View of Gourock Station looking towards river

Description View of Gourock Station looking towards river

Date 1890

Collection Records of Bedford Lemere and Company, photographers, London, England

Catalogue Number SC 730391

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BL 10346/15

Scope and Content Station Buildings, Gourock Pier Railway Station, Kempock Point, Gourock, Inverclyde (now demolished) Gourock Pier Railway Station, considered to be the most advanced railway pier of its time, was designed by the Glasgow architect, James Miller, and built in 1889 as a major railway steamer interchange for the Caledonian Railway Company. The architectural photographer, Harry Bedford Lemere, was commissioned to photograph the station in 1890. This long line of train sheds (right), was, along with the other station building on the left, built in a simple English domestic style with brick walls and gables etched with bold black and white timbering. The sturdy clock tower, overlooking the River Clyde, acted as a beacon for the steamers drawing up at the quayside. The small hut (left) was probably a bothy for cab drivers who transferred passengers to and from their hotels. The arrival of the Caledonian Railway Company's rail link from Glasgow via Greenock in 1889, and their connecting steamer link to the popular Clydeside resorts, encouraged holiday travel to Gourock, giving the town the opportunity to develop as a coastal resort in its own right. Cab drivers would line up at the station to take passengers alighting from the trains or steamers directly to their hotel accommodation, such as 'The Ashton Hotel', advertised in the sign on the left. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference BL 10346/15

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/730391

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap