SHE has been tied up by the quayside for more than three decades, a forgotten relic from a different age.
But the Maid of the Loch could once again sail the waters of Loch Lomond after enthusiasts working on her restoration vowed to have her shipshape by next summer.
The last paddle steamer made in Britain first entered service in 1953, the Queen’s coronation year.
But, after passenger numbers dwindled, she made her last cruise the loch and was mothballed at Balloch in 1981.
Now fundraisers are hoping a £1.7 million target can be reached by the autumn that would set the navigation systems for her to sail again.
Former diplomat Robin Naysmith, chairman of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, which is restoring the vessel, said: “Our aim is to restore the Maid to how she was when she was launched in 1953, which would be with a white hull and a cream to yellow funnel.
“It will give her not just a more authentic but a more elegant look.”
The restoration team has its work cut out, with the Maid having suffered at the hands of looters in the years she sat idle and the weather also playing a part in the deteriorating condition.
Mr Naysmith added: “There was no security. She was just next to the pier. It was like a car left in a car park and, not surprisingly, anything that was worth stealing disappeared.
“But as the campaign has gathered momentum, surprisingly some quite interesting artefacts have started to reappear. The ship’s bell is a good example.”
Dubbed an “up and downer”, the Maid was built to be dismantled and transported to her destination across land. This technique was used to take ships from the Clyde all over the world.
Conservation expert Jim Mitchell said this had made restoration easier.
“We have been extremely lucky in that lots of the builders’ drawings have survived,” he explained. “So we have things like pipework layout drawings so we can put all the copper pipe back in the engine room pretty much as it was, because we have the great gift of those drawings.”
Overseeing the engineering side of getting the Maid sailing again, tasks such as sourcing and installing a new boiler, is John Beveridge.
He said: “From our point of view this is the real unique bit about a paddle steamer.
“You’ve got the engines that everyone can see going round, the engineer working the controls, you hear the sounds and the smells, and you can see the paddles turning.
“You can’t do that in any other vessel, everything is hidden. This is the showpiece of the ship.”
Engineers on that other famous Clyde paddle steamer, the Waverley, have offered technical support.
If the fundraising drive over the spring and summer is successful, that would release £3.8m of heritage lottery cash.
The team hope she can be sailing by late summer 2018.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel