0:00:02 > 0:00:04For 140 years,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07Puffers were the workhorses of the Scottish coastal trade.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10'Those days are long gone and now,
0:00:10 > 0:00:15'with only three of these historic boats left in Scottish waters,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'I'm on a voyage into a steam-driven past...'
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Whoa! The heat!
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'..where the puffers would help
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'fire the industrialisation of our nation
0:00:27 > 0:00:30'and provided the crucial link between the mainland
0:00:30 > 0:00:32'and our remotest communities.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I thought of these men as heroes,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38coming with these wee boats to the islands, doing such good work.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40'I'll meet the last surviving men
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'who lived and worked on these special craft.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:45There's not many of them left now.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48I mean, I'm 86, but I'm still going strong!
0:00:50 > 0:00:51'The puffers were immortalised
0:00:51 > 0:00:56'by the fictional tales of Para Handy and the Vital Spark.'
0:00:56 > 0:00:58And the reality behind the myth
0:00:58 > 0:01:01is every bit as rich as the Para Handy tales.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03A lot of rogues, too -
0:01:03 > 0:01:06but they were nice rogues, you know?
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Let's find out more about the boat that built Scotland.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24The River Clyde -
0:01:24 > 0:01:27the artery that runs through the heart of Glasgow -
0:01:27 > 0:01:30will forever be associated with the magnificent ships
0:01:30 > 0:01:32that were built here during
0:01:32 > 0:01:36the British Empire's age of industrial and world domination.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40The great ships that were built on this river
0:01:40 > 0:01:43sailed away from Scotland to distant lands,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46to make their fortune and ply their trade.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50But there's another fascinating part of Scotland's maritime history -
0:01:50 > 0:01:52and it's a story that's almost been forgotten.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56For more than a century,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00the Clyde puffer was a familiar sight on Scottish water.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05There were around 400 of these boats built
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and whilst some puffers were owned by their skipper,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10most were part of private company fleets.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19They were manned by small crews of some of the hardiest
0:02:19 > 0:02:23and most able men that have ever taken to the rough seas of Scotland
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and could deliver over 100 tonnes of bulk cargo,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31with her own gear, in places others vessels dare not go.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35The most versatile boat in the water,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38she was just as at home in the industrial heart of Scotland
0:02:38 > 0:02:41as she was in the remotest corners of the Hebrides.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48I'm looking at an old map of Scotland
0:02:48 > 0:02:53and you can see the graphic nature of our landscape,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55and the Highlands and the Islands -
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and it's craggy, with all the inlets and the sea lochs
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and these inaccessible, isolated communities.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Now, to get any kind of supplies in there,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08you needed a specially-designed and built boat to do that job.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10That's where the puffers came in.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13Difficult, difficult job,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18but absolutely vital to the lifeblood of those communities.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19The Clyde puffer -
0:03:19 > 0:03:23the boat that once played such an important role in Scottish life
0:03:23 > 0:03:25has all but disappeared...
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Well, almost.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33I'm in Crinan in Argyllshire, on the west coast of Scotland.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35It's a haven for sailors from all over the world
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and I'm here to visit a very important piece of Scottish maritime history.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49And here she is - the VIC 32.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56This unique boat is the last surviving steam-driven puffer
0:03:56 > 0:03:59still to be found on Scottish water.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04She's just like a clumpy lump of iron sitting in the water, isn't she?
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I'm dying to see inside.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24'The VIC 32 has been kept afloat
0:04:24 > 0:04:29'by the last full-time puffer skipper in the world - Nick Walker.'
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Nick! Hello, sir.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- Very, very welcome on board the good ship VIC 32.- It's lovely to be here.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39'Nick's agreed to let me join him on a voyage
0:04:39 > 0:04:40'that will help me find out
0:04:40 > 0:04:43'what life was like on board a working puffer.'
