This was a visit to Greenock Town Hall to look at what was stored in the basement

(the Dunny).

We were met by

Brian, our guide from

Inverclyde Council,

and were led down

steep stairs into the

clean and well-cared-

for basement under

the Town Hall. One

passageway was the

remains of the long-

disappeared

Buchanan’s Close.

Brian talked a little

about the storage that was available and how

material was being kept

there for the McLean

Museum. He then let us loose to look around all

the items that were

there.

There were things we did not figure out. Is this a dentist’s

chair or barber’s chair?

A fine, if dusty, spinning wheel.

A remnant of our shipbuilding

past – a plater’s model of a

large Clyde-built ship.

A great model of a Kincaid construction.

The corridors were

filled with stacked-

up stuffed birds.

There is dust

everywhere and

thick. It is advisable

to not touch any

stuffed animal as

they are preserved

with skin-affecting

chemicals, we were

told.

World War II was not to be left

out.

The “Sybil

Alex with a 12-metre model

from the turn of the 19th

to 20th

century.

Note the steering gear is the

old Braine gear design.

The “Royal Sovereign”

This is a truly historic model yacht (or what is

left of it).

It is the “Royal Sovereign” and it is claimed to have been built in 1798.

It was of the tonnage class.

This was built under the now obsolete

measuring system for boats

in the nineteenth century.

It had belonged to a Mr Leitch who sailed the yacht on Cowdeknowes Dam from before 1900.

There are stories that Mr Leitch when he lived

in Canada sailed the yacht across Hudson Bay.

Another story is more recent. The Greenock

Model Yacht Club took care of the “Royal

Sovereign”. It was a yacht far bigger than our modern yachts so the “Royal Sovereign” could

not compete directly. Hugh Shields and others

did find a use for this large famous yacht. They

mounted on the yacht a tiny cannon and on each Opening Day of the year they would sail the

“Royal Sovereign” off and start the year with a

bang by remotely firing the cannon.

This all went well except one year Hugh set the

yacht up and when the time came to fire the

cannon the wind changed and Hugh shot

through his mainsail!

A “Royal Sovereign” Mystery

I did a little investigation

while I had this chance to look at this famous yacht to

check out a rumour about the

“Royal Sovereign”.

It was said the yacht was shortened at one stage in its

career.

By taking photographs inside

the hull I was able to find out that the bow was built using

planks on a frame. The stern

was built by a different

technique called the “ bread and butter” style or even

carved out of a single piece of

wood.

One half was totally rebuilt rather than the yacht being

simply shortened. My guess is

that the stern was the older

half.

A sophisticated calculator and a telephone exchange.

Several heads of

prominent men set out on

the floor.

I only recognise one as

Sir Walter Scott (more of

him later).

Busy taking photos. Frances and John

S had to change batteries at one

point.

A dusty Sir Walter Scott, who once

stood proudly over a shop front on

Waverley Buildings on Westburn

Street in Greenock.

More technology of

the past. Again,

going clockwise:

a Singer sewing

machine;

a short-wave

receiver and

instructions;

a large projector;

an “addressograph"

for printing

envelopes etc.

Fragile things have survived

such as records and a wind-

up gramophone.

There are unexplained things too.

There is a chief inspector’s portable

telephone from St Enoch’s railway

station.

So it is possible to put on a meaningful display

This is a display of

old technology in the

Smith Museum in

Stirling.

This is a display of

stuffed animals in the

Dick Institute in

Kilmarnock

Out from the Dungeon. A photo of Brian

with John M, Grace and June.

We then walked down to the Fire Station

Museum and said thanks and farewell to

Brian our guide.

Hope you liked the tour as much as we did.

The End

After an excursion up Drummer’s

Close we had some refreshments in

the old Provident Bank.