Old Maid shows off her bottom
This was the Maid of the Loch today. She turned out to be a bit shy about showing off her bottom, but show it she did on the slipway at Balloch. Inspectors were around to have a look at the old lady’s hull. Things went reasonably well, but there were a few hitches, once when she rolled back into the water. No one was hurt thankfully but one person got very wet and another appeared badly shocked. More on this later. Bill Heaney
Pictures by Jim Crosthwaite
Workers flee after drama on slipway as paddler slides into Loch
Aileen Clarke of BBC Scotland reported later that workers had to flee to safety after the Maid broke free as it was being winched out of Loch Lomond.
The 65-year-old ship was being taken from the water ahead of restoration work when it slipped its ties and wrecked the timber cradle it was sat upon.
Members of the restoration team were forced to run from the side of the vessel as it slid back into the water.
One man in a yellow mariners jacket was assisted back to the shore by fellow volunteers, but he looked badly shocked.
The Maid was then taken back to its normal berth at Balloch Pier and the operation called off for the day.
Checks are now under way to ascertain what went wrong.
The Maid of the Loch entered service in 1953, the same year as the Queen’s coronation.
The Queen, Princess Anne and Prince Philip visited the ship again in 1971 when they had lunch on board the day before Princess Anne officially opened the Erskine Bridge.
But the Maid fell on hard times as passenger numbers dwindled and the ship was eventually mothballed in 1981.
While the ship did remain watertight while moored at Balloch, copper piping and artefacts disappeared.
The Scottish government has given the restoration project £950,000 and a further £50,000 came from the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society.
Maid of the Loch in her heyday on Loch Lomond.
The Loch Lomond Steamship Company said the cash would go towards repairing the paddle steamer’s hull and engines.
The restoration is a £5.5m project. Once £1.7m is raised, the Heritage Lottery Fund will release £3.8m of further funding.
The LLSC hopes both the ship and slipway will get industrial museum status.
The restoration plans include reviving the main and aft deck saloons to their original 1950s style and creating an education suite, as well as restoring engines and machinery.
John Beveridge, formerly an official of Dumbarton District Council and now chairman of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, said the money would allow them to recreate the ship’s original 1950s style.
He said to “see her engines turning again after 38 years will be magical”.
It is now doubtful if Mr Beveridge will ever get his wish in that regard.
While the Maid has so many supporters and so much money has been ploughed into her restoration, there are others who feel it is throwing good money after bad.
Views have been expressed that the Maid could never be a viable proposition as a tourist attraction on Loch Lomond and that provision of loch sailings is already adequate at Balloch and Arrochar.
There is also a doubt whether the old piers at what were formerly stopping off points for the Maid, such as Luss, would be able to accommodate a ship of her size and weight..