Irvine’s Maritime Marvel

As a thank you to the National Lottery for their recent announcement of funding, both locations of the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine and in Dumbarton have all this week been offering free entry on production of a lottery ticket.  As a longstanding advocate of good old fashioned Scottish thrift, I thought I would take the opportunity to pop down to Irvine and have a look around.

Upon entry, the friendly staff gave us a brief explanation of what there is to see and invited us to go along on the afternoon walking tour around the attraction.  On this occasion we were not able to do that, however, we did have enough time to wander around at a leisurely pace and enjoy what the museum had to offer.

Dubbed as ‘Scotland’s Cathedral of Engineering’, the former Linthouse shipyard building is spacious and, on a chilly December afternoon, cold, although not uncomfortably so.  The oily smells, minimalist decor and the shafts of Winter sunlight penetrating among the exhibits provide a very authentic environment.  If you were to close your eyes and imagine the sounds of clanging hammers, you could easily believe yourself to be in a real living, working shipyard.

A good part of the floor space is taken up with lathes, presses and all manner of engineering equipment, most of which was produced right here in Scotland. Interspersed among the engineering relics were also giant engines and propellers, examples of smaller shipping, the rusting hull of SS Rifle, an early steamer and, perhaps most charming of of all, the figureheads of well known ships including the Clydebank built SS Claymore which for fifity years plied her trade between Glasgow and Stornoway.

An appropriately warm corner of the building was also reserved for an art exhibition by the renowned local artist and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie.  Lachlan’s vivid use of colour warmly brings to life the shapes, textures and smells of the Scotland’s modern shipping industry.

After a peruse around the gift shop we exited the main building where our attention was immediately arrested by two notable vessels; the steam puffer Spartan and the steam yacht SY Carola.  Built in 1942 by J. Hay & Sons, Kirkintilloch, The Spartan is one of only two remaining Scottish built puffers.  The other vessel, The SY Carola, was built by Scott and Sons of Bowling in 1898 and is a rare example of the once common steam yacht.

Five minutes walk from the museum takes you through some wonderful Regency architecture, presumably associated with customs, to the harbour where the museum have their main gift shop and Cafe.  The food was excellent and very fairly priced and the views across the harbour to the Ardeer Peninsula and snow crested Arran beyond made for scenic dining experience also.

All in all, our Irvine adventure was a very a enjoyable visitor experience and I’d thoroughly recommend it as an essential port of call to anyone wanting to see the best that North Ayrshire has to offer.  Watch this space for a report on their Dumbarton branch.