Services from mainland Scotland to Orkney and Shetland were, from the dawn of steam navigation right up until 2002, in the hands of the North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Shipping Company, known as the North Company, whose predecessors dated back to 1790 and which became part of P&O Ferries in 1975. In this book, Alistair Deayton uses his wonderful collection of photographs to tell the story of the ferries and steamers of the northern isles, including not only the North Company but its s...

The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. was founded in 1889 by the Caledonian Railway and in 2014 is 125 years old. It originally sailed from Gourock but came to encompass many of the Clyde coast piers and resorts, from Girvan to Argyll. At one time in competition with the Glasgow & South Western steamers and those of the North British Railway, by 1948 and the nationalisation of the railway companies, the steamers of these companies had all come under the auspices of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co...

From Gigha in the south to Lewis in the north and St Kilda in the west, Alistair Deayton covers the piers of the Hebrides and other outlying islands in the companion volume to his West Highland Piers. Since the 1810s, steamers have provided a valuable service to the communities of the Western Isles. Sometimes operated by independent operators, and by the ships of McCallum, Orme, as well as David MacBrayne's vessels, each island was served by a regular service of steamers and motorships, as...

At the turn of the twentieth century, new laws introduced paid holidays for the masses and the seaside towns of Scotland saw a huge influx of visitors. Holidaymakers poured from Glasgow, Paisley and the industrial heartland of Scotland on the Fair Holiday trip 'doon the watter'. Some Scottish resorts such as Dunoon, Hunters Quay and Campbeltown saw their populations double or treble for much of the summer. By the end of the 1960s, the annual Fair Holiday was in decline. No longer was there...

Created in 1973 with the amalgamation of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. and David MacBrayne, CalMac’s black hulls and white toppings have been a common sight on the Clyde estuary, sailing to the Western Isles and on numerous short crossings in the western Highlands. So widely does the company operate in the west of Scotland that it has even been immortalised in song. Starting with much old tonnage, the fleet has been updated over the past decades with more new ships due to come into servi...

Unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom the pier in Scotland has always seen as functional rather than as a pleasure pier. This was certainly the case on the West Highland Coast. During the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century shipping was the only way to transport goods and people in and out of the West Highlands and Islands. Served by paddle steamers, puffers and small coasters, the piers served a vital function for their communities. Often with stunning mountain backd...

Often a lifeline for remote waterside communities, the Scottish pier has been a functional rather than a pleasure pier. Served by paddle steamers, puffers and small coasters, the piers served a vital function for their communities. Often with stunning mountain backdrops, many settlements clustered around the piers, which provided a means of communication with the world at large. Some piers, like Rothesay's, could accommodate a number of pleasure steamers at once, while others, such as Tigh...

David MacBrayne's involvement in West Highland shipping services soon grew to encompass all of the major routes to the Isles. The company was eventually taken into state ownership and amalgamated with the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. to become Caledonian MacBrayne. This volume tells the story of MacBrayne's in private ownership up to the end of the independent company in 1972.

On 8 August 1974, the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer was sold by her owners for the princely sum of a pound. The PS Waverley has now spent more of her career in preservation than in service with the British Transport Commission and Caledonian MacBrayne. She is still a common sight on the Clyde, Bristol Channel, the Thames and around Britain’s coastline. Purchased by members of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, many millions have been spent on Waverley in the intervening years ...

In 1897, a revolutionary new type of ship blasted its way through the Royal Review at an unprecedented 30+ knots. This small vessel, still extant in Newcastle, was the Turbinia, and she was powered by the world's first marine steam turbine. Developed by Charles Parsons, in one fell swoop she revolutionised sea travel. She was the first turbine steamer. Economical and fast, the turbine steamer was soon to revolutionise ferries and pleasure steamers, as well as huge ocean liners and the migh...

Built in 1949 in Southampton for the Southampton, Isle of Wight & South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., MV Balmoral operated in their Red Funnel fleet for twenty years. Moving to Bristol, she became the last vessel purchased by P&A Campbell for the pleasure steamer services down the Bristol Channel and across to Wales. As well as service in the South West, she was used in North Wales too, even making sailings to Douglas in the Isle of Man, where she was used to serve as a tender to...

In 1851 G.&J. Burns sold their West Highland steamer services to David Hutcheson & Co. One of the conditions of the sale was that Hutcheson take on David MacBrayne, a nephew of the Burns brothers, as a junior partner. When David Hutcheson retired in 1878, David MacBrayne, at the age of sixty-five, took the company over and renamed it, Ever since MacBraynes has been an integral part of life in the West Highland and islands of Scotland, and since 1973 as part of Caledonian MacBrayne. At the ...