and, with the sale of the car ferry “Columba (II)”
for her conversion to become the mini-cruise ‘liner’ “Hebridean Princess”,
the“Claymore (III)” also inaugurated a new Kennacraig - Port Askaig - Colonsay -
Oban round trip on Wednesdays.
From 1993 until March 2001, the “Isle of Arran (III)” would operate the Islay
service and then be relieved by the “Hebridean Isles” which continues the service
today.
The Gigha Ferries
here is little doubt that the ferrymen of Gigha were involved in trans-
T shipping emigrants to the waiting ships which sailed to The Americas. The
earliest recorded emigration that appears to have included islanders was
noted on June 6, 1739 when the “Thistle” of Saltcoats transported some 90
families from Kintyre and Knapdale, around 350 people, to Cape Fear. These
people, later known as the “39’ers”, were all in possession of certificates, signed by
the local ministers and kirk sessions, confirming their good character etc..
The next recorded emigration seems to have been in 1775 when the “Lord
Dunluce” and the “Jeanie” sailed from the Gigha anchorage of Ardminish with 545
people bound for Cape Fear and Wilmingtin, North Carolina. Campbelltown (note
the spelling here), in the County of Cumberland, North Carolina, was later
renamed Fayetteville.
Sometime before this, Hector McKinnon of Gortinanane, at Tayinloan, emigrated
to Pictou, Nova Scotia and he and his sons built 38 ships some of which they
traded between Pictou, the U.S. East Coast ports and New Zealand. One of his
sons, Captain James McKinnon, was responsible for charting some of the islands
off the coast of Chile. A notable descendant was/is The Hon. George McKinnon,
a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, a regular visitor to Kintyre in
his later years. A replica brig, the “Hector”, built in the 1990’s to a 1773 design, is
centrepiece of the Hector Interpretation Centre at Pictou, Nova Scotia, a seemingly
obvious link to Hector McKinnon of Gortinianane House in Kintyre.
According to the 1793 Statistical Account records that there were 40 fishing boats
in the ‘Killean’ parish and that the lone Gigha ferryman was resident at Tayinloan.
The 1851 Statistical Account records that by then there were two Gigha ferrymen
then resident at Tayinloan, Charles Smith and his assistant Duncan Smith and,
according to the same 1851 Statistical Account, Tayinloan had 27 houses for its
population of 114 people. In the period around 1810 - 1840, there were 3 public
houses and 7 ale-houses in the
Tayinloan area.
Until the Gallochoille Estate was merged into the main Gigha Estate in 1865, each
had their own ferry service from the island and there was also a ferryman based at
Tayinloan. The fares in these early times were quite high, 2/- for a single passenger
or a bull, 1/- each if more than one but no more than 5/- even if there were more
than five passengers, 5/- for a horse, 6d for a calf, 3d for a sheep and 2d for a
lamb.
The Caolas Gigalum or ‘South Pier’ had been abandoned even before the first
irregular steamer services began and it was not rebuilt as a proper steamer pier till
1895, the first steamer to use it being the old 1846-built “Glencoe”, ex- “Mary
Jane”. Her predecessor, the “Lochiel (I)”, like all the other ships, had to rely on
the ferrymen to transfer passengers and cargo to and from the island and in 1865,
when there was only one Gigha ferryman for the island, he had to take his boat meet
the steamers at both south and north ends of the island according to their Islay
sailings, south end calls if Port Ellen, north end calls for Craighouse and Port
Askaig.
Though now largely forgotten, the big Gigha ferry-boats must have been used to
help in the landing of coal and the loading of dried kelp off and on the old trading
ketches and puffers which were unable to run aground and dry-out at Tayinloan and
Muasdale, neither having their own quays. Two ‘cod-boats’ or ‘flit-boats’ - big
open boats - were lashed together and a temporary wooden platform, capable of
holding four or five ‘standard’ 5-cwt puffer bucket loads, lashed securely across the
boats’ combined breadth, the lashed boats then being run ashore to have their
cargo discharged into horse drawn carts.
22
The seaweed, the ‘wraic’, as it was called, was burned in straw-lined kilns, about 9 x
2½ x 2-feet, the straw lit to start the drying process and the guey dark brown
substance, solidifying when cold, cut into slabs to be sold to the Muasdale merchant
who then shipped the slabs out to Glasgow in the trading ketches “Margaret
Wotherspoon” and “Dumbarton Castle”, the latter being wrecked at Achnafad
after dragging her anchor off Gigha in a 1913 gale.
The kelp blocks were processed on to produce iodine and soda, a by-product used
in soap-making. Twenty-four tons of seaweed were needed to produce each single
ton of kelp-blocks and for this, almost entirely women’s work, the Muasdale
merchant would pay £3, the women working on any of the beaches belonging to
The Duke of Argyll’s estates having to forfeit a royalty of 10/- (50p) per ton for
their privilege. The average annual income of most ‘cottars’ was about £18 in the
late 1800’s and even early 1900’s and, for this reason alone, the kelp-making was of
great importance in supplementing such meagre incomes.
Even in the 1940’s and 1950’s, neither of the old stone landing jetties, at Achnaha
on Gigha and at Tayinloan, were in any safe condition. While the Achnaha jetty, a
steel ‘catwalk’ from an oil tanker connected to a rock, had been somewhat
improved in the late 1950’s and it was not until the late 1960’s that, at a cost of
£17,000, Tayinloan was given a new landing pier.
The “Broad Arrow”, a 19-foot long sailing boat served the ferry in the late 1940’s
and then, in quick succession, the “Village Belle”, a Dickie’s of Tarbert-built, 26-
foot launch with a Kelvin petrol/paraffin engine and the Buckie-built “Jamie Boy”,
a 22-foot launch with a 15 h.p. Kelvin E4 petrol / paraffin engine. Next came
Argyll County Council’s 28-foot “Shuna”, built at Crinan and the “Cara Lass”, an
identical boat but commissioned by the island’s own ferryman, Ian McKechnie, as
a reserve ferry. The north end of the island, from Port Mór, was served by a small
14-foot dinghy powered latterly by an outboard motor.
Western Ferries, having installed a linkspan, made calls at the north end of the
island from September 1970, their calls being withdrawn after the linkspan was
washed away in a big storm in January 1972. Thus, when the “Arran (V)” was
away for overhaul and converted for stern-loading, the puffer “Marsa” was put on
charter to take cargoes to Gigha.
The last MacBrayne ‘big ships’ to call at Gigha were the “Arran (V)” and,
somewhat exceptionally, the relief car-ferry “Glen Sannox (III)” which also made
a call at Gigha in February 1979.
With the onset of introduction of the “Iona (VII)” to the Islay service on February
15, 1979, the ‘Small Island Class’ (referred to as ‘Daft Ducks’ by some of the
steamer enthusiasts due to their early ‘antics’ in the Crinan Canal) car-ferry
“Bruernish”, carrying 6 cars and with a special certificate for 36 passengers, began
a direct service from Kennacraig to Gigha on Friday, February 5, 1979.
“Bruernish” being away on overhaul, it fell to her relief, the “Coll (II)” to
inaugurate the direct Gigha - Tayinloan crossing on Remembrance Day, Tuesday,
November 11, 1980, the “Loch Ranza” took over the service in late September
1990.
While the mini-cruise ‘liner’ “Hebridean Princess”, formerly MacBrayne’s car-ferry
“Columba (II)” continues to make occasional calls at Gigha, the motor passenger
ship “Balmoral” made her first call at Gigha’s South Pier on Saturday, April 30,
1994 when cruising ‘round’ Jura from Oban and two further calls were made at the
island by “Balmoral” on Friday, April 28 and Tuesday, May 2, 2000.
The Hovercraft and The Catamaran
n the middle of the 1966 seamen’s strike one of Peter Kaye’s Clyde Hover
I Ferries’ two Westland SRN 6 hovercraft, which had been trying to establish a
new service on the Clyde since the previous year, was soon running emergency
supplies to the islands, the hovercraft took just 45-minutes to do the single
West Loch to Islay crossing.
Clyde Hover Ferries, a subsidiary of Peter Kaye’s Highland Engineering Ltd. which
then owned Dickie’s Boatyard in Tarbert, was formed in 1964 “to operate The
World’s first year-round scheduled hovercraft service” and, on December 5, 1964,
the company announced that negotiations had been begun about suitable ‘landing’
sites around the Clyde. In those days, The Department of Transport, unsure as to
whether hovercraft were ships or aircraft, demanded dual marine and air pilot
qualifications for all hovercraft officers.
23
On January 6, 1965, Peter Kaye announced that a Westland SRN 5, able to carry
up to 20 passengers or two tons of freight, had been purchased and would
commence service from Tarbert, Loch Fyne, on June 1, 1965. A further story, on
February 9, 1965, suggested that the new service might be extended to the outskirts
of the new Abbotsinch Airport but speed was against it, fears being raised that the
Black Cart being too narrow and the banks liable to the hovercraft's wash.
