Clyde steamer

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.

Then, competition from new forms of holiday travel brought the era almost to a close, but PS Waverley continues to provide excursions.

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".

She was rescued by the Friends of TS Queen Mary, and she is now undergoing restoration on the Clyde in preparation for a return to passenger service in summer 2024.

[6] Neil Munro celebrates a trip 'doon the watter' on a Clyde steamer in his Erchie MacPherson story "A Quiet Day Off", first published in the Glasgow Evening News of 23rd May 1908.