Cairnryan Harbour
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Cairnryan Harbour is a roll-on
ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...
on
Loch Ryan Loch Ryan ( gd, Loch Rìoghaine, ) is a Scottish sea loch that acts as an important natural harbour for shipping, providing calm waters for ferries operating between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The town of Stranraer is the largest settleme ...
in south west
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
north of
Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
. In World War II it was developed as an emergency west coast port facility, in case Liverpool or the Clyde ports were put out of commission by enemy action.


Portpatrick at first

Portpatrick Portpatrick is a village and civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in breadth, covering . History ...
, on the western side of the Rinns,Sometimes spelt Rhins had long served as a port for a short sea route from
Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...
in Northern Ireland. Since 1620 the route had been used for importing cattle and horses, and for the transfer of military personnel. Later mail transit for the Post Office mails developed, by 1838 8,000 to 10,000 letters passed through the port daily, brought by coach from both
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
and
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. However the small harbour was cramped and exposed to westerly winds. Although Government funding had been promised for improvements space for substantial expansion was limited. Also the development of more attractive alternative routes, in particular from
Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
to Kingstown, (renamed
Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...
) led to a loss of commitment to Portpatrick.R R Cunningham, ''Portpatrick Through the Ages'', Wigtown Free Press, Stranraer, 1977


Next Stranraer

In 1857 the
Portpatrick Railway The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint RailwaysThe final word is in the plural. was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Rai ...
was authorised, its primary objective being to connect Portpatrick and
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
for the carriage of mails, passengers and goods. When it became obvious that Portpatrick Harbour was not going to be improved, the railway concentrated on
Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
as its ferry port. Stranraer is at the southern end of
Loch Ryan Loch Ryan ( gd, Loch Rìoghaine, ) is a Scottish sea loch that acts as an important natural harbour for shipping, providing calm waters for ferries operating between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The town of Stranraer is the largest settleme ...
; although the passage to Irish ports is longer, Stranraer was a more spacious and better-sheltered location, so it became the dominant port for transits to Northern
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.David L Smith, ''The Little Railways of South West Scotland'', David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969


World War II

In 1940, consideration was given to the provision of a west coast port for use in the event of
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
or
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
being put out action. This was a large undertaking, planned to take up the full capacity of one of the large commercial ports.
Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
on the Gare Loch was also considered, but it was determined to develop the location that became
Cairnryan Cairnryan ( sco, The Cairn;
gd, Machair an Sgithich) is a vi ...
on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan, some distance north of Stranraer. This involved considerable civil engineering work and 4,000 military and other personnel worked on the project. Many of the military staff were American, at that stage the USA had not entered the war and thus they wore civilian clothing. Work began on 20 January 1941.David L Smith, ''Legends of the Glasgow and South Western Railway in LMS Days'', David and Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1980, A siding from the main line was laid in from a ground frame connection about a mile east of Stranraer Harbour Junction. The first occupants of the siding were five dormitory coaches,
LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...
camping coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...
46059 and a canteen van, for which an ex- Highland Railway 4-4-0 LMS no 14382, ''Loch Moy'', supplied steam heat, though minus its internal machinery. This siding expanded into a large yard of ten parallel roads, ultimately 6 miles long, curved round to the shore of the loch. A signalbox was erected at the junction and opened on 11 October 1942. Five groups of sidings and 47 roads were constructed, as well as a large engine shed and coaling stage. The military railway connected with the main line at Cairnryan Junction, about a mile (about 2 km) east of Stranraer, aligned to permit through running to and from the east. The final alignment of the railway after the construction phase was altered in the Stranraer area, and the main line connection was later made at Aird, somewhat nearer Stranraer. The railway was opened in July 1942, and the port itself was ready in July 1943. A timetabled passenger operation was in place, and Gill reproduces a photograph of a railway ticket, marked "C.& S.Railway" (i.e. Cairnyan and Stranraer Railway) (officially a military recreational travel permit) the return fare was 2d. The ticket is marked "Passenger travels at his own risk."Bill Gill, ''The Cairnryan Military Railway, 1941 - 1959'', Stranraer and District Local History Trust, Stranraer, 1999, The preparations for the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
took the focus of activity to the south of England, and Cairnryan was for the time being reduced to a care and maintenance status. In fact only eighteen fully laden ocean-going vessels used the port.C E J Fryer, ''The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Railways'', Oakwood Press, Usk, 1991,