In the event, the company secured a five-year lease on two Westland SRN 6
hovercraft, these capabable of carrying up to 38 passengers, or three tons of
freight, at speeds of up to 50-knots. The two hovercraft, each built up of three
sections sent from the manufacturers in The Isle of Wight, were assembled at
Clydebank and SR.N6 010 gave a demonstration run to Finnart, Loch Long, on
Friday, June 18, 1965. Eight days later, on Saturday, June 26, she spent the day
giving ‘round-the-bay’ trips at Largs and the following Saturday began a ferry service
between Largs and Millport, with morning and evening ‘positioning’ runs from her
base at Tarbert - Rothesay calls were also added later in the month and by then the
sister craft, SR.N6 012, had arrived and, at the beginning of August, a daily
service was initiated from Tarbert, at 7 a.m., to Tighnabruiach, Rothesay, Wemyss
Bay, Dunoon, Gourock and Craigendoran.
The new service was 'launched' by TV series Opportunity Knocks stars Hughie Green
and 'Monica', Hughie, a keen motor-yachtsman, later to moor his boat
permanently on the Clyde, one of the first to use The Kip Marina, the then
mooring charges, to his mind, cheaper than those on England's South Coast and
the cruising opportunities of The West Highlands easily outstripping those around
the crowed waters of The Solent and The English Channel.
Seven ‘commanders’ and six hostesses were employed to crew the two hovercraft,
each craft having a ‘commander’ and a hostess - some 200 girls applied for the
hostesses’ jobs. Only three backup people were employed at the Tarbert yard and
each night the hovercraft were hauled up on hand pulled chain hoists so that their
undersides and ‘skirts’ could be closely inspected. On September 9, 1965, barely a
month after the service began, SR.N6 012 collided with Gourock Pier and
maintenance was transferred to Greenock, the daily Tarbert runs being dropped
except for final inward runs on Saturdays and starting runs on Mondays.
In September 1965 too, Largs Town Council disputed Clyde Hover Ferries’
payments of landing fees, five shillings per trip, to British Railways who had leased
Largs’ beaches from The Crown Estates and banned the hovercraft trips on grounds
of residents’ complaints about noise from the hovercrafts’ engines. More
mechanical troubles were to follow and the services, estimated to be losing around
£1,000 per week, were suspended in January 1966 neither the Craigendoran or
Rothesay to Wemyss Bay rail connection services ever winning much support.
In 1966, SR.N6 012 visited Belfast and then went south to Cowes, by rail ! Her
sister, SR.N6 010, now tried using Fairlie Pier as a terminal but by July was running
short non-landing pleasure trips from Rothesay to Inverchaolain Bay at the mouth
of Loch Striven, the last of these being made on Monday, September 26, 1966 and
then, on October 4, this last “Scooshin’ Cushion” left the Clyde under her own
power for Cowes.
Just a year after Westland’s first expermental craft, SRN 1, had crossed The
English Channel with inventor Christopher Cockerell on July 25, 1959, Denny’s of
Dumbarton had formed a subsidiary, Denny Hovercraft Ltd., to build a non-
amphibious ‘sidewall’ (catamaran-type) hovercraft design and D2, a ‘hoverbus’
capable of carring up to 70 passengers, was launched on July 18, 1962. Leaving the
Clyde on May 29, she arrived in The Thames, 820 miles away, on June 17, 1962.
Shortly afterwards, in September 1963, Denny’s went into voluntary liquidation but
Denny Hovercraft Ltd. was retained as an asset by the liquidator and while work on
a second ‘hoverbus’, D3, was completed, that on the third, D4, was suspended
and attention focused on improving the design, this included towing the ‘hoverbus’
at speeds of up to 35-knots astern of a Royal Navy gas-turbine patrol boat on the
Skelmorlie Measured Mile.
Despite carrying many thousands of passengers on The Thames and Denny’s
liquidators doing their best to improve the prototype D2, she failed a series of
evaluation tests with the Interservices Hovercraft Trials Unit and was laid up in
1964, the only way ahead now was for Denny’s liquidators to try operating a
‘hoverbus’ for themselves and hope to persuade an operator to purchase either or,
hopefully, both the two craft now renumbered as D2-003 and D2-004 and in 1968
they formed Norwest Hovercraft Ltd. for that very purpose.
After being overhauled at Poole, D2-003, under the command of Sir John Onslow,
Bart., made the longest ever non-stop voyage for a ‘sidewall’ hovercraft, leaving
Poole on July 4, 1968 and arriving at Fleetwood the following day. Though the
intention had been to operate a service between Fleetwood to Barrow-in-Furness,
pulling visitors from Blackpool to The Lake District and vice versa, a theoretically
24
lucrative proposition to this day, the only return trips were on Monday, August 19,
1968, it being suddenly considered more profitable to run 30-minute ‘cruises’ out of
Fleetwood alone.
Though D2-003 would also follow to Fleetwood in 1969, and a trans-Mersey
service also considered, Norwest Hovercraft Ltd. was put into liquidation in 1970
and D2-002 shipped to Jamaica to open a new route between Kingston and
Palisadoes International Airport for Jamaica Hovercraft Ltd.. Too in 1970,
MacBraynes former Islay ferry, “Lochiel (IV)”, as “Norwest Laird”, began her new
but short-lived services from Fleetwood to Barrow-in-Furness and Fleetwood to
Douglas, Isle of Man, she too was laid up at the end of 1970.
On Saturday, June 6, 1970, The Caledonian Steam Packet Company, with a 62-
passenger Hovermarine ‘sidewall’ hovercraft, HM2 011, made an inaugural trip from
Gourock to Largs and a week later, after a series of trials, began operating from
Largs to Millport, calls at Rothesay and Dunoon being later added to her roster. At
the end of the 1971 season, unsuited to Clyde waters, she was ‘reacquired’ by her
builders American parent company and, rebuilt, was later employed in America,
then Canada, now renumbered HM2 311.
Though the weather conditions in The Clyde and West Highlands are not conducive
to high-speed hovercraft and hydrofoil operations, Western Ferries announced that
they were to charter an 89-foot, 160-passenger, 27-knot Westermoen catamaran,
which they named “Highland Seabird” for service in The Clyde during the 1976
season. In October 1976, chartered by The Highlands and Islands Development
Board, she set out from Greenock for Portree via Brodick, Campbeltown, Port
Askaig, Colonsay, Oban, Fort William, Tobermory, and Tarbert, Harris. Given
the opportunity to keep her on charter for the following season, Western Ferries,
after discussions with the H.I.D.B., based her at Oban and reintroduced the Fort
William, Tobermory, Iona and Crinan cruises, last performed by MacBrayne’s
turbine steamer “King George V” in 1974 and, following a successful season,
Western Ferries purchased the “Highland Seabird” from her Norwegian owner-
builders in October 1977 and chartered her, till the following May, to Howard
Doris Ltd. at the Loch Kishorn oil platform construction yard.
In May 1978, again based at Oban, Western Ferries added a new excursion to
Portrush and Moville in the Irish republic, on Saturdays and Sundays. On Monday,
September 18, 1978, at the end of her season, the “Highland Seabird” gave
Campbeltonians a special day excursion to Ayr. In 1979, the Irish day excursion to
Portrush and Moville was cut to Sundays only and then dropped completely the
following year, the spring of 1981 saw the “Highland Seabird” on charter to
Sealink for the Portsmouth to Ryde passenger ferry service and then she was laid up
on the slip at Old Kilpatrick, near Glasgow. In July 1981, The Secretary of State for
Scotland proposed that the subsidy for CalMac’s Gourock - Dunoon service be
withdrawn and Western Ferries be given a capital grant so that they could buy
another car-ferry to cope with the extra vehicle traffic, a subsidy too would be
offered to the company to operate a Gourock - Dunoon passenger service with the
“Highland Seabird”, now lying idle at Old Kilpatrick.
A public enquiry ensued and the proposals rejected, serious hardship,
inconvenience and difficulty being expected if the Dunoon passengers had to rely
on the “Highland Seabird”, it being acknowledged that, the weather conditions,
particularly in winter, would quickly lead to the suspension of the service if it were
left to a 90-foot catamaran which was never designed to cope with the big seas
which all too often threatened even ordinary car-ferry services and the “Highland
Seabird” was now put up for sale. In October 2002, CalMac’s Gourock - Dunoon
service was again under threat, the second ‘spare’ car-ferry now focusing on the
Rothesay - Wemyss Bay service. To cope with the two morning and one evening
traffic peaks, CalMac made the mistake of chartering the 250-passenger, but 19.5
metre-long catamaran, “Ali Cat” from The Solent-based Red Funnel Group and
after only one trip to Dunoon she was forced to tie till the weather abated.
Interestingly, registered in Campbeltown, the “Highland Seabird” was sold to
French owners in March 1985, the new owners taking her to St. Nazaire where, in
March 1942, H.M.S. “Campbeltown”, formerly the U.S.S. “Buchanan”, had
famously and successfully been used to ram and blow up the big gates into the dock
during World War II.
