We had arranged for an Autumn weekend visit to our family at Skelmorlie on the Clyde, only to dicover that it was set to co-incide with ‘Storm Babet’ as forecast by the weather experts! We left Glasgow in strong winds, and with a smirr of rain on the windscreen, and a wild cloudy sky. And so we headed for the coast!
Our plan was to visit in the morning the Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine, a museum we had passed countless times, always with the thought ‘we must visit there sometime’! Despite a massive improvment in the weather, we stuck to our plan, and I’m glad we did. Although a ‘Maritime’ museum, it also covers machines and equipment used generally in the engineering sector, and this brought back many memories of my own career in engineering from the 1950’s to the 1980’s! Let me share some photos with you, first of a couple of vessels which were outside in the yard, an old steam puffer with an exhibition in its hold, and an ancient yacht powered by a steam engine.
Inside the spacious museum there is a plethora of information on many other types of vessels from small wooden row boats and yachts, to lifeboats, cargo vessels and navy ships. Here are some of the photos and information that I gleaned.
‘Heads down boys, the gaffer is watching’
Along with the advancements in shipbuilding and other industries, came the advancement in general engineering. Soon there were machine tools for ‘everything’ or so it seemed. The museum houses many such machines which are a wonder to behold! Here are just some of them.
Our time unfortunately was limited, but we did manage a look at the variety of anchors on display before heading to the ‘Puffer Tea Room’ for a coffee and snack.
Far too much to share on this blog, but I would recommend a visit if you are in the area, and especially if you have an interest in shipbuilding / engineering and its history, and what made Scottish engineers and their ships and machinery famous throughout the world.
For me personally the visit brought back many memories of the Engineering Companies I’ve worked for, and the vast range of projects in which I have been involved at home and abroad. My engineering days were busy and fulfilling and accounted for more than fifty percent of my fifty years of working life.
Entrance fee for over 60’s was £7.00 and they also had snack facilities in the main museum, with the very nice Puffer Restaurant nearby. You are also just 1/2 mile from the beach where there is a free car park and toilets.
We missed the worst of the storm and in fact had two amazing sunsets during the weekend.
So since this blog has had a maritime flavour set against the background of ‘Storm Babet’, I thought I’d finish by asking a question raised by this old hymn, sung a cappella, which I really like.
It’s good to be safely anchored for life and death in Jesus, there are certainly many storms around these days!
Every blessing Matthew
Matthew McKinnon's Blog 