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It's only 30 minutes away by car, so we drove down to Irvine in North Ayrshire for a visit to the Linthouse and Boatshop at the Scottish Maritime Museum's site there. We were a bit early and had booked the 1920's Flat and Fitting Shed tour so, while we were waiting on our guide, we had a wander around the main Linthouse Building, itself a former 18th century shipyard engine shop from Govan, which is full of interesting boat-related things like boilers, pumps, engines and winches, a Viking Fourareen, and there's even an Uffa Fox airborne lifeboat.
The Linthouse building and some randomly wandering Neilston men
Once we'd rounded everyone up again (they do wander), our guide Evan then showed us over to the old fitting shed, where they keep a working steam engine. It's what's called a triple expansion steam engine, which was developed on the Clyde in the 1870s.
This one came off of a tug called Chipchase, which was built in 1953 by Clelands (Successors) Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne, with engines by Plenty of Newbury. She was built for the Blyth Harbour Commissioners, and later passed to the Seaham Harbour Dock Co, County Durham. Once its working life was over, the vessel was acquired in 1984 for a project to establish a maritime museum at Maryport, West Cumberland. The tug itself was scrapped, but the engines were salvaged, and one of the pair was purchased by the Scottish Maritime Museum for display in Clydebuilt at Braehead but has now been moved to Irvine.
Evan explained the workings of the beast and then showed us it in action, albeit via a lower-powered electric motor but it huffed and chugged and the propeller well and truly spun.
The Fitting Shed and the Triple Expansion Steam Engine from Chipchase
Once we'd had our fill of steam engines, Evan took us outside and down the road to visit their reconstruction of a 1920's flat, typically used to house the local shipyard workers.
It was basically a room and kitchen flat up a tenement close and, given our average ages, was familiar territory for many of us. It had bed recesses; cold and colder running water; a coal fire; a scrubbing board, mangle, and pulley; a coal-fired range cooker; and even a couple of wally dugs on the mantelpiece.
It was a shame for Evan as it was the first tour he done and all he got for feedback were comments like "I was brought up in one of these son", "aye, seen that" or "my auntie had one of them". That said, it was nice to see them again and it brought back a bit of nostalgia.
Us, in the 1920's flat, which was a bit cramped
We did try and go for a coffee in the museum's café but it was really busy so we made do with a group photo taken just outside on the banks of the River Garnock and with the now-abandoned Big Idea science centre and the Isle of Arran in the background...
Our wee group on the banks of the River Garnock outside the Puffers café.
As we left the museum, we had a wander round outside the Linthouse building and I spotted an old Clyde puffer that I'd once seen in Irvine harbour about six years ago - the MV Spartan.
Built in 1942 by J. Hay & Sons, Kirkintilloch for the Royal Navy, it was the last-remaining Scottish-built Clyde puffer.
After that we headed back to Neilston in search of a well-needed hot cuppa.
MV Spartan in the Linthouse building yard
MV Spartan in Irvine harbour six years ago
You can find out more about the museum on their web site:
and, if you're really interested, there's more information on steam engines, the tug and the puffer here:
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