DOON THE WATTER
The town of Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay which offers an onward rail link to Glasgow. At the centre of the town is Rothesay Castle, a ruined castle which dates back to the 13th century, and which is unique in Scotland for its circular plan. Population about 6,000.
Rothesay is the county town of the former county of Buteshire, which included the islands of Great Cumbrae, Little Cumbrae and Arran. The former county buildings, not partially closed down, overlook the castle.
During the Victorian era, Rothesay developed as a popular tourist destination.
It became hugely popular with Glaswegians going "doon the watter" , and its wooden pier was once much busier with steamer traffic than it is today. The town also had an electric tramway - the Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway - which stretched across the island to one of its largest beaches. However, this closed in the mid 1930s. The centre of activities was the Winter Gardens building (built 1923) which played host to some of the best known music hall entertainers of the day.
photo taken by John Baird
Last steamship – and Scotland's last turbine steamer – was built by Denny's of Dumbarton for the Williamson-Buchanan fleet; and specifically for the “doon the water” excursion trade from Glasgow to the Clyde resorts. QUEEN MARY was launched on Thursday 30th March 1933 by Lady Colquhoun, wife of Sir Ian Colquhoun of Luss, to grandiloquent praise by the shipyard's company chairman, Mr Maurice Denny, who was sure the Glasgow folk would embrace the new vessel to their hearts. “The QUEEN MARY, as they would learn when they took their first trip in her, had special and improved accommodation, far outstripping anything hitherto attempted in the Clyde River steamer.
This was “a proud boast for the new ship,” notes her 1976 biographer, Robin Orr, “but it has proved fully justified.”
In many respects QUEEN MARY closely resembled the new generation of turbine steamers, like KING GEORGE V or the two LMS “Duchesses”. Unlike KING GEORGE V, though, she had solid bulwarks rather than an open rail to the bow, and her first-class accommodation was forward, in reverse of Clyde custom hitherto. She was also, mechanically, much more traditional, with three direct-acting turbines to her three screws and steam raised from a Scotch boiler. Though her normal service speed was fifteen knots, she was fully capable of eighteen when pushed.