OVERNIGHT TO CAMP LTOWN
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AWAY 137 miles by road from Glasgow lies Campbeltown, where British Road Services have a busy depot which handles much traffic that used
. to be moved by steamer. For years water transport had provided the facilities for the area, but by the 'thirties road competition was making itself felt.
In 1937, the Clyde and Campbeltown Shipping Co., Ltd., took over the Campbeltown and Glasgow Steam Packet and Joint Stock Co., Ltd., which up to that time had run steamer services for both goods and passengers to and from Campbeltown. .Then, at the outbreak of the, second world war, the company's main passenger vessel, s.s. Dairiada, was requisitioned and the passengers had to be carried by an associated road service, that. of David MacBrayne, Ltd.
The cargo fabilities were continued by two vessels, the
Davaar and Ardyne, but in due course the Clyde and By Campbeltown Shipping Co., Ltd. commenced operating road vehicles to Campbeltown, in addition to the road Ashley services already operated by them to Tarbert and Loch Taylor,
Fyne. The years that followed the end of the war saw A.M.I.R.T.E. the steamer services suffering increasing competition.
In 1949 they were discontinued, and the 14 road vehicles, which by this time had been acquired by the company, were taken over by British Road Services.
As antexample of the improvement that has been effected by the change, one may quote the many large movements of sheep and livestock. Previously these were driven to the pier where they were penned awaiting the steamer. Thence on occasions they had a rough passage to Glasgow and were later driven to the markets. By road, they are picked up in the evening and delivered next morning at the markets in far better' condition.
Passengers now come -to Campbeltown by the 40-minute air service from Renfrew to Machrihanish, by the lengthy bus service from Glasgow, on the steamers that run for a brief season in the summer, or. by the 'daily MacBrayne steamer service via Tighnabruaich to Tarhert and thence by road te, Campbeltown.
Most goods come by road into Argyll, the southernmost tip of which— the Mull of Kintyre—lies only 22 miles as the seagull flies froni the Ulster coast, Amidst the pastoral land near Machrihanish lies a colliery from which there is a steady export of coal to Ireland. Giant tippers belonging to the National Coal Board swing along the road to the harbour at Campbeltown and away go the little ships out into the North Channel.
B12 An interesting feature regarding the coal is the fact that from the coal face until it arrives in Ireland it is .never touched by human hand. The coal cutters cut and pass the coal on to a conveyor belt which carries the coal to overhead screens at the pithead. Tipping vehicles reverse underneath the screen and get a full load, after which they proceed to the harbour at Campbeltown and tip into another conveyor which overloads direct to the holds of the coasters. Other than this, agriculture, fishing and its ancillary services, distilling, and catering for holiday-makers provide the main sustenance for the local populace.
The fact that there are not more and bigger industries in the district is a matter that is causing some anxiety to thoughtful people in Argyll. In days past, they told me during a recent visit, there were other industries that provided employment, but lately many skilled workers have drifted away. The supposed disadvantages of being nearly 140 miles from the centre of Glasgow have often been emphasized, but those concerned apparently fail to appreciate that they are no farther away from their natural markets than are many other communities. As will be seen later, Kintyre is excellently served by road transport, it being customary for consignments brought' into Campbelitown by 6 p.m. to be out for delivery in Glasgow the following morning.
One aspect that has given rise to some doubt about future progress has been a proposal by the Argyll County Council that over 20 sections of Class B road should be restricted in some cases to gross loads of 5 tons and in others to 7+ tons. Heavy vehicles owned by , B.R.S., by traders and by independent hauliers, are regularly employed in Argyll and the effect of such a regulation would be that waste mileage would have to be covered by the bigger lorries and, even then, many places would have to be served separately by• 5-tonners. In either case, transport costs would be increased. Little has been heard of the proposals for some months and it is widely hoped that by now they have been conveniently forgotten.
The matter of catering for
industries in these parts is naturally one in which B.R.S. Argyll Branch has a close interest. This is an entity with its headquarters in Glasgow and a fleet of vehicles working out through Clydeside and Dumbarton with trunk and regular services to depots at Oban, Inver:o.y, Strone, Tarbert, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown. Services link up at West Loch Tarbert with the boats to the Islands in south-west Scotland such as Jura, Islay, Gigha and Colonsay, and at Oban for the Islands ''-of Mull, Luing, Coll, Barra, South Uist and Iona. A notable feature is that a regular flow of customers' C-licensed vehicles uses the depot at Glasgow, from morning till night, to hand over consignments for the whole of the area.
The fleet here falls mainly into the 71-8 ton class, although there are heavier types such as eight-wheelers, articulated outfits (including vans), a pantechnicon, a low-loader and a" barrow " for long lengths. In charge is Mr. R. Thorns, Argyll manager, who in former days was with the Holdsworth and Hanson organization.
