Wemyss Bay
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  Map sources for Wemyss Bay at grid reference NS195695
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Wemyss Bay ("Wemyss" pronounced weemz /'wi:mz/) is a village on the west Coast of the Firth of Clyde in the district of Inverclyde, Scotland. The name seemingly derives from the Gaelic uaimh, meaning 'cave'.
Wemyss Bay is adjacent to Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire. The villages have always been in separate counties, divided by the Kelly Burn.
Wemyss Bay is the port for ferries to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Passengers from the island can connect to Glasgow by train, which terminate in the village at the truly magnificent Wemyss Bay railway station, with a notable clock tower. It was designed by James Millar in 1903 for the Caledonian Railway and the interior is an unforgettable essay in glass, steel and curves. It is one of Scotland's finest railway buildings.
The port is very exposed, so in high winds the ferries must travel up river to Gourock to dock.
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[edit] History
Wemyss Bay was created in the early 19th century as a 'marine village' and watering-place by Robert Wallace of Kelly, whose lands were adjacent to the bay. Wallace became Greenock's first MP and was instrumental in establishing the penny post.
London merchant James Alexander further developed the area by constructing the first steamboat pier, which was swept away by a gale in 1856. Its successor suffered a similar fate, only to be eclipsed anyway by the impressive new railway terminus and pier.
The opening of the railway connection in 1865 brought even grander houses. Among the village's notable residents included Sir George Burns, who with Samuel Cunard founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (later the Cunard Line), and his son John (later 1st Baron Inverclyde) who lived at Castle Wemyss, which stood high on Wemyss Point above the bay itself. Alan, 4th Baron Inverclyde was briefly married to the actress June, who was one of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest leading ladies in the 1927 film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog.
A memorial on the shore road recalls 'The Gaiter Club', whose members included Anthony Trollope, Lord Kelvin, Lord Palmerston and the Earl of Shaftesbury.
Neither Castle Wemyss nor James Salmon's Wemyss House remain, having been demolished in the 1980s and 1940s respectively. Also gone is J.J. Burnet's episcopal Inverclyde Church, which stood on the shore road of Undercliff Road.
The Castle Wemyss estate and adjoining areas had been sold off in the 1960s to property developers and since then the village has grown considerably, albeit largely a dormitory settlement for Greenock and Glasgow.
However several of the fine red sandstone properties remain, thankfully now seen as renovation, rather than demolition, opportunities. There is a fish and chip shop in the village.
[edit] Further reading
Walter Smart's Skelmorlie (1968) provides a good account of both Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie. Gourock, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay from Old Photographs (1981) and Gourock, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay in Old Picture Postcards (1998) are also of interest. Unfortunately, all are currently out of print.
[edit] Spelling and pronunciation
The word Wemyss is often misspelt and sometimes pronounced incorrectly. The correct pronunciation is "weemz" not "wemiss" or "wims".
[edit] External links
