Kirkintilloch Branch 1981
The Seagull Trust's first base was at Ratho because Ronnie Rusack already had established barge servicing facilities there. The Trust wasn't particularly East of Scotland and Trustees came from all over the central belt. So once established, the Trustees immediately sought to broaden the provision.
Kirkintilloch Branch
Having successfully established cruising from Ratho the Trustees looked westward and chose the Forth& Clyde Canal for their second branch. The town has a history dating back to pre-Roman times, the name being derived from the celtic Caerpentalloch, meaning "Fort at the end of the ridge of hills. This probably refers to the ridge of hills which are now the Campsie Fells and are readily accessible from Kirkintilloch. The combination of a trip on the Yarrow Seagull with a picnic in the hills is very popular.
Discussions for a Kirkintillock "Group" of the Trust started in 1981 and was formally set up following a meeting on 29 June 1983 with Peter Tait as Chairman, Helen Findlay as Vice-Chairman and Tom NcLaughlan as Secretary. The Forth and Clyde Canal Society which ran the "Ferry Queen" from Glasgow Road Bridge in the summer promised support.
Following discussions with British Waterways, a boathouse was designed by Stanley Ross-Smith with accommodation for two vessels was built on the site of the former J. Hay & Sons boatbuilding yard below Southbank Road in the middle of the town in 1983 at a cost of £80000 most of which was borrowed. The building is substantial and can serve as a dry dock for the repair and re-painting of the Trust's canal boats. The Trust had also bought a former electricity substation building for £1 as a possible centre but that building was never actually used.
The cruising season extends-from April to early-October \with occasional trips outwith/this period. The-cruising season extends from late April to early October with occasional trips outwith this period, e.g. a special birthday party. During the cruising season Branch meetings are held on the last Tuesday, evening of every month in the Town Hall. Although we have office bearers who look after bookings, crewing, canal boat maintenance, finance, souvenir sales etc, all decisions concerning the Branch and it's canal boat are made democratically at these meetings. All our members are volunteers and crew training is arranged at the Branch.
The Branch has very close ties with British Waterways, as the Seagull Trust is one of the main users of Scotland's Lowland Canals. "Yarrow Seagull" was used to carry the application for Lottery funding on the first part of its journey at the launch of the Millennium Link Project. And following the successful bid for funds she was again in attendance at Maryhill Locks when H.R.H. Prince Charles visited to review the progress of the Millennium Works in June 1999.
As far as possible the timing and duration of cruises is arranged for the convenience of our guests, the maximum duration generally being about two and a half hours when we cruise from Kirkintilloch to Bishopbriggs and back. It is possible to fit three cruises into a day with an occasional cruise in the evening. The most popular time for cruising is over lunch with our guests bringing a packed lunch, and consequently these cruises are always booked well in advance. Sundays are reserved for essential cleaning and maintenance of the canal boat.
During the cruise there is plenty to see. The Canal largely follows the line of the Antonine Wall, a Roman Wall built to keep the marauding Pictish and Scots tribes from the civilised central and southern Scotland, and there is an abundant natural cover 'for a wide variety of wildlife. One or two herons have their territory on our stretch of Canal and there are plenty of swans and ducks eager to be fed and occasionally an otter or kingfisher may be seen.
Funding
Norman Simpson wrote:
I was somewhat perturbed at the position of our overdraft, obtained from the Royal Bank for the financing of the building of our boathouse in Kirkintilloch, which in May 1983 stood at around the £50,000 mark and was steadily increasing.
It was necessary to have the boathouse to house Yarrrow Seagull which was still on the stocks at Yarrow Shipbuilders. It required a secure home. The Bank authorised us overdraft facilities up to £110,000. They could not have been more generous to us and they gave us this borrowing without any security being asked. I would say their goodness to us was due to the Managing Director, Mr John Burke being a good friend of Brigadier Frank Coutts who knew he was joining us as our Fund Raiser and had every faith in him, as the two of them worked together with the Royal British Legion Scotland.
When Frank eventually came to us our income from 28th November 1978 to 31st October 1983 was £27,447 and expenditure was £15,802 which was the ordinary to-day to day working expenses plus the cost of Yarrow Seagull £7,500. We had a credit balance on our Bank A/C of £4,541 but the Kirkintilloch Boathouse overdraft showed a debit balance of £50,032 and steadily growing. This is what Frank had to face up to when he came to us and when Fund Raisers were ready for battle it was standing at £87,000.
‘’Yarrow Seagull’’ was ready to be delivered to us but unfortunately the building of the Boathouse had not been completed but Yarrows kindly held on to the boat until the 29th of March, when she was launched and the boathouse opened by Lt Colonel James Stirling of Garden the Lord Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk. The cost of the boat £7,510 and the boathouse £133,000. (NS)
YARROW SEAGULL'S background is described by Brian Baxter. "The Rev. Hugh Mackay visited me at Yarrow Shipbuilders, where I was the Shipbuilding Director, in December 1978 and asked if Yarrows would design a canal boat for the Trust. A design was produced and approved by the Trustees and at a subsequent meeting, Hugh asked me whether Yarrows would build a boat based on this design. I explained to him that Yarrows was now part of British Shipbuilders and as such could not undertake work of this type. I told him that I could get another yard to build a boat for him and it would take 6 months to build and cost a minimum of £10,000. Alternatively, if the Trust were prepared to wait for about 4 years our apprentices would build the boat and provide free hull plating and all construction labour costs. The Trust would have to pay for all fittings and equipment, which would total about £5,000. After discussion with the Trustees it was agreed that the Trust would be prepared to wait 4 years.
The new boat designed by Bill Thomson was based on canal designs used on English canals and would be 45 feet long and have a beam of 10 feet and a draught of about 2 feet. They were designed to carry 12 disabled passengers seated in wheelchairs at tables arranged in a central accommodation. They would be manned by 3 crew members. A Hydraulic lift was fitted forward to facilitate the transfer of passengers from the quayside to the internal lower deck. A four-stroke diesel engine was fitted to give a maximum speed of 4 knots and a galley and large lavatory were included."
1984 was an important year for the Trust. In the spring the Seagull, whose construction had been assisted by the Yarrow apprentices was completed and delivered to the Trust. It operated from a newly opened Kirkintilloch Centre based in a boathouse.
John Hume on the left at the launch of Yarrow Seagull with the boat designer Bill Thomson and Sir Robert Easton MD of Yarrows.
Seagull Trust Trustees attend the Launch of Yarrow Seagull 29th March 1984.
Dr Brian Baxter served as a Trustee of Seagull Trust Cruises from 1983. He died in 2003 age 87.
His obituary appeared in The Herald:
Boathouse Uplift
By 1996 the Kirkintilloch Boathouse was thirteen years old and due for an uplift, particularly in respect of improved facilities for the Disabled. The Branch and Property Committee estimated a cost in the region of £50,000. Towards this we received a most generous donation of £20,000 from The Gannochy Trust. (NS)
In 1997 a dock gate was been installed at the canal entrance to the Boathouse making it possible to drain the dock for maintenance of the Yarrow Seagull. Work had started to upgrade the Boathouse.