The Maid of the Loch

Loch Lomond's Last Paddle Steamer

Our guide to the Maid of the Loch is one of the most popular articles on the See Loch Lomond website. The guide has been completely updated for 2022, with the picture above showing the current position of the last paddle steamer built in the UK.

Last year The Maid of the Loch left the water of Loch Lomond for only the second time in over 40 years. However, she didn't go far, as she was winched out onto the slipway, close to her berth by Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch (see pictures below). Thankfully this process went according to plan, as a previous attempt had failed in 2019. 

The Maid will remain on the slipway for at least this year to refurbish her paddles, paint the ship's hull and funnel, and re-plate the hull under the boiler room. The state of the hull was not too bad, considering her age of nearly 70 years ago. Deterioration wasn't as bad as it could have been, thanks to Loch Lomond being a freshwater loch. 

The charity took the opportunity of the ship being out of the water to offer the public guided hard-hat tours last year. These were so popular that there are more planned for this year. 

We got the opportunity to join one of the tours and thoroughly enjoyed looking over the last paddle-steamer built in the UK and seeing the restoration achieved so far by the hard-working volunteers.

Maid of the Loch History

The Maid of the Loch was the last paddle steamer to be built in Britain. A few hundred years before her launch in 1953, there had been a golden age of steam. Cutting through Loch Lomond, The Maid of the Loch and her predecessors, along with the many other steamers around Scotland's coastlines, rivers and lochs, provide passenger transport in an era before the domination of the motor car.

The arrival of foreign travel and the poor condition of piers around the loch contributed to her downfall. The Maid of the Loch decommissioned in the 1980s at her Balloch pier.

Having been abandoned for many years, suffering from vandalism, neglect and theft of assets, the iconic ship looked set to become scrap.

The Loch Lomond Steamship charity stepped in to save her and begin the painstaking restoration work, mainly by volunteers. Always with the ultimate aim to see her sailing once again on Loch Lomond.

Video Appeals Maid of the Loch

In 2017, through our marketing business, we produced a previous appeal, which successfully generated funds for the charity. That video featured a special music track composed and performed by Scottish musicians Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain, with famous Scottish actor Bill Paterson presenting the film.

2022 Crowdfunder Appeal

We produced this video for the February 2022 Crowdfunder Appeal for the restoration of the Maid’s paddles.

Our involvement with Maid of the Loch has also extended to a DVD production called Voyage of the Maid and a new website, which takes donations, sells merchandise and offers virtual tours. 

Maid of the Loch Website

The Maid remains an iconic symbol of Loch Lomond, and as well as remembering the golden days of steam, the reintroduction of the boat will bring back old routes improving connection by water on Loch Lomond. When back sailing, the Maid will help alleviate the pressure of cars and parking at many lochside communities.

We will keep this guide updated with news about events and progress on fundraising as we get it from the Maid of the Loch team. Below you can see a photograph of the Maid in the water on Loch Lomond with Ben Lomond in the background. When she returns to the water the black and red colour scheme will have been replaced with her original colours.

Visit Maid of the Loch

These maps show the location of the Maid of the Loch, berthed at Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch, Loch Lomond. Also a quick note to say that the wonderful Wild Highlands offers catering there, they even sell our See Loch Lomond book!

 

 

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Thanks for reading

Words and photography by Paul Saunders. Visit Paul’s Marketing and Photography websites for details of his services in Scotland.

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