© 2011 - J. Craig Osborne, c/o Mike MacKenzie, Largs and District Historical Society , Kirkgate House, Manse Court, LARGS, Ayrshire, KA30 8AW, United Kingdom. The information is provided for the purposes of private study and research - Commercial Rights Reserved.
[ From a letter sent to The Herald newspaper by J. Craig Osborne, August 2011 ] :-
Some Herald readers may be interested to know that time and technology have caught up with these edifices, in so far as the north inland beacon post of the Skelmorlie Measured Mile has now collapsed, and may never be replaced. These posts were first erected in July, 1866, by Robert Napier & Co, Govan. From 1912 until 1984, Scotts’ of Greenock maintained these posts under the auspices of the Clyde Shipbuiders Association, the practice being to paint them with white lead. In 1973, the cross-tree of the south inland post fell to the ground, causing the local farmer’s cattle to die of lead poisoning. This mile was last used by Ferguson Shipbuilders, Port Glasgow, in 2007, to carry out speed runs on Caledonian MacBrayne’s LOCH SHIRA. The Gareloch measured mile was similarly maintained by Scotts’. This mile was temporarily erected in 1840 by Robert Napier to assess the speed of Assheton Smith’s steam yacht FIRE KING, built at the Duke of Portland’s shipyard at Troon, managed by Robert Curle, where a model test tank had been set up, complete with overhead tow rail system. By October, 1865, a more permanent mile had been erected by Robert Napier, consisting of two quarter miles and a half mile, used by Denny’s Blockade Runner BRASIL .. During 1950, this mile was used for testing the remains of the jet propelled paddle steamer LUCY ASHTON. In 1977, their maintenance was transferred to McGruer. Following complaints in 1920 from local Skelmorlie residents, about the wash from the 31 knot mighty 36,000 ton displacement HMS HOOD, and the grounding in February, 1914, of Yarrow’s 32 knot torpedo boat, HMS LAVEROCK, during their speed trials, the Admiralty then set up the double Arran Mile at Sannox about 1928. In June, 1934, it was moved one mile further north. All these mile posts were cut down by Polish soldiers when clearing their camp site in 1945, causing some red faces on board HMS VANGUARD, when she came to do her speed trials. The posts were quickly re-instated. During the Second War, a half mile was built near the Ardmaleish boatyard on Bute, to test their MTBs. In 1958, Yarrow built a double half mile at the south end of Loch Long, near Cove, specially for testing their pusher tug GONGOLA with her train of 16 barges. Finally, in 1963, Denny of Dumbarton built a single measured mile near Parklea, Port Glasgow, for testing their hovercrafts D1 and D2-001 & D2-002. Today, with the use of Global Positioning Satellite systems, used to establish the speed of a ship, the Clyde’s measured miles are now redundant and gradually disappearing.
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