A MYSTERY TOUR FROM GLASGOW:
Part Two: Largs Ascending
15 October 2023
ABOVE: McGill's G 3350 (BF67 WKJ) is a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295. It is about to pick up in Main Street, Largs (outside the railway station, just out of shot to the right), at the start of its near-two hour run to Glasgow. All photos in this article were taken on Wednesday 6th September 2023.
It's a (very) warm September afternoon and I am in Ardrossan, in south-western Scotland. I've been from Glasgow to Ayr and back to Kilmarnock, as I described in Part One of this story.
There are only two obvious ways out of Ardrossan - back the way I came on route 11 to Kilmarnock, or on along the coast to Largs on Stagecoach West Scotland route 585. I'm choosing the latter.
If I had spotted the 585 in Ayr (which is where it starts), it might have completely transformed my day, as I would probably have jumped onto it there. But I'm joining it instead from the Park Road stop in Ardrossan.
For a half-hourly service, something isn't right, judging from the real-time information display. There are two buses expected within a few minutes of each other. The next scheduled service is at 1425, and it's about 1422 when my very busy service turns up. I have a strong suspicion that this is a late-running 1355 service. It's a Scania K230UB ADL Enviro300.
For most of the journey, this bus will follow the main A78 road into Largs, but we take a brief detour to serve the village of West Kilbride.
ABOVE: On the Portencross Road, approaching the town centre of West Kilbride, looking north
The route of the 585 through this village is ... erm ... not entirely straight-forward. I've just spent 15 minutes with an all-stops list, a blank piece of paper, a bus route map and a Google area map trying to figure it out!
Buses run into West Kilbride via Portencross Road and serve a stop "opposite Corse Street". They then continue down Portencross Road and turn right into St Bride's Road. Further down they turn right again and continue via Main Street and Ritchie Street, before turning right again into Well Street, which becomes Corse Street, where a right turn brings them back to the stop "opposite Corse Street".
With me so far? We haven't finished yet...
Buses run down Portencross Road for the second time and turn right into St Bride's Road for the second time. This time, they continue a little further, until the railway station. They venture into another part of the village, down Meadowfoot Road, before a further loop around the local roads, and then back to the railway station.
Buses then drive down St Bride's Road for a third time - this time in the opposite direction. But buses don't go back into Portencross Road this time - they continue straight on along Drumilling Road, which finally takes us out of the village and back to the A78.
I've included a couple of maps to try to explain this...
ABOVE: The route of the 585 through West Kilbride, as shown on BusTimes.org
ABOVE: My feeble attempt to show the routing on a map. Buses follow circuit 1 (purple), then circuit 2 (orange), and finally line 3 (pink) in order to exit the village
I'm not sure I've seen quite such a complicated routing before, and it's doubly-interesting given that the route is otherwise reasonably straight-forward (just one other double-run near Irvine).
The effect of the routing in West Kilbride is that buses serve the same stop in St Brides Road twice, five minutes apart, and then return to serve the stop opposite a few minutes after that!
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ABOVE: The departures from the Avondale Road stop at 12:33PM and 12:38PM, and that from the Hunterston Road stop at 12:42PM, illustrated here in screenshots from Google Maps, are all the same journey!
After all the excitement of West Kilbride, and the circa 15 minutes that it has taken to work our way round, we re-join the A78 at a point roughly one mile north of where we left it. We're close to the coast, but it's often just out of sight. As we approach the village of Fairlie, just south of Largs, we do get a decent view of the Firth of Clyde:
ABOVE: A bench for enjoying the view? This is not far from Hunterston Jetty, on the edge of the Southanan Sands Site of Special Scientific Interest, an area of national significance for
intertidal sandflats. The land mass opposite is the island of Great Cumbrae.
And so we reach Largs. We have brought a good load of passengers in and, judging by the number waiting, the return trip is going to be busy as well. It's 1455, so we're either 10 minutes early or, more likely, 20 minutes late. The bus leaves almost at once, which gives credence to the idea that this is what should have been the 1439 departure back to Ayr.