“Islay” to Red Bay
ith the arrival of the new “Sound of Jura” on the Kennacraig - Port
W
Askaig run at the end of 1969, Western Ferries now installed linkspans at
Campbeltown and Red Bay, Cushendall, County Antrim and, on Friday,
May 8, 1970, the now spare “Sound of Islay”, able to carry up to 20 cars
25
or 6 articulated lorries and up to 80 passengers, in summer only, inaugurated a new
twice daily service on the 31-mile crossing to Ireland.
In July 1970, a dock strike at Ardrossan and a cement strike in Ireland caused lorries
to be diverted to the Campbeltown route and special overnight sailings were
introduced, the “Sound of Jura” also providing direct overnight sailings from
Kennacraig to Red Bay in addition to her ordinary daytime services to Islay.
Though not having a winter passenger certificate, the “Sound of Islay” continued a
vehicle only service, primarily with cargoes of timber, during the winter of 1970 - 71
between Campbeltown and Red Bay and with the initial success of the previous
summer’s operation there were attempts to persuade Western Ferries to open a
passenger car-ferry service between Bangor and Portpatrick for the 1971 season.
Available for charter work in the following winters, the “Sound of Islay” took
construction equipment from Ardrossan to Campbeltown early in 1972 and then in
April, Western Ferries no longer expecting to extend their Kennacraig - Port Askaig
service to Colonsay, towed a linkspan, intended for Colonsay, from Faslane to
Rothesay to enable her to run granite chips from Furnace to Bute, a contract which
kept her busy until her Irish service started again in June. From October to
December 1972, she was chartered to carry out MacBrayne’s services to Portree and
The Small Isles.
The “Sound of Islay”, all too often because of her service speed, barely 10-knots,
earned a reputation for unreliability, the service too being withdrawn without
warning and seldom operating for the full duration of the advertised seasons.
Nonetheless, the route had potential and was seasonally operated until the end of
September 1973. In July 1974, after a charter which had taken her to Orkney, she
assisted on Western Ferries’ Hunter’s Quay - McInroy’s Point service and, from
July 30, 1974 till the sale of the “Sound of Jura”, around the end of August 1976
when she returned to her original Kennacraig - Port Askaig run, she operated a
direct commercial vehicle service from McInroy’s Point to McAlpine’s oil platform
construction yard at Ardyne.
When the company finally withdrew from the Islay service, on September 30, 1981,
the “Sound of Islay” was sold, at around £275,000, to Newfoundland owners who
registered her in her own name at St. Johns and still today, in 2002, she continues
to ply around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
 The Ballycastle Ferry
espite Western Ferries withdrawal of the Campbeltown - Red Bay service at
D
the end of September 1973, the idea of a short-sea Irish ferry crossing
from Kintyre never went away and, in 1979, with the withdrawal of
CalMac’s car-ferry “Arran (V)”, a study was put in hand to gauge her
viability on the Irish crossing from Kintyre.
Equipped for both side and stern loading, she would have immediately been able to
use the already existing facilities at Campbeltown and elsewhere but, there was a
major drawback to her purchase.
The ship would have been cheap to buy being on offer at some £17,000, including a
spare engine but some £30,000 needed to be spent removing and replacing the
asbestos insulation materials in her engine room and in the end no formal offers
were made for her.
Despite that nothing came from the study to reinstate the Irish ferry service with the
“Arran (V)”, the proposition had been carefully thought through in the full
knowledge that, as had been found when Western Ferries’ “Sound of Islay” had
operated seasonally between 1970 and 1973, there was little if any commercial
vehicle traffic and the route was therefore almost purely for tourists.
The traditional pattern of tourist movements around Scotland finds that traffic
moves anti-clockwise i.e. from ‘the south’, northwards to Edinburgh and then to
Inverness and south again to Fort William and Oban.
The tourist travellers then heading homewards as their funds run out, the final
funds being kept for a final night’s ‘fling’ in the ‘border’ and Lake District areas and
the essential ‘first-thing’ and ‘next-morning breakfast’ grocery supplies needed when
they got home !
Despite the prevalence of cash dispensing machines and credit cards, nothing has
altered the tourists’ attitudes over the years.
26
In the 1960’s, The Caledonian Steam Packet Company questioned motorists
disembarking from the Dunoon car-ferry at Gourock about their intentions and
found that the majority of those returning south to England turned not to Glasgow
and then then A74 but south down the Ayrshire Coast to Dumfries and Galloway
and The Lake District for their final nights of their holidays.
When the Fairlie-based car ferry “Cowal (II)” began a daily service Fairlie -
Millport (Keppel Pier) and Brodick to Tarbert in 1970, the service essentially
‘unadvertised’ being designed to provide a relief for the sometimes over-loaded
Ardrossan - Brodick car ferry “Glen Sannox (III)”, motorists loading their cars at
Tarbert confirmed the earlier findings and, much to STG’s surprise and thanks
largely to the editor of the weekly “Autocar” magazine, quite a considerable traffic
built up for the Tarbert section !
The proposals to reinstate the car-ferry service from Campbeltown took account of
these findings and, instead of simply focusing on the provision of an Irish service,
sought to establish links with both Ireland and the Loch Ryan area drawing traffic
through Kintyre which would otherwise be lost to the already well patronised
Stranraer - Larne ferry services.
Additionally, the proposed new services would open up a through continental link
to the Cork - Roscoff vehicle ferry. Refrigerated lorry traffic from Spain hauled fruit
across the English Channel, the empty lorries came north to the various West
Highland landing ports for shellfish before returning home again, not infrequently
through Poole, in the south of England and the homeward route through Kintyre
had the potential for shortening driving hours and delivery times.
The Kintyre - ‘Loch Ryan’ link would again pull homeward bound southern tourists
through Mid Argyll and Kintyre and, through reciprocal ticketing arrangements
with the Stranraer - Larne and other Irish Sea ferry operators, a completely new set
of mini-break, weekend and mini-circular tourist breaks, operating in all directions,
would be created.
There was no recent history of commercial trading between Kintyre and the
Ayrshire ports to suggest the viability of any Kintyre - Ayr - Troon or Ardrossan
freight service.
In any case, despite the appeal of any short Kintyre - Ayrshire ferry crossing times,
the additional time needed for boarding and disembarkation would nullify the
seeming advantage of such a route and, there being no real time improvement in
moving freight by this route, one easily affected by weather conditions, no support Summer Season (Apr - Sep)
could be expected from road hauliers. Date % of Sales Cars Passengers
W/ends Ann. T/o Occ. Per Week Per Week
There were already and ample enough berthing facilities for stern and side-loading Apr 7E 1.2214% 16.10% 224 747
ferries at both Cairnryan and Stranraer, the former being favoured, right at the 14 1.5158% 19.98% 280 933
entrance to Loch Ryan. 21 1.2207% 16.09% 224 747
28 1.8648% 24.58% 336 1,120
On the Irish side, rather than Red Bay, the natural destination was Larne with good = 5.8228% 19.18% 1,064 3,547
berthing facilities and, importantly, good route communications to the whole of May 5 1.9543% 25.76% 364 1,213
Ireland by bus and by train, ideal for ‘non-landing day trip’ excursions from Ireland to 12 1.9073% 25.14% 364 1,213
Kintyre. 19 2.8465% 37.52% 532 1,773
26 3.0248% 39.87% 560 1,867
The timetable proposals were = 9.7330% 32.07% 1,820 6,066
Jun 2 1.7138% 22.59% 308 1,026
‘Loch Ryan’ Campbeltown Larne 9 2.6288% 34.65% 476 1,587
16 2.3170% 30.54% 420 1,400
Mon & Fri 0945 ççç 0645 èèè 0945 Tu Wed Thu 23 2.6644% 35.12% 504 1,680
1045 èèè 1330 ççç 1030 Sat & Sun 30 2.6576% 35.03% 504 1,680
Tue & Thu 1800 ççç 1500 èèè 1800 Mon Wed Fri = 11.9818% 31.58% 2,212 7,373
1900 èèè 2200 ççç 1900 Sat & Sun 1st Qtr. = 27.5377% 27.92% 5,096 16,987
July 7 3.5847% 47.25% 672 2,240
As Required 0200 ççç 2300 èèè 0200 As Required 14 4.2690% 56.27% 784 2,613
0300 èèè 0600 ççç 0300 21 4.3745% 57.66% 812 2,707
28 7.5867% 100.00% 1,400 4,667
= 19.8151% 65.29% 3,668 12,227
While both The Scottish Tourist Board and the then Highlands and Islands Aug 4 4.8107% 63.41% 896 2,987
Development Board published monthly ‘occupancy rates’ for Kintyre, private 11 2.3693% 31.23% 448 1,493
records were employed to obtain a ‘full and proper’ overview of the actual trading 18 1.9976% 26.33% 364 1,213
pattern in Kintyre on a weekly basis throughout the ‘average’ year and the results 25 1.8291% 24.11% 336 1,120
then used to found the necessary traffic projections for the new services. = 11.0069% 36.27% 2,044 6,813
Sep 1 1.6220% 21.38% 308 1,027
8 2.1030% 27.72% 392 1,307
15 2.5613% 33.76% 476 1,587
22 1.5909% 20.97% 280 933
29 1.4475% 19.08% 280 933
= 9.3249% 24.58% 1,736 5,787
2nd Qtr. = 40.1470% 40.70% 7,448 24,827

Apr - Sep = 67.6848% 34.31% 12,544 41,813

27
 Winter Season (Oct - Mar) The Fixed and Variable operating costs of the service were expected to ‘break even’
Date % of Sales Cars Passengers with a 35% full load i.e. 18 cars and 60 passengers per single one-way trip, 504 cars
W/ends Ann. T/o Occ. Per Week Per Week and 1,680 passengers per week or 6,552 cars and 21,840 passengers per 13-week
Oct 6 1.4111% 18.60% 252 840 quarter. The exact traffic mix was of course unknown and, to satisfy the given
13 1.7434% 22.98% 308 1,027 projections, a “calculating ratio” of 3 cars was considered equal to 1 lorry or bus or
20 1.6038% 21.14% 308 1,027 equal to 10 passengers equal to 8 adults and 2 children.