Traffic comes into the headquarters depot from all points of the compass for re-direction to farmers and traders all over the group area. B.R.S. parcels traffic for Argyll is sorted and delivered there. An extensive sleek provides ample accommodation for the ordinary volume of transhipping and at the side, bays are arranged for the housing of consignments for the various destinations pending their dispatch.
Because the small-town bakers of Argyll often find it difficult to keep adequate staff, there is a trend towards the use of factory-baked goods, and at the time of my visit supplies of bread, cakes and ice-cream that had bee? received from rail, were being handled, A great quantity of bread is sent direct by road from the large bakeries in Glasgow. The number of small consignments was considerable, these items including a variety of foodstuffs, clothing and footwear. But Argyll calls for almost every requirement of the countryman, agricultural machinery, furniture—all pass by on the loading deck. From all the various depots, much livestock traffic is worked to Glasgow and beyond. Fish conies from Campbeltown, Tarbert and Oban and timber from all but Tarbert.
Large quantities of fruit and vegetables are moved, as are films for all sections of the area including the hospital at Lochgilphead, medical oxygen cylinders for the district nurses, live lobsters from Oban to Prestwick for passage by air from there to London, venison from Lochgilphead to Glasgow and Edinburgh for the large hotels and restaurants, wet hides, dead calves, pedigree dogs, and a variety'of live small birds such as canaries and budgerigars.
Special Service
Certain daily newspapers and all the Sunday papers are moved on a special service. During the summer months, considerable holiday luggage transport takes place. Timber is conveyed from the Forestry Commission's many estates scattered all over Argyllshire. Laundry is collected from and delivered to many of the hotels.
To obtain a typical picture of conditions in the area, it may be best to return to the other end of the mains route and to study Campbeltown once again. A forerunner of the B.R.S. business here was that of John Huie and Co., Ltd., who started up in haulage in 1933 and when nationalization came on the scene had a fleet of 10 vehicles. Initially the Huie ironmongery business. used its own road transport to bring quantities of paraffin in barrels from Glasgow, for at that time practically all the residents in the rural areas relied on oil lamps.
With these regular services they quickly opened out into the haulage field, their door-to-door deliveries offering many advantages over the facilities provided by the steamers and the light railway which at that time ran fromCampbeltown to Machrihanish.
Together with various other operators in Argyll, the
Huie fleet was taken over and merged into the B.R.S. undertaking in .1948. Mr. J. Colville, who had been on the garage staff of Johtv.Huie and Co., Ltd., since -1923, joined B.R.S. and became Cam pbeltovvn depot manager_
• A good deal of local knowledge is desirablewhen it conies to handling 'traffics -somixed asthose encountered at Campbeltown, particularly when loading the big vehicles that run overnight to Glasgow, leaving at 9 p.m. and arriving at 6.30 a.m. Trunkers travel from Glasgow at the same time, the two sets of drivers changing over at Furnace, approximately half-distance, in the early hours of the morning.
An important load is the fish that comes into Campbeltown in the late afternoon, being sold on the quay immediately. This fish, and that from Tarbert, reaches the market in Glasgow first thing the following morning, before selling starts, and may be on the consumer's plate later that day. During a typical week in March, there was an average of 23 boats entering Campbeltown most days with around 450 boxes of fish for transport on each occasion. About 17 boats were using Tarbert and landing something like 180 boxes daily.
Livestock Traffic
Other typical loads inwards from Campbeltown include butter, condensed milk and casein from the local creamery, livestock, carcass meat, nets from the net factory, whisky in casks or bottles, and animal feeding stuffs. On the return, in addition to the traffic arising from outside, there are substantial numbers of erflpty fish boxes and whisky casks. Normally the long-distance traffic is taken to the Argyll Branch depot in Glasgow and re-sorted, but livestock is moved direct to destinations both for long transfers and for semi-local runs.
In recent years, farmers generally have become regular car-users, in consequence of which those from the remoter parts will often bring their consignments into the Argyll depots or will call for urgent deliveries. A new depot that is to be provided at Campbeltown will permit greater space to be used for such transactions.
In addition to the trunk vehicles, which are handed ove.to shunt drivers for deliveries and collections during the day, several machines are employed at Campbeltown on local work. They will collect milk in churns from farms up to a 50-mile radius in the morning, delivering at Campbeltown Creamery and in the afternoon will carry out the general collections and deliveriesthat have not already been covered.
Although situated in what is sometimes disparagingly called a-" dead-end," the needs of Campbeltown have not been neglected by road transport, and the facilities provided at the present day are probably superior to those afforded to the town at any time throughout its history.