The iconic Waverley will tomorrow celebrate an incredible 75 years on the Clyde with a special anniversary cruise.
The world's last seagoing paddle steamer will set sail for Arrochar on Thursday morning, mirroring the route of her maiden voyage which took place way back in 1947.
The final paddle steamer to be built on the Clyde, months after the end of WW2, the Waverley - which is so recognisable up and down the west coast for its red, white and black funnels - has certainly stood the test of time.
While Glasgow has completely transformed over seven and a half decades, the adored ship has continued to ferry folk 'doon the watter' to 'represent the final link with the Glasgow of the past'.
READ MORE: Waverley sailings from Glasgow 2022: When paddle steamer departs and where it goes
Ahead of the milestone sail, we caught up with Paul Semple, general manager of Waverley Excursions Limited, to chat about why the Waverley is so important to the city, whether its builders thought it would see 75 years and what the future holds for the old paddle steamer.
Asked about his excitement ahead of the 75 year anniversary, Paul said: "How does a paddle steamer get to 75 years old?! When you think of the world she’s come through from 1947 until now, nothing is the same, yet she still exists.
"People might refer to the Waverley as a museum piece but I don’t think she is, she’s more than that. She moves, she operates, she does what she’s meant to do. She’s the one thing still doing what she was meant to do, 75 years on.
"She actually does even more than what she was built to do. She goes further afield than the Clyde - we’re just back from the Western Isles. I don’t think the builders or the people who were there on the maiden voyage would ever have felt the Waverley would have left the Clyde and go to the Western Isles, London, go to the South Coast. She’s done far more than her builders and original owners would ever have expected or even thought about.
"She sailed from Oban to Glasgow yesterday, a 13 hour trip - in 2022. You’ve actually got to stand back and think ‘what actually has she just done there?’. Her builders and those around would never have envisaged 75 years later the Waverley is undertaking the journeys and the routes she still does.
"The last ever paddle steamer ever built on the Clyde is actually the one that’s lasted."
And although the world has certainly changed around the Waverley, the experience of stepping aboard and being charmed by the ship and the sights of Scotland's west coast remains more or less the same, 75 years on.
Paul said: "I overheard a passenger just a few weeks back, getting off at Rothesay, speaking to a friend or family member and she said ‘when you walk aboard, you can feel the heritage’ and I thought that was quite a good line.
"Immediately on boarding Waverley she’s different, she feels different, has a different look with the wooden decks and the style of her. It’s like something from a different era. Internally, the look of the dining saloon, it is kind of that 1940s style.
"People stop because they recognise the Waverley, they hear her coming, the see her, she looks good, she’s recognisable from the colour, the funnels and people stop wherever she goes - ‘that’s the Waverley’."
One passenger due to sail tomorrow will certainly be able to make a direct comparison between past and present. James Stevenson, who is now in his mid-80s, was on the Waverley for its first ever voyage as a 10-year-old boy. Despite not living locally, he returns to the west coast of Scotland every June to board the Waverley, sparking memories of being a youngster travelling up and down the Clyde.
Tomorrow will represent a chance for James and others to look back fondly at the Waverley's fine past, but the future is every bit as and perhaps even more significant.
The Waverley is far from immune to the record high fuel prices across the UK, meaning the paddle steamer racks up a huge bill every day she sails, sparking concerns for the years ahead.
Paul explained: "The big challenge for us is the fuel cost. Everyone’s aware of fuel prices and at the moment the price we’re having to buy fuel means it costs the Waverley £12 a minute. When you think she sails on average 10 hours a day, that’s a big fuel bill to face and cover with other operating costs as well.
"We need to earn sufficient funds through the short summer season in order to afford the next winter period. While we’re meeting the bill at the moment, we’re not going to have the same reserve at the end of the season to then carry us through next winter, that’s my concern. We can pay for the fuel if the ship’s out operating and carrying passengers, but we’re overpaying for it in the sense we can’t put any reserve away.
"£12 a minute is quite a shock of a price to pay. Your average fare is £35 - £40, so your average fare pays for three minutes.
"It’s about encouraging people on the Waverley. If people don’t step down the gangway, Waverley can’t continue. We need people onboard, spending onboard, buying things and taking souvenirs with them, spreading the word and telling friends. That’s what needed to allow the Waverley to continue."
There's a fair chance that if you're from Glasgow you will of course have sailed on the Waverley at some point. But what about people who have never ventured up the gangplank? Asked what he would say to people to encourage them onboard for the very first time, Paul said the Waverley is a one-of-a-kind UK attraction.
"Waverley offers a truly unique experience, as a steamship, as a paddle steamer, as a part of our country’s heritage and as part of the Clyde shipbuilding heritage.
"There is no other attraction in the UK that can offer the experience Waverley can. An historic steamship operating on the Firth of Clyde with its scenery and the variety the Clyde has.
"There’s no other seagoing paddle steamer in the world and I can’t think of anywhere else you can go to get a 13 hour steam experience.
"This year we’re offering a lot more kids go free cruises. Families might prefer to do a one-way trip down the river to Greenock or Largs, which is a shorter trip for kids just to get that experience without being on for a full day, with families maybe wanting to do a couple of activities for a day.
"There’s free trips from Brodick, Tarbert, Rothesay and Dunoon so kids are able to travel from the resorts Waverley serves. We need people to be sailing for the next generation so we’ve got to encourage families and children. Waverley’s future is in the hands of the next generation, they’ve got to sail in order for Waverley to continue.
"There’s special offers for seniors too. We’re trying to make it accessible to all.
"The timetable has as much variety as we can offer, we get to every corner of the Clyde so there’s trips in there that give it the widest possible appeal."
Of course, while tomorrow's anniversary sail will be a special moment for the Waverley, its staff and its passengers, it's an important moment for Glasgow too. The Waverley has witnessed every change our city has endured, and can now provide a beautiful nostalgia for the city our grandparents grew up in.
Paul commented: "She was Clydebuilt, built in this city, and yet the city has completely transformed through Waverley’s lifetime.
"Sailing doon the watter, the river has completely transformed from what it would have been in 1947, the grime of that industrial city. Yet the Waverley has remained.
"She’s the final link with the Glasgow of the past."
To find out more about the Waverley and how you can sail doon the watter this summer, you can visit the Waverley website here.
