Scottish Railway Stations

Wemyss Bay

Wemyss Bay

Wemyss Bay lies on the Firth of Clyde.  It is the departure point for the ferry to Rothesay on the Bute.

Wemyss Bay station, above, was built in 1903, to accommodate the large number of holidaymakers travelling from Glasgow to Rothesay.

Here, the Royal Scotsman charter train can be seen in Platform 2.  The train arrived at Wemyss Bay at the end of its tour of Western Scotland at lunch time. 

The passengers have left the train to travel by bus and ferry to visit Mount Stuart House in Bute.  They will be returning in the late afternoon. 

Here the waiter has set up his wine table on the platform to welcome the passengers back.  They will be sleeping on the train at Wemyss Bay and returning to Edinburgh the following morning.

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Recollections

1.

Joyce Gardner (née Ward)

Kelty, Fife, Scotland

Thank you to Joyce Gardner who wrote:

Flower Displays

"I've just been looking at your photos of Wemyss Bay Station, and can vouch for the flower displays which used to be there.

There was a central display, in a circle, about three or four stories high, and all the flower baskets were always filled with geraniums.  It was a sight to behold."

Ferries

"I was always taken over from the Isle of Butee on the ferry to buy school clothes to Greenock or Glasgow.  On the paddle steamers, from 1949 to 1952, my daddy would take me to the engine room to see all the big workings of the pistons going up and down operating the boat

There would be bands on the boat and people singing.  Ii can still smell those engine rooms to this day."

Glasgow or Greenock

"When you left the steamer, you would be whisked on to the waiting train and alight either in Greenock or Glasgow, where the first stop was the upstairs Caféteria of a department store for hot pies and gravy, and tea and bread and butter.

I can't remember the store, but I remember that there were about a hundred cups arranged on the counter and the waitress would fill them all at once with the giant teapot.   That's where I got the best pies I ever tasted."

Return to Rothesay

"I would return to Rothesay, at night, with the required school skirts and blazer etc for the new term.   I got a pair of brogues every winter and leather sandals every summer from Clarks.  I was a lucky wean.

Joyce Gardner, Kelty, Fife, Scotland:  November 17, 2010

Flower Displays

Joyce mentions the flowers that, at one time, adorned Wemyss Bay station.  On a recent train journey to Glasgow I read a Scotrail magazine which mentioned a programme of encouraging the public to support their railway stations.  Under this programme, work has been done at Wemyss Bay to reinstate the old style planters and fill them with flowers.

I don't remember the exact details of the article, and I don't have any plans to travel by train and look for another copy of the magazine in the near future.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  November 18, 2010

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