Honda

Something that will make motor cycle enthusiasts mouth water this morning. A brand new Honda 750 fresh from the showroom.

Clouds Over Plateau.

Storm clouds gathering over old Thames Tug Plateau while berthing with this barge mounted crane.

Holm Square.

Glencairn Square kilmarnock, somtimes known as Holm Square, is now a busy road junction with traffic lights and filter lanes. The street where the car is sitting is West Shaw street the light coloured building on the right is the Howard Arms, still a popular watering hole today. The dome topped structure bottom left of the picture was a fountain, The cottages on the other side were demolished long ago and the B M K factory extended down to there, it was also demolished to make way for a supermarket complex, which itself is soon to meet the same fate.

Landing

A nicely varnished fishing vessel lands her catch at Tarbert Loch Fyne.

Navy Cut.

This is an image from an old advert for John Player & Sons from early twentieth century.

Tamarisk

A break from the old stuff today with this photo of a smart little "Tamarisk Poacher" I came accross at the weekend.

Kilmarnock View.

The Cross Kilmarnock, date unknown. The statue is of Sir James Shaw a Kilmarnock born and educated man who became a popular Lord Mayor of London, this statue now stands opposite the Dick institute in London Road. On the left is Rankin &Borland dispensing chemists. And on the ground floor of the corner building on the right, many will remember the pet shop.

Kilmarnock.

A view of King Street Kilmarnock before the planners got to work. The house on the left was on the corner of Fowlds Street and was home to a doctors surgery during the 1940s and 50s. The practice then moved to new premises, and still serves the population of the town. King Street Church was denolished and replaced with shops.

Holiday Posters.

Another two images of old posters from my collection. This time on a holiday theme, depicting contrasting types of holiday that were available to divergent sectors of the British public in that era.

Posters.

These are two images of Military advertising posters from my collection of vintage advertising material and show what recruiting used to be like.

Docks.

An image from an old postcard of the docks at Leith date unknown

Medea.

On the 06/03/08 I posted an old black and white image of Medea, built by Stephens of Linthouse. Since then I have managed to obtain this image taken after her restoration in California.

Arran.

The view over this chemical plant makes the Isle of Arran rise from the ground close behind.

Hunterston

Two bulk carriers discharging their cargo at Clydeport's deepwater berths at Hunterston with views of Cumbrae and Bute.

Irvine On The River.

An old postcard view of Irvine as it was before development. Where the bridge is the shopping mall now crosses the river.

1907

The Damen Shoalbuster is built in the Netherlands by Damen Shipyards, there is a range of models this is a 1907. She can be powered up to 1096BHP and has a bollard pull of 12.5 Tonnes.

Dea Ranger

A return to a more modern theme this morning with an image of " Dea Ranger." Converted to a PSV from a Norwegian purser, she is now owned and operated by Nomis Shipping of Aberdeen and is employed on standby duties.

Logan Fishpond.

This 1970s image shows the Fishpond at Port Logan, completed in 1800 it developed from an idea conceived by Colonel Andrew McDouall who was then laird of Logan. The project involved deepening of a natural rock pool and the addition of a sluice gate.

Portpatrick.

Portpatrick Harbour as this old postcard image shows is mainly a haven for pleasure craft. Although it was once the main port for travel to Ireland, and was also busy with other types of commercial craft. It was also a military port in WW2. It is now a quiet resort, popular with walkers, as the Soutern Upland Way from west to east starts here.

Port William.

This image shows Port William Harbour on Luce Bay. Although the harbour been there since the sixteenth century, it was not enlarged to it's present shape until the late 1890s.

Port Logan

Port Logan pier and lighthouse at the Southern end of Port Logan (or as termed in some charts,)Port Nessock Bay. Was built during the period 1812 / 1822, the works being supervised by John Young. Design proposals had been made by the famous engineer John Rennie around 1813 and were followed during the construction the results of which are the structures seen today. Port Logan is now a popular but quiet spot with tourists, and also sea anglers who find it easy to launch their boats over the firm sand.

South Harbour.

Seine net boats landing their catch at Ayr. The area shown is now built up with blocks of flats built during the 1990s.

Looking North.

