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 Main
Fleet Features
Kyles Ferries: Turntables at Scalpay |
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Scalpay's
North Harbour from Caolas Scalpaigh
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On 16 December 1997 Scalpay's oldest resident, 103 year old Mrs Kirsty
Morrison, became the first person since the ice age to cross the 300 metre
wide Sound of Scalpay without using a boat. Mrs Morrison was in the first of
a convoy of cars to cross the £6.4m Scalpay Bridge. In the eyes of some
this fixed connection between Scalpay and Harris ended Scalpay's separate
existence as an island. This section shows the flotilla of boats that served
the island previous to the bridge.
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Scalpay (I) ex Maid Of Glencoe (II) at the Scalpay slip in July 1969
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The
turntable principle: Scalpay (I) at Kyles Scalpay, Harris, July 1969
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Scalpay (I) - a closer look; July 1969
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Harris and Scalpay
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Scalpay (II) ex
Lochalsh II (II) |
The
largest vessel ever to serve at Scalpay, Scalpay (II) is shown here at the
island's slipway in 1972. In a major refit at Shandon in October 1971 for
the Scalpay service - in the course of which she was renamed and formally
transferred to David MacBrayne Ltd - angled ends were cut into her ramps to
suit the somewhat narrow slipways, and this is clearly shown in the
photograph.
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The Company's last turntable ferry is here shown
at Tarbert, where the Scalpay vessel generally repaired every second Wednesday
for refuelling. Scalpay was relieved each October for Stornoway overhaul, by an
ex-Ballachulish ferry, Glen Mallie, from Kylerhea. Scalpay (II), displaced from
the run in January 1977 by the Morvern, was never transferred to the ownership
of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd and so was, in fact, the last car ferry in the David
MacBrayne fleet.
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Scalpay
(II) at Tarbert pier, 1972
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Morvern at Kyles Scalpay, 28th May 1977
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Canna at Scalpay
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Morvern took over the Scalpay service on 13th
January 1977. As she was unable to use the original slipways - built
for side-loading craft - she ran an auxiliary route between a temporary
end-loading ramp beside the original Scalpay slip to another slipway
installed at the end of the Old Fishing Pier in Tarbert. The run took
about twenty minutes. New end-loading slipways were meanwhile built atop
the old jetties and Morvern is here photographed at Kyles as the new
terminal neared completion.
A few days later she was replaced by the Kilbrannan and never, in fact,
returned to Scalpay. The temporary slip at Scalpay remained in use by local fishermen and was later
refurbished by Edmund Nuttall Ltd - the company constructing the Scalpay
bridge between 1995 and 1995 - for their landing-craft to unload
materials. In certain weather conditions the Scalpay ferry occasionally
ran to Tarbert, using that Old Fishing Pier slipway and a new emergency
slip in Scalpay's North Harbour. From 1986 the new Tarbert linkspan could
be used for such rare sorties and the 1977 slip slid quickly into
disrepair.
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Pictures: Credits on Hover. Text: John MacLeod
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SoC Links: |
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Crossings:
Scalpay |
Webmaster: shipsofcalmac @ hotmail.co.uk