0:04:45 > 0:04:46Take up the slack as I come back.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53She's quite a beast, to move around this little loch.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Yes, she weighs 160 tonnes,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and there are a lot of very expensive yachts about the place.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01So, you've got to be quite careful.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- They wouldn't be very happy if you bumped into them!- No.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I'm coming astern. This boat will do ballet.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15You can turn the boat round in a canal basin like this.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- So, that little wheel controls the engine?- It's the throttle.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It's the main steam valve.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23It just allows more steam or less steam into the engine.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26You can hold the wheel. Turn it to the middle.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28That's it, keep turning.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36This is a treat beyond belief!
0:05:41 > 0:05:45'This is the first time that I've been on a steam puffer,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47'but like a lot of Scots of a certain vintage,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49'it's a boat that I remember well.'
0:05:50 > 0:05:53As a boy growing up in Glasgow,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57we used to get a ferry across the river to visit my auntie.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00And you would have dozens and dozens of ships
0:06:00 > 0:06:01and liners from all over the world.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05In amongst them were these things, puffing away - puff-puff-puff -
0:06:05 > 0:06:08plying their trade up and down the Clyde.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11In the mind of a young boy, they were magical.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14They were like little toys - toy ships -
0:06:14 > 0:06:18they weren't great big ocean-going liners or cargo ships,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21they were just wee toys you wanted to have in your bath.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- ARCHIVE VO:- Puffers, too, have their place in dockland,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27for these dumpy little maids of all work carry their cargoes
0:06:27 > 0:06:30right up to the shallows, under the city's bridges.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36The VIC 32 here was built in 1943
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and after her working life, was headed for the breaker's yard.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Thankfully, she was rescued by skipper Nick
0:06:42 > 0:06:45when he spotted her laid up at a boatyard in Whitby.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50He's kept her afloat by converting her cargo hold
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and turning her into a popular holiday cruiser.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57If we hadn't found her in September of 1975,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I think she would have been scrapped,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01because she was going downhill fast.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02The anchor chain had gone,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05the navigation lights had gone, the wheel had gone.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Just the core was there.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09And, together with the help of some steam enthusiasts,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12spent two years doing all the work you can see
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and we managed to get her going,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17because I knew nothing about steam engines,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20but we soon worked it out - that this boat had a heart.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25The VIC 32 is now the last of her kind,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28but puffers just like her used to be a regular sight
0:07:28 > 0:07:31all along this Argyllshire coastline.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34But it was on a different type of waterway
0:07:34 > 0:07:36that the story of these boats really began.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Now, the story of Scotland's puffers is fundamentally interwoven
0:07:41 > 0:07:44with the history of Scotland's canals -
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and if you want to find out about the birth of the puffer,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50you won't find it out at sea - you have to head inland.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And it's back to Glasgow,
0:07:57 > 0:08:02on one of Scotland's most historic waterways, that the story begins.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04In many respects,
0:08:04 > 0:08:09the puffer was the baby of the Forth and Clyde Canal.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14This is the Forth and Clyde Canal system
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and you could spend your entire life in the city of Glasgow
0:08:17 > 0:08:21going about your daily business and you would never know it's here.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23But in the days of the puffers,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25these waterways were the veins of the nation,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28carrying Scotland's lifeblood - trade.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34The canal is 35 miles long
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and cuts right across Scotland at her narrowest point,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40between Grangemouth in the east and Bowling in the west.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44When it opened in 1790,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46it was the most important trade route in Scotland.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Steam power in boats had yet to be perfected
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and cargo was delivered using a tamer method.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59And it's from these earliest canal craft the puffer would emerge.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Over there, hiding in the long grass,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07is something I find quite remarkable.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17This is an old canal scow.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21The forerunner, the granddaddy of the puffers.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27And already, you can see the basic puffer design begin to take shape.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31She had no engines, no steering system -
