Introduction
Earlier today, I took the opportunity to visit Wemyss Bay Railway Station which is considered to be an architectural masterpiece. Before proceeding here are a couple of key rehearsals:
Pronunciation: Wemyss is pronounced ‘Weems’.
Name origin: An Old Irish (Gaelic) word meaning ‘at the cave’. This suggests a settlement at this point for at least 1500 years and probably much longer.
‘Firth’ is a Scottish word meaning bay or estuary, c.f. Firth of Clyde.
Information on Wemyss Bay Railway Station.
The principal function of this station is to provide a connection with the (35 minute) ferry transfer to the Isle of Bute. The first pier/station was built in 1865 and then extensively rebuilt in 1903. Major restoration was undertaken in1994 and then again in 2016. Latter was undertaken using the original colour scheme of cream, cinnamon and burnt umber (dark brown). Overall result of the restorations is impressive and gives a flavour for the quality and ambience of the Edwardian period (early 1900s).
Visitors to the station can travel by road or rail with similar journey times of approximately 1 hour to cover the 33 miles from Glasgow. Both road and rail routes track the southern coast of the Firth of Clyde in a westerly direction. This route affords some excellent views over the Firth of Clyde region.Today, I elected to take the rail option which worked smoothly.
In addition to the impressive architecture at the station there is a book shop, cafe and bar.
Platform
Passengers embarking train
Station concourse
Spectacular roof design
External view of station
Triptych by artist Leo du Feu illustrating the voyage from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay on Isle of Bute.
Ferry connection with the station’s walkway.
View across the Firth of Clyde from Wemyss Bay.
View of Forth of Clyde from train at low tide. These illustrate the ‘timber ponds‘ used to store imported timber during the days of wooden ships in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
More Information
For more information the Clyde Coast, islands and Scotland in general please refer Visitors’ Guide to Scotland, ISBN 978-1-9161332-0-4. This book is also available via Kindle.