If ferry boats counted, I'd qualify! From the early fifties we used to travel every summer from home in Lanarkshire to my mother's old home near Enniskillen. The boat trip, with Burns-Laird Lines from Lancefield Quay on the Broomielaw, Glasgow, to Donegal Quay on the River Laggan, Belfast was a major part of the holiday for us. Both rivers then had extensive working shipyards, and the quays and docks were jammed with ships of all shapes and sizes from all parts of the world. Opposite Lancefield Quay was where the Clyde steamers moored, usually the Queen Mary II. Occasionally the paddle steamer Waverley, arriving back from a trip "doon the watter", would have to moor alongside and off-load passengers through the QM II because there wasn't room to get to the quayside. Travelling overnight, we would be allowed to stay up until it got dark (about 11pm in the Scottish summer nights). Departing about 9pm, the Duke of Argyll (or the Royal Ulsterman) would take us slowly down the river, horn blasting to warn the Renfrew ferry of our approach. Then as the river widened out, we'd pass the disabled ex-servicemen's hospital at Erskine House in its open parkland, Dumbarton Rock on the other side, Gourock Rope Works' neon sign and eventually the Cloch Light at the "Tail o' the Bank". On the return journey there could be a stop at Shieldhall to off-load the live cattle cargo in the early morning before proceeding up-river. On the Belfast side, for a couple of years we watched the "Canberra" take shape. The first time we took the car over (1964?), it had to be loaded on and off by crane. By the time the QEII was being built at John Brown's yard, Dumbarton, Burns-Laird had changed over to RO-RO ferries, operating from Ardrossan, well down the Firth of Clyde. This made for a much shorter (and for me, much less interesting) journey.

Ross

Fidjit, you mentioned a seamen's strike in the sixties. Was there an earlier one too, possibly late fifties? I seem to remember my father having to get a plane home one year to make sure he got back to work in time.

Correction, June 16 2009:- The ships we travelled on would have been the MV "Royal Scotsman" and MV "Royal Ulsterman", pictured here with links to further information:- http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/GB_Pass_PCs_B.html

The "Duke of Argyll" was one of LMS's Heysham-Belfast ships, which had the next berth down along Donegal Quay. I also remember its sister ship "Duke of Lancaster", but can't say I ever saw the "Duke of Rothesay". After 1967 when the overnight services ceased, Burns & Laird brought in the Ro-Ro ferry MV "Lion", operating from Ardrossan, further down the Clyde. Very efficient (four hours instead of ten), very modern, but not half as much fun.