0:09:31 > 0:09:35apart from a hand-operated tiller you can see at the stern there -
0:09:35 > 0:09:39because these boats were pulled along the canals by horses
0:09:39 > 0:09:42in the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Now, she's not been cared for by restoration teams.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50She's just been left here to rust into memory.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52And that's a shame,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55because she played a vital part in Scottish maritime history.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03In the 1830s, the canals would face a serious threat.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07These horse-drawn scows would be overtaken
0:10:07 > 0:10:10by a new, faster, steam-powered rival.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17The age of the railway had arrived.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21But the key thing was efficiency
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and the railways thought that they had the upper hand
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and that they could develop a more efficient system.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31The puffer was the solution to this.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37This is a really important part of the canal.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41In 1856, a canal engineer called James Milne
0:10:41 > 0:10:43lived in that white house behind me,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45here in Hamilton Hill, in the north of Glasgow.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48He decided to try an experiment.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52He installed two steam cylinders
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and a newly-invented screw propeller
0:10:54 > 0:10:58into the iron hull of a cargo scow.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00And the Thomas was born -
0:11:00 > 0:11:02the first ever puffer.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06And once that boat had been converted,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08it was immediately popular.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11The big advantage the Forth and Clyde Canal had was the size -
0:11:11 > 0:11:14the sheer size of the Forth and Clyde Canal
0:11:14 > 0:11:16meant that boats could be developed
0:11:16 > 0:11:19that were big enough to, in effect, compete against railways.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24These locks on the canal will take a boat 66 feet long,
0:11:24 > 0:11:29so that was the dimension that the puffers were all built to begin with.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34The average puffer took about 100 tonnes of goods.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37You couldn't put that on a railway truck.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38It minimised, also,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42the amount of handling that you had to do to shift the goods.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46These new puffers were an instant success
0:11:46 > 0:11:48and they soon became a familiar sight,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51as they gave the canals a new, competitive edge.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I'm on board the MV Maryhill,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00a miniature replica puffer run by canal enthusiasts.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04It gives us a wonderful glimpse into the past,
0:12:04 > 0:12:05as the journey along here
0:12:05 > 0:12:09is the same route taken by those first puffers.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14There's the steeple of Glasgow University.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Then below that, the Western Infirmary.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18I've lived in Glasgow all my life
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and I've never seen the city from this perspective.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It's really, really unusual and it's lovely.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30The early puffers were really simple boats.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32They were essentially just canal barges
0:12:32 > 0:12:34with an engine bolted on to the back.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37It was this rudimentary design that led to its name.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43The first generation of Puffers did not have condensers,
0:12:43 > 0:12:49which meant that they could not convert the steam back into water,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51to go back into the boiler.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54They just let it puff out of the funnel -
0:12:54 > 0:12:56puff-puff-puff.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00And of course, those early Puffers
0:13:00 > 0:13:03with non-condensing engines on the canal
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- puff-puff-puff through the funnel -
0:13:05 > 0:13:07is where the name "puffer" comes from.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09That's how it got the name.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11The name stuck -
0:13:11 > 0:13:13and although the model adapted,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16"puffers" they were, to their dying day.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27When you think of the heyday of shipbuilding,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30it's really almost impossible not to conjure up
0:13:30 > 0:13:32images of the great yards of the day -
0:13:32 > 0:13:36the Fairfields, the Elders, the Yarrows and the John Browns.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39But alongside that, at the same time,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43a new industry of canalside puffer boatyards was developing -
0:13:43 > 0:13:44and developing fast.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53Industries sprang up alongside the canal
0:13:53 > 0:14:00and the puffer was part of that whole new industrial mobility.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09I'm watching the only known footage of a broadside launch of a puffer -
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and it's in the heart of the town of Kirkintilloch - side on.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19And it looks amazing, because the boat, when it's been built,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21must have towered right above the canal bank
0:14:21 > 0:14:23in the centre of the town.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Oh! Oh, my! LAUGHTER
0:14:27 > 0:14:31Good Lord, that's really genuinely quite spectacular.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I mean, when she slides off into the canal,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38she bounces about like a cork, like a matchbox.