ABOVE: Stagecoach West Scotland 28656 (SP62 BOH), a Scania K230UB ADL Enviro300, makes a quick turnaround on route 585 to Ayr, when seen at Main Street in Largs
Curiously, I hadn't planned to visit Largs during my Scottish trip. I wasn't expecting to get any closer than Wemyss Bay, seven miles to the north.
Not visiting would have been a mistake. This is a lively and bustling town, full of people who have decided to take advantage of the (unexpected) afternoon warmth.
ABOVE: Main Street in Largs
Largs Bay itself is stunning...
ABOVE: Largs Bay (right foreground) and what is probably the southern side of the Cowal Peninsula beyond (the town of Toward is only seven miles away as the crow flies, but considerably further by land as the Firth of Clyde flows into various Lochs that sit between us and it).
...and there are plenty of eateries and amusement facilities for visitors and locals:
Largs is also where the boat to Great Cumbrae departs from. The jetty is right in the heart of town.
ABOVE: Caledonian MacBrayne's MV Loch Shira pulls into Largs at the end
of the the 10-minute crossing from Great Cumbrae.
I can feel my morale increasing (and it wasn't bad to start with) as I wander around the town. I am also humming Vaughan Williams' astounding piece "The Lark Ascending" in my head, as I transpose the words "Larks" and "Largs"! Anything for a corny article title!
Now I have a clear route back to Glasgow, and it's going to be stunning. McGill's runs services 901 and 906 from Largs to Glasgow, branded as "Clyde Flyer" and each running every half-hour. Although advertised as every 15 minutes, the 901 takes a slightly longer route, so the frequency at this end is every 10-20 minutes.
ABOVE: McGill's G 3350 (BF67 WKJ), a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295, shows off the route branding for the "Clyde Flyer" as it turns in Main Street, Largs
A day ticket is cheaper than a single to Glasgow, apparently! I've seen a fair bit of this in Scotland...
The buses on this route are Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295s. I'm not a huge fan of Citaros, to be honest. I admit they give a very smooth ride, and continue to do so when a few years old when other buses have started to rattle. But I find the internal layouts rather poor, with more rear-facing seats and, sometimes, some very odd seats at slightly funny angles or heights!
But on this occasion, as I board the 1620 departure on route 901, I'm settling into a decent seat on the left-hand side near the back. In the absence of a top deck (why is there no top deck. McGill's!), the left-hand side is the side to be on this route in this direction.
And here's why:
ABOVE: The views from routes 901 & 906 are all like this for the first part of the journey from Largs (weather permitting, I guess)! Just outside Largs, we are looking over to Great Cumbrae in the foreground, whilst behind is probably the Isle of Bute
The first part runs right along the coast. In the right weather conditions there are some stunning views to be had.
Further along the coast we come to Wemyss Bay; I'll be here again in a few days to travel over to the Isle of Bute to ride bus route 90. But I don't know that for sure as I pass the station / port, where the boat is just coming in.
ABOVE: Caledonian MacBrayne's MV Argyle, arrives at Wemyss Bay with the 1600 service from Rothesay, Bute, arriving exactly on schedule at 1635. The land behind is not the Isle of Bute, but the Cowal Peninsula, just north of Toward
We've been heading broadly north so far but, as the bus reaches Inverkip, there is no north left to go to (on dry land), so we're turning slightly more to the east, hugging the coastline as we do so. The view from Inverkip War Memorial is broadly north-west.
ABOVE: Across the water from Inverkip War Memorial is the town of Dunoon
This is where the 901 and 906 routings vary. The 906 ventures slightly inland onto the main trunk A78 road, whilst the 901 clings to the coastal road, which heads north here, before turning north-east at the Cloch Caravan Park.
This is where those extra few minutes on the 901 are worth it. We continue to enjoy the stunning views out across the Firth of Clyde, as we approach the town of Gourock. There's another ferry here:
ABOVE: Western Ferries' Sound of Seil has just left McInroy's Point, Gourock, on the 20-minute crossing to Hunter's Quay, Dunoon. The village of Kilcreggan is visible on the right, whilst the beginnings of Loch Long can be seen centre left
By now, we're on the east shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. The name Gourock reportedly comes from a Gaelic word for "pimple", in reference to the hill above the town!