This old image from around the late 1930s or early forties shows the harbour at Girvan when it was less developed than today.

Girvan

Another old harbour image, this time of Girvan around the end of the nineteenth century.

Clyde Vista.

Here is a nice old image of Largs and the Firth of Clyde beyond, it has been taken from the Haylie Braes on the Largs to Kilbirnie road.

Leith.

This image of part of Leith Harbour was taken from an old postcard sorry there are no dates etc available.

North Harbour.

An old image of fishing boats in Ayr Harbour from around the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Salvageman.

Initially owned by United Towing of Hull "Salvageman" was Britains largest seagoing Tug for a number of years. She was the longest serving vessel in the Falklands campaign with two years continuous service, and was honoured by the presentation of the Ministry of Defence Falklands plaque,during a visit to the Thames in 1984.

Pilots.

Aberdeen Harbour pilot boat steams up the channel returning to the docks for another customer.

Irvine Harbour

An image of Irvine Harbour taken from an old postcard, note the converted ship's lifeboats by the jetty, and the shipyard workings top left.

Medea

This is steam yacht "Medea" built by Stephens of Linthouse in 1904 for Captain MacAlister Hall of Torrisdale Castle on the Kintyre Peninsula. She has had a colourful Naval career serving different countries. She is now restored and is in the hands of San Diego Maritime Museum.

Maid Of The Loch

Paddle steamer "Maid Of The Loch" making her way up Loch Lomond.

Model Boat Club.

This is an image I picked up around twelve years ago while foraging for old books and postcards in the South West of England. It depicts members of the "Port of Plymouth Model Boat Club" it holds a special attraction for me, as the building had then been converted to a "Pub"where you could buy a pitcher of lager and sit at an outside table looking out on Plymouth Sound and Drakes Island.

Building.

One of the designer's photo's of a similar boat to the one posted yesterday, clearly showing the method of construction, and the quality of the work.

Reefed

This could be the result of a worthy winter project, a smart 4 metre sailing dinghy, built to plans by American designer John Welsford.

Lobster Boat

Although the lines of this boat look to be of Scandanavian origin, she is flush decked in the traditional Scottish manner.

Pebble.

A tidy little "Yorkshire Pebble" bobbing on her quiet and pleasant mooring.

Seine Net

A restored seine net boat berthed beside a quay that appears not to altered since her heyday.

Spartan

The puffer "Spartan" looking spruce after her restoration work, at her berth on the pontoons at Irvine.

Nelson

These image's of one of my favourite make's of small workboat were sent to me by a friend.

She is a "Nelson 18" and is the best example of the boat I have seen for a while.

Pioneer

This is an image from the Pioneer sailing trust's website. "Pioneer CK18" is the only remaining deepsea smack,and was restored by and is now operated by the trust. Why not pay them a visit and read the full story. http://www.pioneersailingtrust.org.uk/

Dawncraft

Alone on far off moorings this cathedral hulled "dawncraft" gets a buffeting from the February winds.

Please double click on image to enlarge.

Westerly

A well maintained "Westerly" looking good in the winter sun, lie's at her berth.

Mirror

Yet another old and worn photo, this time of the "Mirror" dinghy a boat that gave many people an insight into building and sailing their own craft. Designed by Jack Holt and Barry Bucknell and produced by the Bell Woodworking Co. of Leicester, they were available as complete boat or in kit form. The price in the mid sixties was, complete boat £103 and in kit form £57.

Dolphin 20

This is a classic cruiser built to a high standard in the 1960's by the Brooklands Aviation Co. The model shown is the "Dolphin 20" although their were a few models this is my personal favourite.construction was cold molded marine ply on mahogany frames, they were also fitted with toughened glass windows in steel frames, unusal in that era. Two bunks were provided in the main cabin, together with a gas cooker and sink unit, a further two full size bunks were available in the aft cockpit enclosed by a canopy with side screens which was supplied as standard. The price in 1966 was £750. Once again I must apologise for the poor quality of the image .

Moonraker

To start off two or three days of popular boats from the sixtie's and seventie's this is an image of an original advert. Initially this boat was designed and built by Vic Bell of Brundall, the was taken over by Colin Chapman . Sorry for the quality but the poster is almost forty years old.