0:14:38 > 0:14:39And she crashes into the other bank,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42sending a great wave onto the shore.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44That's quite spectacular, that.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48There are thousands of people round there watching.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51This is a remarkable piece of footage and it's very, very rare.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Although the puffers started out life
0:14:56 > 0:14:58on the gentle waters of the canals,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00it was out on the open sea,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04on the wild west coast of Scotland, they would make their name.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05'And for Professor Donald Meek,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09'who grew up on the remote island of Tiree in the early '50s,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12'the importance of the puffer has left a lasting impact.'
0:15:13 > 0:15:15I miss the puffer terribly.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18I was so used to puffers
0:15:18 > 0:15:21coming and going to Tiree for all sorts of reasons.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23I'm often amazed at this...
0:15:24 > 0:15:28..that a little boat that was developed
0:15:28 > 0:15:31to handle bulk cargo on a canal
0:15:31 > 0:15:35eventually went out to the Hebrides.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39The puffer is how the Industrial Revolution
0:15:39 > 0:15:42spread out to the Hebrides.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Like the spokes of a wheel from Glasgow on from the lowlands.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48And the puffers were the spokes.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52There was a fortune to be made
0:15:52 > 0:15:55if the puffers could get out to sea and work the coastal trade.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00But before they could reach the open water beyond the canal locks,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04a few design modifications needed to take place.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13And deep in the archives of the Scottish Maritime museum at Irvine,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16we can find the earliest example of the puffer's evolution.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Now, what makes these blueprints so special
0:16:24 > 0:16:26is the fact that they're so rare.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29The puffers built in the first 50 years of the trade
0:16:29 > 0:16:31were built by eye.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33But then, when they started to add amendments
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and new elements for ocean-going,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39that's when these blueprints first arrived.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43So, out at sea, obviously, they needed a bower -
0:16:43 > 0:16:48a rail round the outside of the boat to stop people falling off.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Common sense.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53When they were in the canals, they had an open cargo hold.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55If water got into an open hold out at sea,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58that would lead to a pretty awful disaster,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02so they had to add covers and hatches all over the boat.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07In the canal system, it's very easy and straightforward to steer.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09A simple rudder was all that was needed,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11but once they started going out into the open sea,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14they needed something far, far more robust.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18The key development would be in engines.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22What the canal puffers did was, they took the water from the canals
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and blew it up their chimneys.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25They puffed.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29But you can't do that out at sea, because you can't use saltwater.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31The engines just wouldn't work.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34So, they created a condenser.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37So, there was no more puffing.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44By the 1890s, with these refinements and developments in place,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47the steam puffer finally took on the shape
0:17:47 > 0:17:49it would retain for the next 70 years.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57With the puffer now ready for a life at sea,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00it would go on to dominate the Scottish coastal trade.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04There are probably only a handful of men now,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07who actually sailed on puffers.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12We're just at the point where we could lose that wonderful link
0:18:12 > 0:18:16with a generation of men who were adept
0:18:16 > 0:18:22at handling small steam craft in difficult waters,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24and doing so brilliantly.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27One man who knows more than most
0:18:27 > 0:18:30about life aboard these special boats
0:18:30 > 0:18:33is retired puffer skipper Bobby Sinclair.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- Bobby, you've done that before! - Many a time!
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Good to meet you. How are you? Welcome.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Bobby, why did you join?
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Well, I suppose I was on the boats with my father.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49He was on the boats and I always used to come out of school
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and first thing was go to the boat.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53- So, your father was a puffer man? - That's correct.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Yeah, he was puffers for many years as well.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58So, when did you start to work full-time?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01I started at 16, on the puffers.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04And that was on Alaska a puffer called Alaska -
0:19:04 > 0:19:07a steam puffer with my father as the skipper.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09And I started off as deckhand.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13The deckhand on a steam puffer had to relieve the engineer
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and you were down there firing up the boiler and sometimes,
0:19:17 > 0:19:22the skipper would have you steer and things like that, you know?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25- You ended up a skipper, didn't you?- Aye, yes.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31Got one command and worked up till about the mid-'70s, the early '70s.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I imagine the conditions under which you worked -
0:19:34 > 0:19:36the conditions of the weather and all the rest of it -
0:19:36 > 0:19:39it must have generated a great camaraderie
0:19:39 > 0:19:42- and a sense of community? - Oh, it did. Oh, aye.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45I mean, you wouldn't see anything wrong.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48You'd look after one another as well, you know?