ABOVE: Kilcreggan is visible again, across the water on the left, whilst we are approaching Gourock town centre (right)
The coast turns south from here as we work past Gourock Bay, followed by Cardwell Bay. The 906 re-joins us in Greenock, where there is a proper bus interchange - the first one I have seen since Kilmarnock.
We're now coming to the point where the Firth of Clyde hands over to the River Clyde, which will see us back into Glasgow. This stretch is less scenic than what has gone before, although there are still interesting sights to be had...
James Watt, inventor, mechanical engineer and chemist, whose Watt steam engine in 1776 was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution, was born in Greenock. In James Watt Dock stands the James Watt Dock Crane, used for the fitting-out of ships and now a category A-listed structure (covering "buildings of national or international importance, either architectural or historic, or fine little-altered examples of some particular period, style or building type").
Next we come to Port Glasgow, which was formed as a 'remote' port for Glasgow, for ships that couldn't navigate the narrow River Clyde into Glasgow itself (still 17 miles away). Port Glasgow developed its own ship-building industry from 1780.
The industry is commemorated by a sculpture, "The Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow", created by John McKenna and Art for Architecture. It depicts two stainless steel shipbuilding figures at work on a ship's hull. Each stands just under 30 feet tall.
ABOVE: The Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow, by John McKenna
We zip along the dual-carriageway now and join the M8 motorway for the last part of the journey. There are still some decent views to be had of the river.
Most journeys serve Braehead Shopping Centre, but this one does not (for whatever reason). But we do pull briefly off the motorway to serve the Gallowhill area of Paisley. This involves pulling of the motorway, driving down a busy road to a roundabout, undertaking a U-turn and returning to the motorway. But it is worth it as we do both drop off passengers and pick up others.
And we're back on the motorway and heading into Glasgow City Centre. There's a lot of traffic on the road, but fortunately the jams are restricted to the opposite carriageway.
We're still on the motorway as we cross the river.
ABOVE: Looking westwards along the River Clyde, from the motorway bridge to the Clyde Arc (known locally as the Squinty Bridge)!
And finally we reach journey's end at Buchanan Street Bus Station, probably the biggest bus station I know. It has 57 stands (or stances, as they're known in Scotland), and needs staff based in the reversing area to ensure that buses can reverse safely. Sounds perilous, but it seems to work.
ABOVE: Buchanan Street bus station in Glasgow. First Greater Glasgow 33214 (SK68 LXC), an ADL Enviro400MMC, is reversing under the supervision of the man in the hi-vis jacket. Passengers on route 75 (Castlemilk to Milton via Glasgow City Centre) may be disappointed because, whilst the "new buses have arrived", as proclaimed on the back, this one is being used on route X87 (Glasgow to Waterside)! There are two lanes for buses here - the nearside one is for those that are terminating on this side of the bus station (stances 23 to 32), whilst the other lane is for those circumnavigating to other sides of the bus station. The lane in between is a "no vehicle" zone for the people managing the safety. A McGill's single-decker (looks like an ADL Enviro200 MMC) and a Stagecoach Enviro400 MMC are parked up awaiting their next duties.
It has taken one hour and 55 minutes to complete the run from Largs. But it's been a really stimulating drive and I'm so glad about the way this day has worked out, from its dubious beginnings!
And it's not even over! The City Sightseeing Tour runs until 2100, and its only 1815. I spend the next 90 minutes on an open-top bus, enjoying the sights and sounds of Glasgow like a proper tourist! The day's heat has eased into a very comfortable temperature in the evening sun. A fitting end to a highly-enjoyable day.
ABOVE: Technically, tour buses are outside the parameters of this website, but I was short of bus pictures for this article so here's one more! West Coast Motors 10906 (TSJ 61S, formerly SN09 FFA) is a Scania N230UD Optare Visionaire. It's working the City Sightseeing Glasgow tour when seen here in George Square.