#clydeside

[whiskyblog]

Clydeside Whisky Napier

Clydeside Napier is a single malt whisky from the Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow. It is named after Robert Napier, a historical figure associated with shipbuilding on the River Clyde. The distillery uses the name as a reference to regional history.

Clydeside “Napier” is made entirely from Scottish barley, mainly sourced from farms in the Glasgow area, and water from Loch Katrine. Production involves a comparatively long fermentation period and distillation with high cut points, aimed at producing a particularly clean spirit.

[dram-gazette]

Press release: Clydeside Distillery to Release 1st Ever Peated Whisky

The Clydeside Distillery is proud to announce the launch of its first ever peated whisky. Named Fortnight after the annual two-week period when peated spirit is produced there, the whisky joins the distillery’s core range and will be available to the public from today.Crafted using water from Loch Katrine, 100% Scottish barley malted with Highland peat, andmatured for over six years in the finest…

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[scotianostra]

Alexander “Sandy” Allan was born February 26th 1780 on Fairlie Estate, Dundonald.

Sandy was the third son of James Allan, a carpenter and his wife Jean Brown. His mother was the young­est sister of Agnes (Brown) Burns, the mother of Sandy’s famous first cousin, Robert Burns, the Scottish bard, whose family also worked on the Fairlie Estate, which lies a dozen miles inland from the coast between Troon and Irvine.

In the summer of 1786, Robert Burns stayed at their cottage to avoid a writ from James Armour in consequence of his relation­ship with Jean Armour Sandy Allan was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Kilmarnock, but quit in order to sail from Saltcoats (Ardrossan) as Mate, Master and later part owner of a sailing ship.

In 1806, Sandy Allan married Jean Crawford and they had five sons, all of whom played a major part in the Allan Line shipping business. Sandy Allan founded the Allan Line of Sailing Ships in 1819 with regular sailings between Greenock and Quebec as Master of the wooden brigan­tine Jean, built at Irvine. These sailings began on 9th June 1819, with the Allan family later beginning the Allan Line of Steamships in 1854 to give almost one hundred continuous years of shipowning until 1916, when the line was taken over by Canadian Pacific Steamships.

The sailings of the brigantine were fitted in on the St. Lawrence between the Spring and Autumn as the ice prevented navigation for at least four months of winter. Cargo outward was coal, iron, herrings, sugar, spices and general cargo, and home­ward Canadian supplies of timber, wheat, peas, flour, potash and general cargo were purchased and sold to merchants in Glasgow and throughout Scotland.

Capt. Sandy Allan soon bought out his co-owners of the brig Jean, with Greenock as the outward port of the line, and he moved his family to Greenock in 1824. The second ship of the line was the twin masted wooden brig Favourite of 296 grt and built in 1825 at Montreal and commanded by Capt. Sandy Allan. The third ship of the line was the wooden ship Canada of 330 grt built in 1831 as the first fully rigged Allan Line sailing ship by Robert Steele & Sons Ltd. of Greenock. She was commanded by Capt. Sandy Allan while James Allan succeeded him as Master of Favourite.

Under the direction of Sandy, the Allan line progressed from wooden sailing ships to iron-built steamships, from a one-man operation to a leading transatlantic company. The Allan Line continued to expand throughout the second half of the 19th century until by 1884 it was the seventh-largest shipping line in the world and the largest privately owned. Captain Allan made his last trip as a ship’s master in 1839. It was 20 years since his first Atlantic voyage in the Jean and he was almost 60 years of age. He went into semi-retirement but still took an active interest in the company.

He died on 18th March, 1854, aged 74. In his progress from shoemaker to seaman, ship’s mate to shipping magnate, he had made his fortune and established a dynasty. At the same time, he had done a great deal for Scotland’s commercial interests and for the Clyde as a shipping centre.