Royal visit

At the end of June 1942, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, and it was arranged that they would travel via the Cairnryan Military Railway and the port. The full Royal Train did not go down the CMR; a two-coach train was provided: the Caledonian Railway officers' saloon and a newly decorated first brake. Stranraer got out its best class 2P 4-4-0 locomotive no 600, and they cleaned, polished and scrubbed to perfection. Two days later the king and queen returned, and 2P no 614 was borrowed from Dumfries. The royal passengers transferred to the main line train at the temporary platform at the junction.Smith, ''Legends'', pages 166 and 117


After the war

After the end of World War II, the facility was used to load superfluous ammunition, brought to the port by rail, onto army landing craft for disposal at sea - a hazardous task, which took the lives of several at the port (including on one occasion eight young servicemen killed on the North Deep Water Wharf when accidentally mishandling a case of fuses), while the long-term and wider risks of such dumping have only later become more evident. Smith describes the railway operation on the military line:
They brought these gas shells in standard trains of 32 wagons. The WD people worked them from Cairnryan Junction down the 5½ miles of rather lumpy line to the new port. Authority thought that 32-wagon trains were uneconomical, so they got an Austerity 2-10-0 ocomotivedown to Cairnryan, and worked the gas shells down from the junction in trains of 64. And the 64-wagon train got away with them! he wagons overpowered the braking effort of the locomotive and brake van on the gradient.Well, I've talked of various exciting happenings in that neighbourhood, but I think that 64 oaded wagonsof poison gas behind your tender—''and you can't stop''—is quite enough excitement for any normal driver for quite a time.Smith, ''Legends'', page 39
At the end of the war, the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
fleet surrendered in Loch Ryan and was anchored in the port before being towed to the
North Channel North Channel may refer to: *North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland) *North Channel (Ontario), body of water along the north shore of Lake Huron, Canada *North Channel, Hong Kong *Canal du Nord, France {{geodis ...
and
scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
. This activity was codenamed
Operation Deadlight Operation Deadlight was the code name for the Royal Navy operation of November 1945 – February 1946 to scuttle German U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II. Operation Of the 156 U-boats ...
. After the end of any strategic objective,
Ship breaking Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
became the main industry; the great British
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s HMS ''Centaur'', HMS ''Bulwark'', HMS ''Eagle'', and HMS ''Ark Royal'' were all sent there for decommissioning, as well as a number of other vessels including HMS ''Mohawk'' and HMS ''Blake''. As recently as 1990, Soviet Navy
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s were being dismantled there for scrap. The railway and the main line connection at Cairnryan Junction remained available for use for some years, but the junction with the main line at Aird had ceased to be functional by 1960.British Railways, ''Sectional Appendix to the Working Timetables, etc'', Glasgow, 1960 The decision was taken to remove the facility; the final rail movement was part of the dismantling process in 1967. A single pier remains, one was dismantled and another was destroyed in an ammunition explosion shortly after the war. The remaining pier is in a state of disrepair and fenced off to the public after partially collapsing in the 1990s when it was being used to load stone from the nearby Croach Farm quarry in Cairnryan. Despite this many
angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * ''Angler'' (video game) * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish * More generally, any anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes * '' Angler: The Cheney Vice Presi ...
s use it as it offers access to seafish such as
mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...
,
cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...
, dogfish, mullet and
plaice Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice. Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is also ...
.


Commercial ferries

In the 1970s the ferry service between Stranraer and
Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
was operated by
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
. As private motoring and road transport became dominant at the expense of classic rail-ferry-rail transits, the significance of Stranraer as the ferry terminal, adjacent to the railway station, declined, and a private sector operator,
P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferry, ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O ...
started operating roll-on roll-off ferries on a route from Cairnryan in 1973. A new link span was built for the purpose, and the port operation was cheaper than at Stranraer; moreover the sea transit was shorter. As the importance of rail passenger connections further declined,
Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
also transferred to Cairnryan opening a new terminal at Old House Point in 2011.


Rail connections

The nearest station is
Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
with a bus connection from the port connecting with trains to Glasgow Central along the
Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride. History The line was built by several railway compan ...
.


See also

*
Cairnryan Cairnryan ( sco, The Cairn;
gd, Machair an Sgithich) is a vi ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

*


Notes

{{reflist , group = note Ports and harbours of Scotland