Caledonian Days

Today, following breakfast, we will head for Glasgow and a visit to the Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel. Glasgow was once at the forefront of transport technology and built thousands of ships, railway locomotives and road vehicles throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This purpose-built museum on the banks of the River Clyde celebrates this rich industrial heritage with an extensive collection of more than 3000 objects that includes trams, buses, cars, motorcycles, majestic steam locomotives and finely detailed models of Clyde-built ships. There is also a recreated life-size street from 1895 to 1930, plus two additional display areas depicting shops from the 1930s right through to the 1980s, giving visitors a fantastically detailed insight into Glasgow's distant and more recent past.

This afternoon we will enjoy our own recreation of a trip 'Doon ra Watter', beginning with a 50-minute electric train journey from Glasgow Central to Wemyss Bay on the Clyde coast. The first part of the line was built as the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway in 1841, which was absorbed (inevitably) by the dominant Caledonian Railway in 1851, with an extension from Greenock to Wemyss Bay opening in 1865. The station at Wemyss Bay was built to an exceptionally pleasing design with a light glass canopy over the circulating area, which has been sympathetically restored. The long and wide platforms give an idea of the great volume of passenger traffic that used to travel out from the city to spend a day on the Firth of Clyde.

After time to admire the station building we will board (as foot passengers) one of the two CalMac ferries that sail from the adjacent pier back and forth to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Here we will have a couple of hours’ free time in this traditional seaside resort, which in days gone by would have been thronged with day trippers and holiday makers during the summer months, particularly during the ‘Glasgow Fair’, the two weeks holiday in July for workers in the city. The name ‘Zavaroni’ appears over several ice cream parlours and tea rooms and those of a certain age will recall the teenage singing sensation of the 1970s Lena Zavaroni, whose family, of immigrant Italian origin, are still resident on the island.

We return by ferry to Wemyss Bay later in the afternoon and continue by coach over the Erskine Bridge to our hotel. Dinner will be served in the evening.

Following an early breakfast we transfer to Helensburgh Upper railway station where we join the morning diesel train to Oban on the highly scenic West Highland Line. In essence, the railway has changed little since late Victorian times, when this part of the line was built by the West Highland Railway, later part of the North British Railway, and many of the original chalet-style station buildings can still be seen. The route passes through magnificent scenery, past the sea lochs of Gare Loch and Loch Long and the northern end of Loch Lomond before climbing through Glen Falloch to Crianlarich. Here the line (and the train) splits in two, one line continuing north to Fort William, the other heading west towards Oban. This part of the line was built by the Callander and Oban Railway, later absorbed by the Caledonian Railway, deadly rivals of the North British, but the section between Dunblane and Crianlarich was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching rationalisation. After a leisurely journey of around two hours and 20 minutes, the train returns to sea level at its terminus in Oban, where there will be around three hours to enjoy the hustle and bustle of this lively port, known as the Gateway to the Isles.

There are several good restaurants offering freshly caught seafood and other local produce, though the crab sandwiches from the little stall on the pier offer excellent value for money. Also worth a visit is the Distillery (admission not included), from where Oban malt whisky is exported all over the world, and the free museum on the Esplanade which tells the story of Oban’s involvement in the Second World War and other notable events.

In the afternoon we take the train back as far as Crianlarich where we join our waiting coach and continue by road, following the route of the original Callander & Oban Railway. Traces of the railway line can still be seen, particularly in Glen Ogle where various viaducts and bridges are visible and are now used as a cycle path. Stopping for refreshments (not included) in Callander, the coach will use the car park which is on the site of the former station, with remnants of one of the platforms still visible.

From Callander we drive through The Trossachs back to Drymen and our hotel, where dinner is served in the evening.

After breakfast today we travel a short distance to Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond, for a visit to the paddle steamer Maid of the Loch, a magnificent example of Clyde-built engineering with a stunning art deco-inspired interior. Assembled in the Glasgow shipyard of A&J Inglis, the Maid of the Loch was first of all bolted together and then taken apart, transported to her new home in Balloch on rail wagons and reassembled on the Balloch Slipway before her launch into the sparkling waters of Loch Lomond in 1953. It is hoped that one day the Maid will once again sail up and down the loch but as a static exhibit there is still much to see. Fine views towards Ben Lomond can be enjoyed from the ship’s three decks and from the Observation Lounge and you can also explore the engine room and see the enormous cranks and pistons used to power the enormous paddle wheels.

Following our visit there will be some time for shopping at the adjacent Lomond Shore Designer Retail Outlet, which includes a branch of the famous Edinburgh Department Store, Jenner’s.

Thereafter we continue by coach to our original departure points where we expect to arrive during the evening.