The ferry Keppel, seen from a small boat leaving MIllport for Largs
For our February meeting we had a trio of presentations, all very different in their nature. Speakers this year were John Beveridge, Ken Mills and Stuart Craig, whose efforts were all well received by those members attending the Maldron Hotel, as John Newth reports.
First up was John Beveridge, whose talk was intriguing titled “Clyde Steamers: Inside and Out”. John’s talk took us, quite literally, inside and out through six very different Clyde steamers.
The basic bus-style seating was a feature of the 1950s built motorships like Cowal, one of the ABC car ferries
The car ferry Caledonia, which featured in two of the three presentations at Members Night
Beginning with the newest Clyde ‘steamer’, Glen Sannox, John then drew comparisons with the first true car ferries on the Firth, the ABC’s. He then continued to the first true drive-through Clyde car ferry, the former Swedish ship Caledonia, introduced to the Arran run in 1970. We next saw some views of the two current Rothesay ships, Bute and Argyle.
Having looked at changes in car ferry design, we were next shown a selection of images of two extremely different passenger ships – the Largs to Millport ferry Keppel, and the turbine steamer Queen Mary II. Comparisons between the dingy under-deck lounge of the former with the opulent accommodation of the latter brought back many memories for most of those present.
A regular visitor to Arran was Duchess of Montrose of 1930, seen towards the end of her career
Ken Mills has been visiting Arran for an incredible ninety years, and not surprisingly his talk was appropriately titled “90 years of travelling to Arran”.
Ken took us from his eariest memories of sailing to Arran aboard the former G&SWR turbine Atalanta, through wartime sailings on the 1925-built Glen Sannox and into the car ferry era.
He covered many of the excursion steamers and relief ships used on routes to and from the island, and took us right up to date with the Manx ferry Ben-My-Chree, which he saw at Brodick on her unsuccessful recent visit.
Stuart Craig rounded off the evening by asking us “What’s in a Date?” No, ‘a stone’ was not the answer, it transpired! Stuart has kept a diary of all his sailings for many years, and for Members Night dipped into it at five year intervals to show us some of the many trips he has taken over the years. An unusual routing took him to Stornoway, while several years earlier he had criss-crossed the Clyde so many times that I lost count! And of course no talk from Stuart would ever place without a mention of his (former) favourite ship!
Iona, a ship Stuart Craig used on one of his sailings described at Members Night
Three very different presentations, and a thoroughly entertaining evening, fully enjoyed by all those in attendance. Our thanks to the three speakers and to David Cherry for filming the presentations.
When you start the video, please click the box on the lower lefthand side to get the full screen version.
John, Ken and Stuart are all long standing members of CRSC. Have you joined this friendly association of ship enthusiasts? Click here for your £15 introductory membership and you’ll get all the benefits, including CRSC’s highly prized colour magazine, the annual Review of west coast shipping and exclusive access to ‘members only’ posts on this website.
Published on 24 February 2026