27 1.5249% 20.10% 280 933
= 6.2833% 20.70% 1,148 3,827 Though others chose to ignore these occupancy figures and traffic projections, they
Nov 3 1.2556% 16.55% 224 747 were later employed to “guess-timate” expected attendances at the ill-fated
10 1.2366% 16.30% 224 747 Millennium Dome and to, again, “guess-timate” passenger numbers for the
17 1.2540% 16.53% 224 747 successful London Eye/Millennium Wheel in London and the final attendances and
24 1.0697% 14.10% 196 653 loadings were found to fall within less than 1½% of the final published trading
= 4.8160% 15.87% 868 2,894 results for these far-distant attractions !
Dec 1 1.0287% 13.56% 196 653
8 1.4543% 19.17% 280 933 It is therefore little surprising to find that the accuracy of the projections here is also
15 1.1175% 14.73% 196 653 reflected in the traffic returns for the short-lived Campbeltown - Ballycastle ferry
22 1.5219% 20.06% 280 933 service operated by the “Claymore (III)” and had her service been properly
29 1.3216% 17.42% 252 840 promoted in advance of her sailing seasons she might well have exceeded the traffic
= 6.4442% 16.98% 1,204 4,013 projections set out above.
3rd Qtr. = 17.5436% 17.78% 3,220 10,773
Jan 5 1.1456% 15.10% 224 747 In 1994, CalMac’s car-ferry “Claymore (III)” became ‘spare’ and, based at
12 0.9081% 11.97% 168 560 Ardrossan, CalMac, in association with The Isle of Man Steam Packet Co., put her
19 1.6053% 21.16% 308 1,027 on a weekend service to Douglas, outward on Friday evenings and returning to
26 1.3428% 17.70% 252 840 Ardrossan on Sundays, a service which she continued for three seasons and was
= 5.0019% 16.48% 952 3,173 important for Scottish motorcyclists going to the annual Manx TT races.
Feb 2 0.9574% 12.62% 168 560
9 0.9377% 12.36% 168 560
16 0.9506% 12.53% 168 560 In December 1996, CalMac’s ‘Island Class’ “Bruernish”, with a Northern Ireland
23 1.3079% 17.24% 252 840 Office subsidy, had initiated a car-ferry servce from Rathlin Island to Ballycastle
= 4.1537% 13.68% 756 2,520 and CalMac, the “Claymore (III)” ‘spare’, had been pursuing the possibility of
Mar 2 1.1531% 15.20% 224 747 opening up a service between Campbeltown and Ballycastle but, after much delay,
9 1.1175% 14.73% 196 653 The Secretary of State for Scotland refused to let CalMac operate the new service
16 1.2366% 16.30% 224 747 and, in October 1996, announced that he had ordered the company to sell the
23 0.8573% 11.30% 168 560 newly overhauled “Claymore (III)” to Sea Containers’ newly formed subsidiary,
30E 1.2510% 16.49% 224 747 The Argyll and Antrim Steam Packet Company, for £750,000, it being that they
= 5.6157% 14.80% 1,036 3,453 had agreed to operate a summer service on the route for the next three years and
4th Qtr. = 14.7714% 14.97% 2,744 9,147 without any other operating subsidies. During the winters of 1997-98 and 1998-99,
Oct - Mar = 32.3151% 16.38% 5,964 19,880 the ship was charted back to CalMac in case of need to use her for reliefs on the
Annual Traffic /Load 24.34 % 18,508 cars 61,693 pass. Islay service and elsewhere.

28
Sea Containers insistence on using “Claymore (III)” for the Isle of Man TT motor-
bike races services, a charter service that could have been provided by other ships,
prevented any regular operation of the Irish ferry beginning until mid-to-late June
each year. Little surprisingly, the Ballycastle service ended in 1999 and the
“Claymore (III)” was laid up at Birkenhead. The route’s traffic figures, preserved
for posterity, reveal her loadings
in 1997, between July 1 and October 19, 27,167 passengers, 6,378 cars, 65 heavy
commercials, 190 caravans, 31 trailers, 151 motor cycles and 262 bicycles.
in 1998, between May 8 and October 11 (with a break from June 1 - 18),
28,001 passengers, 5,502 cars, 52 commercials, 65 light vans, 25 buses, 13 mini-
buses, 134 caravans, 45 trailers, 39 camper vans, 378 motor cycles and 114
bicycles.
in 1999, between June 18 and September 26, 23,722 passengers, 5,291 cars, 65
commercials, 24 buses, 181 caravans, 46 trailers, 30 camper vans, 313 motor cycles
and an unrecorded number of bicycles.
Had a proper and regular ‘comparable’ programme of sailings been carried out the
traffic projections, May to October, of 39,947 passengers and 11,984 cars might
well have been matched !
Despite the ‘irregularity’ of starting dates at the beginning of the three seasons, 1997
- 1999, records of Claymore’s loadings can be compared directly with the traffic
projections included here.
For the period July to September, it was suggested that 24,827 passengers and 7,448
cars might use the Irish ferry service. In the seasons between July and September,
she carried
23,509 passengers and 5,447 cars in 1997
20,758 passengers and 3,940 cars in 1998
and 21,909 passengers and 4,812 cars in 1999
It is clearly apparent that the passenger traffic was ‘near target’, particularly in the
first (1997) season and the biggest problem, especially in generating vehicle traffic,
was the public uncertainty in the following two seasons about sailing dates, lack of
proper promotion decimating the potential car traffic figures. Nor did it help that,
29
after her first (1997) season, changed her overnight berth from Campbeltown to
Ballycastle.
Strangely, in 2000, the year after Sea Containers abandoned Campbeltown, they
didn’t operate “Claymore (III)” on the Isle of Man run but instead had her on a
short charter to Strandfaraskip Landsins, in the Faroe Islands at the very time when,
had she been on the Campbeltown to Ballycastle service, Sea Containers would have
insisted on her covering the Manx TT races ! How the company got out of the
Manx ‘charter’ so quickly and easily remains a mystery, why couldn’t they get out of
it before ?
Critics might suggest that the writer’s projections were ‘wildly optimistic’ but the
‘proof of the pudding’ is indeed borne out by the July to September results for each
of the three years of Claymore’s sailings !
While many have dithered, prevaricated and questioned the viability and
profitability of the Irish ferry route from Kintyre, Orkney-based Pentland Ferries,
bought the former CalMac car-ferry “Iona (VII)”, renamed her “Pentalina B”
and, in the spring of 2001, after a three-year lay-up while being rebuffed at every
turn for support and subsidies from the local enterprise agencies and councils,
began a thrice daily crossing between St. Margaret’s Hope, in Orkney and Gill’s
Bay, on the opposite side of The Pentland Firth.
Again, from the projections noted earlier, for a 7-month, April to October service,
it can be suggested that a ship such as “Iona (VII)”, capable of carrying 50 cars and
300 passengers, should expect to convey 45,640 passengers and 13,692 cars. When
Pentland Ferries’ figures were published, it was revealed that they carried 46,000
passengers - just 360 more than the projection - and carried 16,000 cars, 2,300 cars
more than the projection and it was asserted that not only was Pentland Ferries was
able to operate “quite comfortably without a subsidy” but too was “profitable” on a
turnover slightly in excess of just £1m in its first seven months !
Andrew Banks, Pentland Ferries’ owner, was quoted in ‘The (Glasgow) Herald’ as
saying that the traffic figures exceeded his own projections by some 30% so it may
be reasonably assumed that the “Iona (VII)”, now renamed “Pentalina B”, costs
less than £1m to operate on a seven-month service.
Given the writer’s traffic projections, the actual traffic loadings for the 1997-1999
service and now Pentland Ferries’ figures, it would seem that ‘the Irish ferry’ is
indeed viable and probably even viable without a subsidy if one is to accept Andrew
Banks and Pentland Ferries’ experiences.
