Generations of Glaswegians have enjoyed the pleasures of cruising the Firth of Clyde, or going “doon the watter”. Even on the modern car ferries which have replaced the steamers it’s a most enjoyable experience especially being surrounded by such fantastic scenery. Most of the routes are operated by the Scottish government owned Caledonian-MacBrayne (Cal-Mac). An interactive map of all their routes can be found here.
Cal-Mac was formed on 1st January 1973 by the merger of the two publically-owned shipping fleets operated by:
- Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSP), mainly centred on the Clyde; and
- David MacBrayne (1928) Ltd., serving the Western Isles.
The latter began as a steamer company under the name of David Hutcheson & Co. with their main sphere of operation from Glasgow through the Crinan Canal to Oban and Fort William and then on through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness. In 1978 the company passed to David MacBrayne, one of the founding partners, and was re-named after him. Throughout the late 1870’s and 80’s the MacBrayne empire expanded as it acquired mail contracts for the Western Isles. World War 1 left the company with a much-reduced fleet and it steadily slipped into financial difficulties. In 1928 a rescue operation was mounted jointly by the LMS Railway and Coast Lines Ltd. with 50:50 ownership of a new company – David MacBrayne (1928) Ltd.
CSP was formed in 1889 by the Caledonian Railway as a nominally independent company to finance and operate their newly acquired Clyde steamers based at Gourock. At the 1923 railway grouping CSP absorbed the competing steamers of the GSWR and in 1948 railway nationalisation resulted in common public ownership of the CSP and rival LNER (originally North British Steam Packet Co.) fleets. CSP took over control of the LNER fleet in November 1951.
In December 1968 control of CSP passed to the publically owned Scottish Transport Group, which in June 1969 also gained control of David MacBrayne when Coast Lines sold their shareholding. The two enterprises operated separately until January 1973 when CSP took over all the ships and the operation was re-named Caledonian MacBrayne. The David MacBrayne name lives on as a Scottish Government holding company. A fuller version of the Cal-Mac history is on the company’s website here.
This gallery of ferry-hopping on the Clyde begins at Helensburgh where until 2012 a small passenger vessel provided a link to Gourock. In addition to the ships, there are views of the magnificant pier at Dunnon and the impressive Edwardian station and pier at Wemyss Bay, designed to handle vast crowds simultaneously interchanging in both directions between trains and ships.
No review of sailing on the Clyde would be complete without photographs of PS Waverley, the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. Owned by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and operated by Waverley Excursions Ltd., there is no more delightful way to experience going “doon the watter”.
A line to Oban had been promoted by the Callander & Oban Railway and opened in four stages starting with the Callander-Killin section in June 1870, eventually reaching Oban 10 years later. By which time the C&OR had become part of the Caledonian Railway. At the Railway Grouping in 1923 the CR became part of the LMS.
The projected West Highland Railway line to Fort William required a contribution to construction costs from the UK Government and financial guarantees from the North British Railway before it could go ahead. The line opened throughout from the junction with the NBR at Craigendoran in August 1894, but an extension to Mallaig had already been proposed and an extension Act authorising the works was passed in July 1894. However, it took three attempts before Parliamentary approval was finally granted in August 1896 for the various Treasury guarantees and grants required to make the project happen. The extension to Mallaig opened in April 1901. From the beginning the line was worked by the NBR, which also funded the operating losses.
The WHR crossed the C&OR at Crianlarich, where a link line for exchange of freight wagons was established at WHR expense in December 1897. The WHR was eventually taken over by the NBR on 31/12/1908; the NBR becoming part of the LNER at the 1923 Grouping. Thus the routes to Oban & Fort William remained in separate ownership until nationalisation in 1948. Only after the Dunblane-Callander line was closed in September 1965 as part of the Beeching rationalisation did trains from Oban begin using the 17 mile shorter route to Glasgow via the Crianlarich link and the WHR line.
The Dingwall & Skye Railway opened as far as Stromeferry in August 1870 from where ferries operated to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. The D&SR was worked by the Highland Railway from the outset and absorbed by it in August 1880. In 1893 re-authorisation was required before the last 10½ miles to Kyle of Lochalsh could be built. This final section was opened in November 1897 and at the time it was the most expensive piece of railway (mile-for-mile) built in Britain. Only four years later the Kyle line began to lose traffic following completion of the West Highland Railway extension to Mallaig in 1901.
For many years travellers could take a boat twice a week from Mallaig through the magnificent Sound of Sleat to Kyle of Lochalsh from where vehicle ferries ran to Kyleakin and passenger steamers to Portree and Stornoway. Now a bridge built in 1995 links to the Skye, departures for the Outer Hebrides are from Ullapool and ferries call at Kyle no more – thankfully, the trains to Inverness still run.
The journey round Scotland ends with photos of railways on the eastern side of the country, finishing with one of the push-pull trains ready to set off back to Glasgow.
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