Clyde steamer

The Clyde steamer is a passenger service on the River Clyde in Scotland, running from Glasgow downstream to Rothesay and other towns, a journey known as going doon the watter.

The era of the Clyde steamer began in August 1812 with the very first successful commercial steamboat service in Europe, when Henry Bell's Comet began a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock. The Comet undertook her official trial run on 6 August 1812. Henry Bell himself was on board along with John Robertson, maker of Comet's engine and William McKenzie, formerly a schoolmaster in Helensburgh, acting as skipper. According to the Glasgow Courier newspaper two days later, the journey was completed in three and a half hours. After this success, other operators sprang up in competition and the Firth of Clyde became immensely popular with holidaymakers. By 1900 there were over 300 Clyde Steamers operating and going doon the watter was still in full swing in the early 1960s. Then competition from new forms of holiday travel brought the era almost to a close, but PS Waverley continues to provide the leisurely delights of Clyde steamer excursions.

From the outset steamboat services were aimed at holidaymakers, with a stop at Helensburgh bringing passengers to Bell's Baths Hotel. Within ten years there were nearly fifty steamers on the Firth of Clyde, sailing as far as Largs, Campbeltown and Inveraray, and the Glasgow Magistrates had introduced a five-pound fine for services running late to prevent "the Masters of Steam Boats, from improper competition and rivalship, postponing their departure for considerable and uncertain periods, after the times they had previously intimated to the Public". Steamer services were also introduced onto the inland lochs, with the Marion appearing on Loch Lomond in 1816.

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Wikipedia