0:19:48 > 0:19:50A lot of rogues too -
0:19:50 > 0:19:53but they were nice rogues, you know?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- Are you proud of being on the Spartan?- Oh, yes.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- Very proud of being on the Spartan.- Why?
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Oh, she's a fine wee boat and nice lines -
0:20:02 > 0:20:04a fine wee boat to look at. Nice model.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09One of the Puffers that Bobby was proud to have worked on
0:20:09 > 0:20:11during his long career at sea
0:20:11 > 0:20:14is now being looked after by the Scottish Maritime Museum.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25This is the Spartan,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27berthed here in Irvine Harbour.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35It's one of the last of the puffers still afloat.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Another man who can remember life working on the Spartan
0:20:48 > 0:20:52was her former chief engineer, Jim McMonigle.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56I joined this boat somewhere about 1962.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The last porthole there was my cabin.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02And there were three of us in there.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06On the other side, the skipper, he had a cabin to himself.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08We even had class distinction!
0:21:08 > 0:21:09They were a happy enough crowd.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Down at the back end, down a couple of steps,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15there was a mess room with a stove and a cooker in it.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18No refrigeration, or anything like that.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21But we all worked together and you had to get on.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24If you didn't get on, you were in serious trouble,
0:21:24 > 0:21:28because it's too wee a boat to start fighting.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31But we thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a great time on it.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37It was the hardest job I had in my life, aboard the puffers.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40I've never worked so hard physically in my life,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44because if you had 80 tonnes of coal in that hold,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and if you were in a place where you didn't have dockers,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49you did the loading yourself.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51At the end of a shovel, eight hours a day -
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and we had to discharge 80 tonnes of coal in a day.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- 80 tonnes?- 80 tonnes.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01'Coal was the key cargo carried by the puffers in these massive holds.'
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And the guys who worked on board
0:22:04 > 0:22:07weren't just expected to be able seamen -
0:22:07 > 0:22:12their main job was to load and unload these huge cargoes by hand.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16We always used to start at seven o'clock in the morning there.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19The lorries would be sitting and waiting on you.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20Oh, it was brutal work.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Big number ten shovels into these tubs.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Big coal in those days,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28there was none of these small cobbles you get now.
0:22:28 > 0:22:29Oh, it was bloody work.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Life certainly wasn't easy on board a puffer.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Hard, physical work.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41You can almost sense the presence of those men,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44loading and unloading this great cargo hold.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48And the other key element, of course, about a puffer
0:22:48 > 0:22:52was that she could load and unload under her own steam.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Hence the mast and derrick that you see in all the pictures,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58so they could do that at any point along the canal,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02or indeed at any point out in the Western Isles.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I heard one guy lost his leg, in a rope and a winch.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09There was various other accidents, you know?
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Cos health and safety didn't come into it.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15You just got on with the job!
0:23:17 > 0:23:21One man went on the derrick, one went on the winch,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and two went down in the hold -
0:23:23 > 0:23:25and you shovelled coal until you dropped.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30We got overtime for that and I'll always remember,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34we got the princely sum of one and six an hour.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36If you can get somebody else
0:23:36 > 0:23:38to shovel 150 tonnes for one and six an hour,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41you're off the beam!
0:23:41 > 0:23:43The money was never that great on the boats -
0:23:43 > 0:23:46not for the hours we were putting in, anyway.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49- I think it was about 84 hours a week we were working.- 84?!
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Yeah, that was it. That was just the way it went.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56So, it was very, very hard work, but we were fit.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00I'm 86, and I'm still going strong.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01You don't look a day over 60, Jim.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04That's what I say, too(!)