That being the case, one wonders just who ‘conjured-up’ the new ‘subsidy’ figure
for the Irish ferry, up from £750,000 to perhaps £1.4m per year, for an 11-month
service and a five-year contract.
The “Claymore (III)” herself lay at Birkenhead from the end of her spring 2000
charter to Strandfaraskip Landsins until October 2002 when she too was bought by
Andrew Banks’ Pentland Ferries. Overhauled at A. & P’s Birkenhead yard, she
called at Campbeltown on Saturday, October 5, 2002, to replace a cylinder lining
and resumed her delivery trip on the following Wednesday to St. Margaret’s Hope,
in Orkney, to re-establish an overnight freight link, previously operated by Orcargo,
then Streamline, from Orkney to Invergordon, in the Cromarty Firth, the service
initially scheduled till March 2003.
The “Claymore (III)” began the run from Orkney with a cargo of sheep on the
evening of Monday, November 11, 2002. Already employing 65 staff to operate the
“Iona (VII)”, a further 24 staff, four of these to be based at Invergordon, were
taken on to operate the “Claymore (III)”. While initial interest was good, the
service lasted only three weeks and the “Claymore (III)” made her last sailing on
the route on Friday, November 29, 2002, the intention then being to have her run
in tandem with the former “Iona (VII)” on the St. Margaret’s Hope to Gill’s Bay
route from the spring of 2003.
Full Circle
I
n 1826, ten years after the “Britannia” had first steamed into Campbeltown
Loch, Alexander Laird, now joined in business by his son, built two new
steamers, the “Clydesdale” and the “Londonderry”, for a new tri-weekly
service between Glasgow, Campbeltown and Londonderry. Though the regular
Campbeltown calls were dropped, the service, run latterly by Burns-Laird and then
Coast Lines, was to operate for a full 140 years.
Built in 1944 at Ardrossan Dockyard, Burns-Laird’s “Lairds Loch”, essentially a
cattle-ship with accommodation for a few hundred passengers, took the route’s final
passenger sailing, from ‘Derry to Glasgow Saturday, September 10, 1966, the
service to the end being thrice weekly in each direction.
30
After a couple of weeks for overhaul at Ardrossan, the little “Lairds Loch” relieved
the “Irish Coast” on the overnight single-ship service between Glasgow and
Dublin, her former first-class accommodation being offered at second-class fares
and her sleeping berth accommodation at first-class rates. With the return of the
“Irish Coast” to the run on June 6, 1967, the “Lairds Loch” was then laid up
until the end of the year when she again found herself again on the ‘Derry route,
this time carrying only cattle and general cargo, till near the end of 1968.
She was sold in January 1969 to Sefinot Ltd., an Israeli company and, leaving
Ardrossan on January 7, 1969 and sailed for The Gulf of Aqaba via Cape Town.
Renamed “Hey Daroma”, she began a new thrice-weekly service between Eilat and
Sharm-el-Sheikh, an eight hour crossing. Her 200 or so passengers might well have
been on the old ‘Derry route for her accommodation and fittings and even her
Scottish cutlery were unchanged.
Despite a fortnight off service after being the object of a mine-attack at Eilat in the
middle of November 1969, she returned to service and, sold to a new company,
Hey Daroma Ltd., continued on her old route until September 3, 1970 when she ran
aground some seven miles away from her Sharm-el-Sheikh terminus. Heavily
damaged and in a difficult location, she was written off.
From June 1936 onwards, Burns-Laird’s nightly Glasgow - Belfast service had been
operated by the new “Royal Scotsman” and “Royal Ulsterman”. The “Royal
Scotsman” made her final run, from Belfast to Glasgow, on the evening of Friday,
September 29, 1967 being replaced by newer 1957 Belfast-built “Scottish Coast”
which had been operating the summer-only ‘daylight’ Ardrossan - Belfast ‘car-ferry’
service. The “Royal Ulsterman” too was withdrawn, her final sailing on Saturday,
December 30, 1967 and the “Scottish Coast”, now running alone, continued the
overnight Glasgow to Belfast service till its closure at the end of August 1969.
At the end of October 1967, the “Royal Scotsman” was sold to The Hubbard
Exploration Co. Ltd., a body which caused great stir in the press and indeed
Parliament when it was found that it embraced the cult of Scientology. Now
renamed “Royal Scotman”, the ship sailed for Sierra Leone and the port of
Freetown where she was duly registered under her newly adapted name.
Her sister-ship, the “Royal Ulsterman” was sold to shipbuilerds Cammel Laird on
March 29, 1968 and for a while used to accommodate shipyard workers on a
contract at Southampton. Sold to Mediterranean Link Lines of Famagusta, she
arrived at Piraeus on May 1, 1970 and almost immediately began a fortnightly
service between Marseilles and Haifa with calls at Naples and Famagusta on the
outward runs and then at Limassol, Piraeus and Genoa on her return trip.
The “Scottish Coast”, now withdrawn from the Glasgow - Belfast service at the end
of August 1969 and deposed from the, now all-year, Ardrossan- Belfast service by
the introduction of the new purpose-built car-ferry “Lion” at the beginning of
1968, was sold to the Greek Kavounides Shipping in November 1969 and, totally
rebuilt as the “Galaxias”, began offering short three and four day long cruises in
the summer of 1970.
The 1952-built “Irish Coast”, designed primarily to systematically relieve the other
Coast Lines’ Irish Sea crossing ships for overhauls, had been operating the thrice-
weekly overnight Glasgow - Dublin service since 1964, the route closing with her
final sailing from Dublin to Glasgow on the evening of Saturday, February 10,
1968. She then covered on the Glasgow-Belfast service until she too was
withdrawn, her final sailing being from Glasgow on Wednesday, April 10, 1968 and
was sold to the Epirtiki Steamship Co. “George Potamianos” S.A. of Piraeus leaving
Birkenhead, renamed “Orpheus”, on August 22, 1968, for Greece.
Now a 300-passenger cruise ship, the “Orpheus” attracted interst of a group of
Glasgow businessmen who formed The Enso Atlantic Shipping Company Ltd. to
explore the possibility of chartering her for the 1969 season and reviving the
recently abandoned Liverpool - Greenock - Montreal route which had previously
been operated by The Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Operating the ship as
the “Eros”, the company proposed giving substantial fare discounts to ex-pats and
senior citizens, students and other bodies and groups but, beyond the company’s
assertion of good intentions, the venture sank without trace.
Calvin B. Marshall”
C
alvin B. Marshall was of course the somewhat brash, impetuous and quite
luckless American tycoon whose material sacrifice was rewarded when his
name was bestowed on one of Scotland’s well-remembered and famous but
fictional ships, a puffer, the “Maggie”.
The whimsical story was written by William Rose, he too wrote the script for
“Genevieve”. The music for “The Maggie” was written by John Addison who
composed the music for the “Murder She Wrote” television series, the concertina played
by Willie Smith, well known for his playing skills in the Clyde Steamer bands.
31
The 1953 Ealing comedy film “The Maggie” is a wicked little satire on the mutual
contempt that even today underlies Euro-American relations and in many ways the
seemingly leisurely, gentle-humoured and happily-concluded tale is indeed
somewhat cruel rather than quaint.
Enter Calvin B. Marshall (Paul Douglas) as the American airways tycoon who’s
building a new house on a Hebridean islad and needs some building supplies
delivered fast so that the job can be finished in time for his anniversary. Enter
Captain MacTaggart (played by former Kirkintilloch school-master Alex Mackenzie) and the
crew of the “Maggie”, her part played by John Hay & Sons’ puffers “Boer” and
“Inca”, both broken up in 1965.
Enter a low tide in Glasgow and a case of mistaken identity and then, even before
the chase begins, the headlines - ‘Puffer on Subway’ ! Though in the film, the
‘puffer’ was in fact a beautifuuly detailed full-size mock- up, the incident was based
on real fact for Warnock’s puffer “Faithful” had indeed once grounded at low tide
on top of the Glasgow subway tunnel, near the suspension bridge.
When the chase begins, it is by air and a de Havilland Rapide bi-plane and to Kintyre.
Then up ‘the West Road’ of Kintyre to the Crinan Canal where poor Mr Pussey
(Hubert Gregg), Marshall’s ‘side-kick’, gets arrested for poaching and pushing the
local Laird into the canal ! And then of course there is the ceilidh, the 100th
birthday party for the old, now toothless mate of the “Maggie”. Outside the party,
Mr Marshall - his name from the well-know Greenock puffer owners, Ross &
Marshall - he gains something of an insight into decision making when in
conversation with a girl who is being wooed by the local shop-keeper and a
fisherman, ‘I’ll marry the fisherman because, even if we’re poor, we’ll be together and he won’t be
away with his mind away on other things like the shop-keeper building up his business(es)’ !
