Maid of the Loch –

Getting Steamed Up

If you are of a certain age you’ll remember the lovely 208ft Maid of the Loch which entered service in May 1953. The vessel  carried millions of passengers over the years, including HM Queen Elizabeth II. It was the last paddle steamer to be built in Britain and the largest ever vessel built for an inland loch. But the Maid of The Loch fell on desperate days and has been moored at Balloch Pier since 1981. Whilst moored it was vandalised and pillaged for expensive metals and machinery, but the ship is to set to sail again following successful £5.5m regeneration campaign.

An Old Boiler

And there is continuing good news. The trust has been given a £25,000 grant from Historic Environment Scotland to carry out essential repair work on Balloch Pier, the first phase in the campaign to get the historic ship ready to sail once again. And now the ship has received two suitable, hard to find boiler feed pumps from a Scottish museum. These are critical components in getting the ship sailing once again. The originals were stolen from the vessel at her moorings. The Trust is also on the look-out for volunteers to help restore The Maid to glory so good luck to them.

Launch Your Own Celebration

Quite a lot to celebrate there! And if you have cause to celebrate then take a look at our massive selection of gift ideas to fit any occasion, including the re-launch of the Maid of the Loch. Take our lovely Royal Scot Crystal - Skye - Box of 6 Large Wine Glasses. Skye is an elegant hand cut wine suite timeless style with a modern twist. Beautifully boxed in luxury charcoal grey and black satin lined presentation boxes. It is rated 5 stars by our lovely customers and half price at the moment. Go on spoil yourself.

https://www.jamespirie.com/skye-box-of-6-large-wine-glasses.html