[yushiang911]

【酒廠故事】The Clydeside 克萊薩

克萊薩蒸餾廠（The Clydeside Distillery）不僅僅是一座現代化的威士忌工廠，更承載著一段深厚的家族歷史與蘇格蘭工業發展的榮耀。 這段故事要從莫里森家族（Morrison Family）說起。 胼手胝足建立威士忌家族事業 根據官網所述，莫里森家族的祖先約翰·莫里森(John Morrison) 在1863 年便參與建造了女王碼頭（Queen’s Dock）的興建，同時也參與卡特琳湖（Loch Katrine）的整治，才造就今日得以擁有純軟水的水源。 1936年，家族的先驅史丹利·莫里森（Stanley P. Morrison）以威士忌經紀人的身份，與合夥人羅伯特·倫迪（Robert Lundie）收購了知名的起瓦士兄弟（Chivas Brothers）；1963年則買下波摩蒸餾廠，創立了莫里森·波摩蒸餾廠（Morrison Bowmore…

【酒廠故事】The Clydeside 克萊薩

[maggierosem1980]

A wee pre nightshift shopping trip up the Clydeside

[scotianostra]

On September. 27th 1938, Queen Elizabeth, the world's largest ocean liner was launched on the Clyde.

The Queen Elizabeth was the sister ship of the Queen Mary, which was christened four years earlier, I covered this yesterday.

Unfortunately, her role as a luxury liner was short-lived - with the outbreak of the Second World War the following year, the Queen Elizabeth entered service in February 1940 as a troopship and didn’t return to her original role until October 1946.

The Cunard line’s enormous luxury ocean-goer was built on the river Clyde to sail between Southampton and New York, named after the Queen Consort (later the Queen Mother).

Following the outbreak of World War II, the security of Queen Elizabeth became a major concern for Cunard-White Star and the British Government. It was not safe to keep the ship in Scotland, as it was well known that she was a tempting target for the Luftwaffe.

Queen Elizabeth was painted in military grey before departing Clydebank for what was rumoured to be a short journey to Southampton. However, once in open sea the ship’s course was altered – Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage was to New York!

Thus, the untested and untried ship – then the world’s largest ocean liner – made a secret dash across the Atlantic to the safety of America. She arrived unannounced in New York, surprising officials and New Yorkers alike. Queen Elizabeth berthed alongside Queen Mary, Normandie and Mauretania Queen Elizabeth was requisitioned for wartime service on 13 November 1940.

The ship sailed to Singapore where she was refurbished into the world’s largest troop carrier. During the works, defensive armaments and a degaussing coil (to protect against mines) were fitted.

On 11th February, Queen Elizabeth sailed from Singapore bound for Sydney, Australia, arriving ten days later. Here the conversion into troop ship was completed and Queen Elizabeth undertook her first trooping voyage to the Middle East, carrying troops to Suez.

Queen Elizabeth later sailed to Canada, and carried troops to Sydney, while in 1942 the Admiralty considered possible future uses for the Queens. Their trooping capacity meant they were the most valuable large troop transports in service. When the USA entered the war in December 1941, the future use of Queen Elizabeth along with Queen Mary changed. Ultimately, the ships were most valuable operating the trooping service on the North Atlantic, and following a major overhaul Queen Elizabeth commenced this service. She remained in Government requisition for the rest of the war.

At the end of the war, Queen Elizabeth was famous on both sides of the Atlantic. The ship, which had carried over 750,000 troops, now commenced work repatriating those troops as well as the war brides.

Queen Elizabeth was released from Admiralty service in 1946. Her post-war overhaul and refurbishment was carried out both on the Clyde and at Southampton. This overhaul saw luxury passenger interiors installed aboard Queen Elizabeth, in preparation for civilan transatlantic services. Additionally, ship was painted in Cunard livery, while the machinery was overhauled.

Queen Elizabeth was given her full sea trials, and then officially accepted by Cunard. The ship made her maiden peacetime passenger voyage to New York on 16 October 1946.

Queen Elizabeth proved a popular ship and over the coming months the ship was well booked. On 17 April 1947, Queen Elizabeth ran aground near Brambles Bank as she made her approach to Southampton in thick fog. The ship was later successfully refloated.