It is little surprising that this film has stood the test of time for it was made by
Alexander Mackendrick who was undoubtedly one of The World’s most talented
film directors, he too being responsible for making “Whisky Galore !“ “The Man in
The White Suit” and “The Ladykillers” in the Ealing Studios.
Mackendrick, an American-Scot, was born in September 1912 and was the son of
Scottish parents who had eloped to Boston. At the age of six, his father had died of
flu and he was brought home by his grand-parents and raised in Glasgow, where he
went on to attend Glasgow’s School of Art. He made short advertising films for
Ovaltine and then had joined The Ministry of Information where he made a short
film on ‘V.D.’ which earned him promotion to the Psychological Warfare Branch
and then, at the end of WWII, he oversaw the re-launching of the Italian film
industry before returning to London and then Ealing Studios. Shortly after making
“The Ladykillers”, Mackendrick went to America where he directed the film noir
classic “Sweet Smell of Success” with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis and then, after
directing several films unsuited to his talents, he retreated to teach his film skills to
other rising stars in California where he died, aged 81, in 1993.
The “Pibroch” and An “Eagle”
T I
he development of the puffer, from canal barge with with coal-fired boiler,
simple ‘condenser-less’ single or twin-cylinder steam engine, the steam
‘puffing’ and exhausting to the atmosphere - hence the ‘puffer’, came to an
end in 1957 when Scott’s of Bowling built Scottish Malt Distillers’ 151-ton,
84-foot long, beautiful ‘White Horse’ diesel puffer “Pibroch (II)”.
In 1989, she left Scottish waters for a new career on the west coast of Ireland
trading around Galway and Connemara and supplying the islands such as Inishturk
and Inishbofin until the spring of 2002 when, replaced by the 1970-built, 181-ton,
“Lodella”, a former Thames coasting barge previously certificated to trade between
the Humber - Shoreham and Harlingen – Dieppe limits.
“Pibroch (II)” is now laid up rusting picturesquely alongside the little stone quay at
Letterfrack in County Galway. Considering her size, her scrap value is small and
her remote location suggests that few shipbreakers might find it profitable to tow
her great distance for dismantling, the cost of any tow swallowing up any small
profit that might be made from her steel.
The “Eagle”, a ‘standard’ 66-foot long Forth & Clyde Canal-length puffer, was
built of iron at Leith in 1881 for a Mr Campbell Muir of Innistryinch. She went by
sea to Bonawe, on Loch Etive, then by road through The Pass of Brander to Loch
Awe where she passed through a variety of owners until sold finally to a Mr Sheriffs
in 1929. Withdrawn from service in 1935, she was sold for scrapping and moored
inshore just a short distance to the west of Lochawe ‘Railway’ Pier. In the early part
of the following year, her hatch covers unsecured, she sank during a fierce gale,
her mast remaining visible to mark her last resting-place until at least the early
1960’s.
Inevitably with the passage of the decades, she will have settled herself quite
securely, seemingly in a fairly upright position, into the bottom silt of the loch but,
32
although perhaps somewhat reluctant to leave her muddy cradle, it is quite within
the capability of modern air-bag technology to lift her to the surface. Her hull is
iron and, as has been found from the experience of those raising veteran
steamboats now on show and in operation on Lake Windermere, the “Eagle”,
raised and re-fitted, would draw interest from far and wide, not least in view of her
proximity to Para Handy’s creator’s birth-place of Inveraray.
The “Hebridean Princess”
n 1960, the Government passed The Highlands and Islands Shipping Services
Act by which The Secretary of State for Scotland was empowered to build and
charter ships and three new car-ferries, the “Hebrides (II)”, the “Clansman
(IV)” and the “Columba (II)”, all to be registered at Leith, till 1973 and then
chartered to David MacBrayne Ltd., were duly ordered from Hall, Russell &
Company’s Aberdeen yard, the last of these, the “Columba (II)”, taking her place
on the Oban - Craignure - Lochaline service on Thursday, July 30, 1964. Built to
the order of The Secretary of State for Scotland and it being the days of ‘The Cold
War’, not long after ‘The Cuba Crisis’, all three ships reputedly constructed with
nuclear attacks in mind and fitted with special sprinkler systems to satisfy the
persuasions of Admiralty scientists.
The three sisters were 220-feet long, 46-feet 3-inches broad and 13-feet in depth
and, with sleeping accommodation for 51 passengers, were certificated to carry 600
passengers in summer, 400 in winter with accommodation on the car deck for up to
fifty average-sized cars.
The Crossley Brothers type HRP 8/47 turbo-charged, two-stroke cycle, trunk
piston, airless injection, port scavenging, twin-screw 8-cylinder each engines gave
the ships a service speed of around 14½ knots. All were fitted with Denny-Brown
stabilisers and, to assist manoeuvring at piers, were fitted with a Brown Brothers’
bow-thruster unit.
Twin 14-foot hand-operated turntables, supplied by Francis Theakston (1933) Ltd.,
were fitted on the vehicle hoist, forward of the main superstructure and the hoist
operated by four MacTaggart, Scott hydraulic rams with a lifting capacity of 24 tons
at the rate of 25-feet per minute, the side ramps inter-locked so that only one or the
other could be lowered at any one time.
Launched by Lady Craigton, wife of The Scottish Office Minister of State on
Tuesday, March 12, 1964, the “Columba (II)”, caught by a gust of wind and
gently collided with the starboard side of her sister-ship, the “Clansman (IV)”.
The damage was slight and, after dry-docking at Greenock and speed trials on The
Skelmorlie Measured Mile, “Columba (II)”, a small Iona cross on her bow flag’s
jack-staff, was delivered to Oban.
In addition to her usual Oban - Craignure - Lochaline service, she would relieve her
sister, “Hebrides (II)”, on the triangular Uig - Tarbert (Harris) - Lochmaddy service
during overhaul periods and, in 1972, also relieved the Mallaig - Kyle of Lochalsh -
Stornoway steamer. In the summer of 1973, she took over the Mallaig - Armadale
car-ferry service and then, the “Iona (VII)” breaking down, relieved on the
Stornoway - Ullapool run.
She got her first taste of being a ‘mini-cruise liner’ in 1975 when she began operating
the summer services from Oban and offered three-day package cruises based around
her regular service sailings to Coll and Tiree on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays;
to Iona on Tuesdays and Thursdays and to Colonsay three times a week and she
would continue this programme of services until her withdrawal in 1988.
In May 1978, to celebrate the centennary of her namesake, the great paddle-
steamer “Columba (I)” which had operated the ‘The Royal Route’ from Glasgow to
Tarbert and Ardrishaig, the “Columba (II)” gave one-way excursions round The
Mull of Kintyre from Gourock to Oban which, as it would again in 1987 and 1988,
called en route at Largs. The 1987 excursion would also se her calling at
Campbeltown for the first time, the 1988 trip calling instead at Tarbert, Loch Fyne.
She also carried out a special sailing from Oban to pick up cattle from
Bruichladdich, in Loch Indaal.
In 1979, to celebrate the memory of David Hope MacBrayne who, at the age of 65,
being left sole partner of David Hutcheson & Company had begun trading under his
own name, the “Columba (II)” extended the one-way Round Kintyre trip to
include a two-night trip to St. Kilda for the very first time, the trip being repeated
again in 1980.
Her sister ship “Clansman (IV)”, which had been lengthened by about thirty feet,
forward of the bridge area and given a bow-loading door in 1973, was sold on
August 14, 1984 to Torbay Seaways in Torquay to open up a new car- ferry service to
The Channel Islands but Torquay Council refused planning permission for a drive
on terminal and the ship was sold on to Maltese owners. A year later, at the end of
33
1985, Torbay Seaways bought the other sister-ship, “Hebrides (II)”, which still had
her side-loading hoist and ramps and, re-named “Devoniun”, opened up their new
Torquay - Channel Islands car-ferry service, this time without objection from
Torquay Council. Torbay Seaways, later taken over, would sell on the “Devoniun”
to the same owners as had bought her sister-ship “Clansman (IV)” which, in
1986, had been sailing in the Gulf of Akabah.
In the summer of 1988, it was announced that the end had come for the summer
day excursions from Oban to Iona and with the announcement came the news that
the “Columba (II)” had been sold to Hebridean Princess Cruises plc. and the story
of the ship’s financing, acquisition and conversion may be of some general interest.
The Conservative Government, appreciating that many companies requiring
relatively small amounts of equity capital were ill-served by the ‘conventional’
venture capital industry, had set up a Business Expansion Scheme in the mid-1980’s.
The venture capital industry did not generally cater for ‘start-up’ situations, smaller
capitalised companies being, by definition, risky and many potential investors
considering such risk/rewards unfavourable. Special considerations were given for
‘shipping’ ventures and it was essentially through these provisions and the availabilty
of funds from the Ship Mortgage Finance Company (SMFC), it operated by the
commercial banks on behalf of The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), that
a new venture was set up to operate a a small luxury cruise-ship in The West
Highlands. Fortuitously, in the spring of 1988, just when funding-raising for the
new venture was beginning, the ‘BES’ ceiling on ‘shipping’ ventures was raised
from just £500,000 to £5 million.
