Kirkintilloch

Clyde Puffers were stubby little cargo ships that plied the seas around the Firth of Clyde and the Hebrides, and came to hold a romanticised place in Scottish lore. Kirkintilloch, miles inland, was their unlikely birthplace.

The first puffers in 1856 were simply iron canal barges with a rudimentary steam engine. Since the barge continually drew fresh water from the canal, the engine didn’t have a condenser, so the piston strokes created a great snorting puff-puff-puff of steam. Later designs had condensers and could go to sea but the name stuck. The ships had blunt bows, shallow draft with flat bottoms, a single mast, and (later) a derrick and a wheelhouse just behind the funnel. They were built along the Forth and Clyde Canal, with yards concentrated at Glasgow Maryhill and at Kirkintilloch. New ships were launched sideways into the canal with an almighty splash, and the local children’s sport was to try to sprint along the towpath beneath the wave without getting drenched.

Forth and Clyde Canal traffic withered as the railways were built, but the Crinan Canal remained an important shortcut between Glasgow and the Hebrides, which lacked roads and harbour facilities. The puffer could simply be beached as the tide fell, a horse and cart plodded alongside for the coal sacks and other supplies to be offloaded, then the puffer departed on the next flood of tide. This era passed into legend with the Para Handy tales of Neil Munro, published from 1905, describing the adventures of the four-man Vital Spark.

Kirkintilloch is 8 miles northeast of Glasgow, by car leave M80 at junction 3 and follow A806 north for 3 miles. By bike follow the canal towpath or A803 north through Bishopbriggs. Parking in the town is generally easy and free.

First Greater Glasgow Buses X85 and X87 run from Glasgow Buchanan station via M80 and Lenzie to Kirkintilloch twice an hour, taking 30 min. The X85 continues to Lennoxtown and Clachan in the Campsie Fells. Bus 89 runs every 30 min via Bishopbriggs and Cadder, taking 35 min and continuing to Kilsyth. Bus 88 lurches slowly via Bishopbriggs to Kirkintilloch every 20 min, taking an hour.

1 Lenzie is the nearest railway station, one mile south. Trains from Glasgow Queen Street run every 30 min, taking 12 min and continuing north via Stirling to Alloa or Dunblane. From Edinburgh you need to change, either at Larbert off the train for Stirling and Dunblane, or at Croy off the train to Glasgow. Lenzie station has a ticket office and machines, toilets and waiting room. There's a footbridge between platforms and a long work-around by road.