In September 1951 Queen Elizabeth made her 100th peacetime transatlantic crossing. But as more passengers took to airline services, Cunard realised that they needed to upgrade Queen Elizabeth in order to keep her relevant in a changing world with a particular focus on longer duration cruising

As such, during a refurbishment in January 1952 the ship’s fuel capacity was increased allowing her to sail longer distances without refuelling. Additionally air-conditioning was fitted throughout, to allow the ship to undertake voyages into warm climates. Four years later, Queen Elizabeth was fitted with stabilisers, which greatly improved passenger comfort.

When Pan American World Airways flew the first Boeing 707 service across the Atlantic, the future for Queen Elizabeth was in doubt. By 1962 the decline in the number of passengers on the Atlantic shipping service (they had moved their business to airliners) led to an announcement that the ship would be used more and more for cruises.

Cunard gave Queen Elizabeth another major overhaul in Greenock, which involved an interior refurbishment and the creation of an outdoor swimming pool on Queen Elizabeth’s aft deck. This was combined with a new lido area which, it was hoped, would allow the ship to attract more cruise passengers.

Sadly, the 1966 Seaman’s Strike meant that the refreshed ship was laid up in Southampton for a number of weeks, which further impacted on Cunard’s financial viability. On 8 May 1967, Cunard announced the fates of the two Queens. Queen Mary was withdrawn from service later that year, while the Queen Elizabeth was to be retained until Autumn 1968, by which time it was hoped the QE2 would be ready as her replacement.

Queen Elizabeth was initially sold to a group of Philadelphian businessmen, who intended to turn her into a floating hotel in Florida. The ship made her final transatlantic crossing on 5 November 1968 before she was withdrawn from Cunard service.

Once in Florida, the ship was opened to the public, however this venture didn’t last and the ship was closed in late 1969. In 1970 the ship was auctioned and bought by C.Y.Tung, Hong Kong, who planned to convert the liner into the world’s largest Floating University.

Re-named Seawise University, the ship sailed for Hong Kong to be converted. The transformation was almost complete when a series of fires broke out aboard the ship, causing her to burn out and sink in the harbour, a sad end to a beautiful ship.

You can find more pics and info on the link below, including an 8 minute video. Among the pics you will see that although Queen Elizabeth was a luxury liner, it was not this way when it was in service during WW2, troops were crammed into every available space.

[scotianostra]

On September 26th 1934 the Liner Queen Mary launched at John Brown’s shipyard, Clydebank.

The construction of still the unnamed Cunard Queen Mary ship began in December 1930 (the ship’s keel was laid down on 31 January 1931) in the yard of “John Brown & Co” at Clydebank. The launch was scheduled for May 1932, but the work on the ship was suspended in December 1931 due to the world economic depression. A loan of 9.5 million pounds from the Government was granted to the Cunard Line with enough money to complete the Queen Mary ship and to build a second liner – the Queen Elizabeth.

As a direct result of this most advantageous deal, the Cunard Line merged with its main rival White Star on 10th May 1934 into Cunard White Star Ltd. The Queen Mary construction resumed in April 1934, the liner was completed by August and launched on 26th September at a total cost of 3.5 million pounds sterling.

The work was completed in March 1936. The Queen Mary ship sailed out for preliminary trials and after being painted in Southampton, the liner was handed over to Cunard White Star Line on 11th May 1936. RMS Queen Mary ship first sailing was on 14th May with its Transatlantic itinerary being Southampton-Cherbourg-New York. By May 1937 the liner had carried a total of almost 57,000 passengers.

The main speed-rival of the QM ship was SS Normandie – a liner built in France and operated by the French Compagnie Generale Transatlantique line. The Queen Mary took the Blue Riband (the prestigious award given to a ship with the speed record for a transatlantic crossing) from the French liner SS Normandie in August 1938, with record speeds for both west- and eastbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean – the average speeds was, respectively, 30,63 kn (35m25 mph, 56,7 km/h) and 30,14 kn (34,68 mph, 55,82 km/h).