Behind the new venture were Anthony and Susan Binns whose canal chartering
business, established in 1973, was operating some thirty narrow-boats from bases
at Anderton, on the ‘Cheshire Ring’ and Hillmorton, outside Rugby and, as
Operations Director and Senior Ship’s Master, they were joined by Captain Howard
Anguish who had formerly sailed with the Cunard Line.
On October 28, 1986, a new company, IML Hebridean Island Cruising Ltd., was
formed and then, on February 26, 1988, it was re-registered as Hebridean Princess
Cruises Ltd.. The company’s name was changed yet again on July 5, 1988, to
Leisure & Marine Holdings Ltd. and, on the same date, its subsidiary company then
named as Hebridean Island Cruises Ltd., the latter, a wholly owned subsidiary of
the founding company, chartering and operating the ship in The West Highlands.
On February 4, 1987, IML Hebridean Island Cruising Ltd. entered into a contract million shares, the balance of funds would be provided by a SMFC loan of £1m
with Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. to purchase their car-ferry “Columba (II)” for the and through H.P./Leasing agreements worth £50,000, a £300,00 cash deposit to
sum of £275,000, a 30% non-returnable deposit of £82,500 being agreed in respect The National Westminster Bank to secure the £1m SMFC loan, the SMFC loan
of this offer. Then, a full year later, on February 8, 1988, London-based L. & R. being drawn on the redelivery of the ship after its conversion from Prior’s yard in
Leisure Consultants wrote supporting the company’s conention that they believed Great Yarmouth.
there was indeed a big enough small-ship cruise market to provide the “1,800,
seven-day equivalent, passengers” sought and that a “70% ‘occupancy’ rate was a The company’s financial projections suggested the following sequence of results
reasonable objective” for the new venture, the ship’s proposed programme with the ship able to accommodate up to 70 guests looked after by a crew of 22.
operating over an initially 22-week operating season, from March to October 1989
and, an extended 30-34 week season in later years. 30-week season 1989 1990 1991 1992
Occupancy 64 % 69 % 79 % 81 %
Three days later the accountants Touche Ross’s Manchester office confirmed their Turnover (000’s) 1,217 1,487 1,848 2,021
review of the new venture’s 5-year trading projections observing “it unlikely that all Pre-Tax Profits 59 195 500 645
the assumptions will remain valid throughout the (5-year) period” and the following
day, February 12, 1988, Leonard Reilly, M.D. of the company’s Hull-based naval Occupancy 69 % 74 % 84 % 86 %
architects, Shiptech Ltd., wrote predicting a successful conversion of the ship by Turnover (000’s) 1,309 1,581 1,963 2,143
George Prior’s Great Yarmouth shipyard. Pre-Tax Profits 132 280 604 762
Occupancy 74 % 79 % 89 % 91 %
Prior’s themselves would later, on August 12, 1988, write too that they foresaw Turnover (000’s) 1,396 1,687 2,072 2,260
little problem in meeting the requirements of Lloyd’s, The Department of Trade Pre-Tax Profits 201 367 704 874
and Health and Safety regulations.
The prospectus suggested that prices would range from £300 per person for three
The funding needed to get to this stage, £150,000, had come from another nights to £1,450 per person for 7 nights in a top grade stateroom with outside
company called IML Holdings Ltd. and it now proposed to put in a further £50,000 private balcony, the majority of accommodation being priced at just under £1,000
to add to its shareholding in the new company Hebridean Princess Cruises plc., the per person for a 7-night cruise.
balance of the funds needed now to be raised through the Business Expansion Scheme
(BES) and a Ship Mortgage Finance Company (SMFC) loan. Then, with some six weeks to go before taking delivery of the ship from Caledonian
MacBrayne, Leisure and Marine Holdings plc. too opened a share subscription list, the
With an authorised capital of £2 million in Ordinary Shares of £1 each, Hebridean company having an authorised capital of £2m in Ordinary £1 shares and offering
Princess Cruises plc. opened a share subscription list on March 1, 1988, offering 1.3 1.5 million shares at £1.25p each to raise between £455,000 and £1.875 m.
million £1 shares at £1.95p per share, the aim being to raise somewhere between
£1.56 and £2.145m. In the new share prospectus, essentially a copy of the prospectus issued previously
by Hebridean Princess Cruises plc., the company, now re-named Leisure and Marine
Adding to the purchase price of the ship, already agreed at £275,000, was the then Holdings plc., proposed investing a further £150,000 itself, bringing its investment up
estimated £2,009,000 cost of her conversion and outfitting, to accommodate up to to £300,000 and noted that a fixed price for the ship conversion work had now been
70 guests, plus £76,000 for working capital and contingencies plus a further agreed with Prior’s yard at Great Yarmouth, the conversion cost now fixed at
£150,000 to cover the cost of the share issue, a grand total of £2,510,000. £1,029,000, the guest accommodation to cater now for just 65 passengers. While
working capital and contingency figures remained the same at £76,000, the cost of
Through the funding proposal, IML Holdings Ltd. would hold £200,000 of the share issue was now reduced to £40,000.
Ordinary Shares and, with BES subscribers then holding a minimum of £1.56

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The costs of the ship, her conversion, the working/contingency capital and share On, ‘The Promenade Deck’, ‘B’ deck, the forward ‘Tiree Lounge’ was fitted with a small
issue were now reduced to £1,420,000 it being funded by £300,000 from IML library area to port and a bar counter-serving area created on the starboard side. Aft
Holdings Ltd., at least £455,000 from the new BES subscriptions, a £560,000 SMFC of these areas, ‘The Lookout Lounge’, for ‘smokers’, to port and a corresponding
loan for the ship - The National Westminster Bank now only required a £60,000 area, a covered conservatory, to starboard.
cash deposit and the interest 7-year loan, negotiated at a now fixed rate of 7½%
p.a., payable at six-monthly intervals. Now, though the H.P./Leasing costs had Below ‘The Tiree Lounge’, on ‘The Princess Deck’, ‘C’ deck, four twin-bedded cabins
however doubled to £100,000, IML were also putting in a loan of £50,000 and the with private bath, from port to starboard, ‘The Isles’, respectively, ‘of
final £15,000 needed would be covered by accrued interests on funds. New Barra, Coll, Colonsay and Benbecula’, the outer cabins having private balconies.
financial projections suggested the following sequence of results with the ship’s
capacity reduced to accommodate up to 65 guests looked after by a crew of 22. Around the ship’s main stairway, ‘The Princess Foyer’ was fitted with seating and the
old purser’s office area turned into a reception desk.
30-week season projections for 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Going aft of this, on the starboard side, came two new double-cabins with
Occupancy 64 % 69 % 79 % 81 % 81 % showers, ‘The Isles of Canna and Eigg’, a single with shower, ‘The Isle of Rum’ and
Turnover (000’s) 701 1,130 1,345 1,483 1,556 another double with shower, ‘The Isle of Muck’ and, again going aft, but on the port
Pre-Tax Profits 44 44 221 313 360 side, a luxurious twin-bedded stateroom, ‘The Isle of Arran’, which had a private
bathroom, day room and private balcony.
Occupancy 69 % 74 % 84 % 86 % 86 %
Turnover (000’s) 751 1,207 1,426 1,569 1,647 Between this stateroom and the the old dining-saloon, now refurbished as ‘The
Pre-Tax Profits 82 105 291 392 448 Columba Restaurant’, ‘The Isle of Danna’, a twin-bedded cabin with shower.

Occupancy 74 % 79 % 89 % 91 % 91 % Below the car-deck, ‘D’ deck, on ‘The Hebridean Deck’, ‘E’ deck, the old
Turnover (000’s) 802 1,284 1,506 1,656 1,738 MacBrayne overnight sleeping cabins were revamped and refurbished. Below the
Pre-Tax Profits 121 166 361 472 536 vehicle hoist, to port, two of the toilets were refitted and a shower compartment
fitted in a third.
The new prospectus contained revised cruise prices which would now range from
£250 per person for three nights to £1,450 per person for 7 nights in a top grade Three twin-bedded cabins, named ‘Glen Garry’, ‘Glen Tarbert’ and ‘Glen Shiel’, were
stateroom with outside private balcony, the majority of accommodation now being created running from the port side of the ship’s centre-line to the starboard side of
projected at around £600 per person for a 7-night cruise. the ship, a further four twin-bedded cabins being on the after side of the ship’s
transverse corridor, the two twin cabins on the port side having a bathroom in
Withdrawn from CalMac sailings, the “Columba (II)” was handed over to her new between.
owners, Leisure and Marine Holdings plc. at Greenock on Friday, October 14, 1988
and sailed immediately to arrive in Rochester the following Monday where she was The main corridor, running aft towards the upper stairway and the forward engine
to be dry-docked, grit-blasted and have her under-water hull painted before sailing room bulkhead, having a double cabin with shower, ‘Loch Harport’ and a single with
for George Prior’s yard at Great Yarmouth for conversion work to begin. shower, ‘Loch Scresort’ to starboard and, running aft to port, another double with
shower, ‘Loch Crinan’ and a twin with shower, ‘Loch Torridon’.
