Friends of Wemyss Bay Station

The present station and pier were built just over 100 years ago, in 1903, by the Caledonian Railway Company, doubling the number of platforms and steamer berths of the previous structures. The men chiefly responsible were James Miller, architect, and Donald Matheson, chief engineer of the Railway Company.

 

An Edwardian masterpiece, it was the last of the Clyde railway piers to be built, and now the only one remaining. It well deserves its Grade-A architectural listing, with its graceful curves and elegant glass canopies, still protecting passengers from the weather as they come off the trains and head down to the pier for the boat connection to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.



Then it catered for crowds of holidaymakers escaping from the grime of industrial Glasgow by having a day 'doon the watter'. Now the visitors are fewer in number, but the affection for the sail to Rothesay continues. The Friends of Wemyss Bay Station are a group of volunteers who formed to campaign for the protection of this splendid structure, and ensure its survival.



As part of ScotRail's Adopt a Station scheme, we run a fund-raising second-hand bookshop and exhibition space, where local volunteers welcome visitors to the station, open Mondays to Saturdays, 9.30 - 4.30.



We maintain containers of plants on the concourse, following the tradition of the past, when the station was famous for its displays of potted plants. We wish to make it a meeting-place for local people and visitors by organising events, putting on exhibitions, recording and displaying the history of the station and pier, and celebrating having such a lovely connection with the past still playing a vital part in the community.