In 1937, the Normandie liner was refitted with new propellers, enabling her to take the Blue Riband, but in 1938 the Queen Mary ship reclaim the honour for best speeds in both directions – westbound 30,99 kn (35,66 mph, 57.39 km/h) and eastbound 31,69 kn (36,47 mph, 58.69 km/h). This record was beaten by the SS United Sates liner in 1952.

The last commercial sailing of the ship Queen Mary was on 30 August 1939 departing from Southampton and then berthed at New York until the end of 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war.

Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was ageing and, though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss.

After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery, including one of the two engine rooms, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers, were removed. The ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has accepted the Queen Mary as part of the Historic Hotels of America.

RMS Queen Mary remains in Long Beach but recently it has been reported it is in need of significant repairs according to assessments and photos in 2019 and 2020. An estimated $289 million in repairs are needed after years of decline and the most recent operator going bankrupt.But even to “retire and recycle” the liner could cost up to $190m. One of the suggestions are to dismantle and sink the liner, although no long term plans have been finalised as yet.

The Queen Mary is due to open again to visitors next month, let’s hope someone can come up with a rescue plan to save her.

It has been mooted that it could return to the Clyde but the eyewatering amount of money it would take surely rules this out.

[scotianostra]

On 20th September, 1967, the QE2 launched from John Brown’s yard in Clydebank.

By the end of the 1950s, discussion over the replacement of the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth was taking place. The decision to replace the ‘Queens’ was deemed to be of national importance and as such a special committee, known as the Chandos Committee was created to advise the Government and to determine whether such a project was economically viable. Originally Cunard had wanted to build two new liners with the help of a Government subsidy, however the committee’s report proposed that the Government loan Cunard £18 million towards the construction of one vessel. The project became known as ‘Q3’ and six British shipyards were asked to tender – this prestigious project was a huge opportunity for home based shipbuilders to construct a transatlantic liner.

The new ship, code-named was built by John Brown & Company Ltd, Clydebank (later Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd) and scheduled for May 1968. On 20th September 1967 the keel was launched by Queen Elizabeth II and the ship was named Queen Elizabeth 2. She was the last Atlantic Ocean Liner of it’s kind to be built in the UK.

QE2’s maiden transatlantic crossing set sail on 2 May 1969. She was well received by the American public, and became a profitable ship in her early years of service. During her first season, Cunard were able to repay £2.5 million of the Government loan. Her dual purpose design had allowed QE2 to thrive where her transatlantic counterparts could not.

In January 1971 while cruising in the Caribbean, QE2 received a distress call from the French liner Antilles. Antilles had run aground off the coast of Mustique in the Grenadines and caught fire. Being a fast ship in close proximity to the Antilles, QE2 went to her assistance.

However, by the time the QE2 arrived the passengers had been taken ashore. Antilles passengers and crew were brought aboard QE2 and taken to Barbados. As a testament to the quality of service offered aboard QE2, some of the Antille’s passengers booked subsequent cruises on the Cunarder.

In May 1972, while at sea during a transatlantic crossing, Captain William Law received notification that there was a bomb aboard QE2. Cunard took this threat very seriously and alerted the British Government who sent a bomb disposal unit out to the ship. Bomb disposal experts parachuted into the sea close to the ship and were brought aboard by QE2’s tenders. After a full sweep of the ship, the all clear was given as it turned out to be a hoax.

Later the FBI arrested the culprit for making similar threats against Pan American Airways. The bomb disposal teams were awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.

As QE2’s cruising popularity increased and in response to the ongoing decline in shipping traffic on the North Atlantic, Cunard reduced the number of transatlantic crossings that QE2 took. The company maintained a strong summer presence on the Atlantic, however shifted the focus for the ship towards cruising. This saw QE2 undertake her first world cruise, an event that was well received – QE2 undertook a further 25 world cruises during her career.

Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired from active Cunard service in November 2008. She had been acquired by the private equity arm of Dubai World, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

Following a multi-million-dollar investment programme, the 13-deck ship has been restored to her former glory and today serves as a world-class entertainment, tourism, hotel and dining destination in Dubai.