Sunset on the Clyde: the last summers on the water

The 1950s were the heyday of the Clyde pleasure-steamer, when hordes of ordinary folk went 'doon the watter' to Dunoon, Largs and Millport to the strains of accordian and fiddle.

Others went with suitcases to Rothesay for the Fair, while the well-to-do filled brass-bound trunks and headed for the boarding houses of Brodick and Whiting Bay.

The resort piers were hives of activity and the crack was good as the steamers' arrival heralded the main talking point of the day.

Duncan Graham's frequently hilarious memoir of his days as a student purser aboard The Talisman, Prince Edward and the Caledonia is filled with larger-than-life characters including dashing skippers who raced for the best berths, frustrated Chief Engineers, wheeler-dealer stewards and ladies with more than a mere day trip on their mind!

In this new revised paperback edition of Graham's best-selling memoir, the last days of steaming on the Clyde are recounted as they really were.