With the ship’s conversion cost reduced from £2,009,000 to £1,029,000, plans for
the construction of ‘The Skye Lounge’, at the stern end of the upper ‘B’ Promenade Aft of the engine-room space on ‘The Hebridean Deck’, ‘E’ deck, other cabins,
Deck, it immediately below the bridge/boat ‘A’ deck and for cabins on the old car- runnimg athwartships, from port to the upper stairway, the twin-bedded ‘Ben Lui’
deck, now referred to as ‘The Waterfront Deck’, were now necessarily set aside. and ‘Ben More’ and, on the opposite, after, side of the transverse corridor, ‘Ben

35
Loyal’. From the upper stairway to starboard, ‘Ben Cruachan’ and ‘Ben Nevis’ plus,
opposite and aft of them on the transverse corridor, ‘Ben Hope’, these later being re-
named respectively, ‘Kiloran Bay’, ‘Gott Bay’ and ‘Castle Bay’, all three being single
cabins and this whole set of cabins being served by but a single bathroom and
promoted at a reduced rate as ‘Yachtsmen’s Cabins’.
Though able to accommodate more, bookings were restricted to just 46 guests,
these tended initially by just 22 of an operating and catering crew in the early part of
her first season.
With the full-length of the original car deck available to store guests cars and the
vehicle hoist and its port and starboard control cabs left untouched, a small
hydraulic crane was fitted forward of the hoist to handle the ship’s small boats and
landing pontoon, this stored on the starboard side of the hoist and a ship’s gangway
stored on the port side.
With a small ‘Hardy-design’ motor-boat as the ship’s main tender, stored on the centre
of the vehicle hoist, were the two other small boats, an ‘Orkney’ outboard-powered
boat to port and an inflatable ‘speed-boat’ to starboard.
On Wednesday, April 26, 1989, some two hundred and fifty guests invited to the
ceremony at Great Yarmouth, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York re-named
the ship “Hebridean Princess”, Hebridean Island Cruises’ own ‘princess’, 10-year old
Louise Maclean from Inverness, persenting The Duchess of York with a posy of
fresh spring flowers.
At 9 a.m. the next morning, the “Hebridean Princess” pulled away from the quay
for sea trials and a month later, on May 22, was scheduled to arrive in Oban for her
inaugural, anti-clockwise cruise Round Skye to Inverewe and Loch Harport, Harris,
already fully booked, beginning on Saturday, May 27, 1989.
For the first 1989 season, the company concentrated on just three cruise options,
the highlight of these being The North Atlantic Isles Cruise sailing from Oban at about
6 p.m. on Saturdays June 17, July 15 and August 12 for overnight anchorages at
Loch Melfort, Tiree and Castlebay.
With a 6 a.m. start on the Tuesday morning, the “Hebridean Princess” set sail to
circumnavigate St. Kilda and head overnight, via The Butt of Lewis, to arrive in
Stornoway at about 7 a.m. the following morning and then, after giving guests time
to go ashore, departed at lunchtime for overnight anchorages at Inverewe, Kyle of
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Lochalsh and finally Tobermory, the ship returning to Oban again at around 9.30
a.m. on the Saturday morning.
The two ‘bread-and-butter’ cruises, Round Skye, allowed passengers the option of
three, four or seven night cruises, the shorter cruises beginning or terminating mid-
week at Kyle of Lochalsh where guests could easly land or load their own cars off
and on the ship’s vehicle hoist.
The (North-bound ‘anti-clockwise’ Round Skye) 100 Islands of The Inner and Outer
Hebrides Cruise, like all of the cruises that season, left Oban at 6 p.m. on Saturdays -
ten of these were operated sailing on May 27, the inaugural cruise, June 3 and 24,
July 8, 22 and 29, August 19, September 2, 9 and, finally, 30 - the overnight
ancharages being off Salen and Rum and then to Kyle of Lochalsh on the Monday
evening, the three and four-night cruise passengers changing over on the Tuesday
morning and the ship then sailing for overnight anchorages at Plockton, Harris,
Loch Harport and Tobermory, the ship returning as usual to Oban on the Saturday
morning.
The (South-bound ‘clockwise’ Round Skye) Islands of The Inner Hebrides Cruise set off
on Saturday evenings June 10, July 1, August 5 and 26, September 16 and, finally,
23, for an overnight anchoage at Loch Melfort, then, following a brief call at
Crinan, anchoring overnight at Tiree.
Weather permitting next day, a call would be made at Eigg, the ship anchoring at
Rum that night and then to Kyle of Lochalsh for the Tuesday night, the three and
four-night cruise passengers changing over on the Wednesday morning and the ship
then sailing for overnight anchorages at Plockton and then, via the north of Skye
and Dunvegan, for overnight anchorages in Loch Snizort and at Tobermory, the
ship returning as usual to Oban on the Saturday morning.
With the end of the season nearly in sight, the “Hebridean Princess” left Oban for
the last ‘Round Skye’ of the season on Saturday, October 7, 1989, this 7-night
cruise, The Islands of The Inner Hebrides, Loch Torridon, The Mull of Kintyre and The Clyde
making its overnight anchorages at Salen, Rum, Kyle of Lochalsh, then, via the
north of Skye to Loch Snizort, Colonsay, Loch na Mile, at the north end of Jura
and then, via The Mull of Kintyre, to The Kyles of Bute, the guests being landed
‘up-river’ on the Saturday morning.
Finally, the “Hebridean Princess” gave four short Clyde cruises, the two Saturday
departures giving three night cruises to Bute for an overnight anchorage, then
‘steaming’ through The Kyles of Bute to Lochranza and Tarbert.
The following day taking guests for an overnight stop at Inveraray and the ship
returning for a final night at Rothesay with a return ‘up-river’ to pick up guests for
the four-night long cruise which headed for its first night stop at Lamlash Bay and
then, after a call at Campbeltown, picked up the ‘three-night’ cruise schedule at
Lochranza and then to Tarbert for the second night’s stop-over.
The “Hebridean Princess”, having disembarked her final guests on Saturday,
October 28, headed south for her winter overhaul and further conversion work at
Great Yarmouth.
During the winter of 1989/1990, four new twin-berth en suite cabins, the ‘Isles of
Staffa, Iona, Berneray and Bute’ were constructed at the after end of the Promenade
Deck, ‘B’ Deck, the two latter-named cabins having private balconies.
The new ship, with a crew of 74 to look after the 80 passengers, will only
occasionally visit Scottish waters, her cruising programme having already taken her
from Leith to Southern India via The Baltic, The Mediterranean and The Red Sea
and her passengers flying to and from different ports for seven or more night fly-
cruise holidays.
While both “Hebridean Princess” and “Hebridean Spirit” cater for the very top
end of the now highly competitive luxury cruise market, the “Hebridean Princess”
has been consistently fortunate in keeping three-quarters of her cabins full all season
year-in-year-out.
Given the same standards set by the “Hebridean Princess”, the “Hebridean Spirit”
might too find a similar ‘niche’ market for herself as she follows in the wake of
those other ‘mini-liners’ whose courses were set by the pioneering “Caledonian
Star”, a converted deep-sea trawler.

During the winter of 1990/1991, a further four single cabins, again with en suite Whatever the outcome of the new venture, the operation of the “Hebridean
facilities, were built at the starboard end of the Princess Deck, ‘C’ Deck’ the old car- Princess” looks fairly secure, the majority of her guests coming from home and not,
deck and the following winter, though these three double-bedded staterooms would as one might expect, from overseas !
not be employed until the 1993 season, the shells of the ‘Duart, Kinloch and Torosay
Castle’ spaces were sectioned off, on the port side, at the forward end of the car-
deck too, a gym besing also put in place on the opposite side of the engine-room
casing.

Given the success of their first 1989 season, the company added Cape Wrath and
Orkney Island cruises to their now extended 30-week sailing programme and, in
later years, the “Hebridean Princess” has ventured to the Norwegian Fjords,
cruised round the coast of Ireland, added The Channel Islands to her end-of-season
cruise and, in July 2003, instead of cruising The West Highlands will make head
south for three weeks calling at Islay, Stranraer, Holyhead, Lundy, The Scilly Isles,
St. Malo, Alderney, Barfleur and Ouistreham and on to London. The ship then
retracing her route to The Scilly Isles and on to Caldey Island, Dublin, Rathlin
Island, Crinan and Iona, her last night before returning to Oban, being spent
anchored in Kerrera Sound.

Having very quickly made a name for its very luxurious cruises around the Scottish
West Highlands, Hebridean Island Cruises now hopes to earn a similar accolade for its
operation of the 4,200 gross ton “Hebridean Spirit” which was built in 1991 for
Renaissance Cruises as their “Renaissance Six”, later sold and renamed “Sun Viva 2”.

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