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Inside, I'm not so good. But I'm keeping going, no problems.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10I think that's largely due to having worked the puffers,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12for it built you in stamina.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14It kept you fit and kept you strong.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16It kept you going.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20I remember nearly wrecking a Bedford lorry one time.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Discharging sand and I was mate on a puffer
0:24:24 > 0:24:28and we had a grab for sand.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I was loading this lorry up - I didn't know about lorries then -
0:24:31 > 0:24:33and I loaded it right up.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38But the lorry fell apart, because an old Bedford,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40it probably held about three tonnes.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- I think I put 10 or 12 tonnes of sand on it! - LAUGHTER
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I'm heading down into the beating heart of the puffer -
0:24:57 > 0:25:00the life and soul of the ship -
0:25:00 > 0:25:02the engine room.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09The 72-year-old engine of the VIC 32 is maintained and stoked
0:25:09 > 0:25:13by dedicated young steam engineer Matt Scurr.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- Matt, hi. How are you? - Good to meet you.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Whoa! The heat!
0:25:23 > 0:25:25- It's warm, isn't it?- The noise, man.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28In that fire box, it's about 1,400 degrees.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Gives us a lovely 120P applied pressure -
0:25:33 > 0:25:34the engines like to run at.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40It's a beautiful piece of engineering, Matt.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Two cylinder of compound steam engine, producing 120 horsepower.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Do you enjoy it? Do you feel like she's yours?
0:25:48 > 0:25:49Absolutely, yeah.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51There's something that's alive.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Essentially, you feed them, you water them,
0:25:55 > 0:26:01you boil them, and they've got their own personality, almost.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03How many hours a day do you spend down here?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Up to an eight hour day, sometimes,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07depending on where we need to get to.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10- I bet at the end of the day, you're dying for a beer.- Absolutely.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Makes it taste good too!
0:26:15 > 0:26:20I love the beauty and the precision of pieces of engineering like this.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23All these interconnected parts, all working together.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25You know, if you look after engines like this,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27keep them maintained and oiled,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29they can last forever.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35It's a magnificent testimony to the ingenuity of the human race.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I love them. They're like works of art.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Now, this feels really good, steering this puffer.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59I'm heading through the Doras Mhor,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03which is the "open gate", or the "gateway", in Gaelic.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And it's seemingly quite tricky.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09You've got to watch out for a wee sailing boat over there,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12because we're much bigger and butcher than they are.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I wouldn't like to be responsible for anyone's deaths at sea!
0:27:18 > 0:27:20All over Scotland,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23the puffers are held in great affection by people everywhere,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25no matter where you come from.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27And most of that knowledge
0:27:27 > 0:27:31comes from the fictional characterisations of Neil Munro
0:27:31 > 0:27:33and his creations -
0:27:33 > 0:27:36his wonderful tales of Para Handy
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and the most famous puffer of them all -
0:27:38 > 0:27:40The Vital Spark.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45It was when the tales of The Vital Spark first appeared
0:27:45 > 0:27:47that the Clyde puffers sailed into immortality.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51They were written over 100 years ago,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53by Glasgow-based journalist Neil Munro.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Munro walked the banks of this river
0:27:58 > 0:28:02at a time when the Clyde was teeming with puffers.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06And he spotted their potential as a way to fill a few column inches.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17Now, these are copies of the long gone Glasgow Evening News.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And in here, we should find the first ever... Yes!
0:28:23 > 0:28:25..Para Handy story.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31So, on Monday, 16th January 1905,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34a new and enduring fictional character
0:28:34 > 0:28:36hit the Scottish literary scene.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43"A short, thick-set man with a red beard and a hard, round felt hat,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47"ridiculously out of harmony with a blue pilot jacket and trousers
0:28:47 > 0:28:48"and a seaman's jersey."
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Para Handy, master mariner, had arrived.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59These stories were a huge hit with the Glasgow public
0:28:59 > 0:29:01and they became part of Glasgow life.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05They were serialised until 1923 - that's 18 years, a very long time.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08And they were also published in book form.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10And that was over 100 years ago
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and since then, these books have never, ever been out of print
0:29:13 > 0:29:15and that is a quite extraordinary,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18quite remarkable achievement for any writer.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21ACCORDION MELODY
0:29:23 > 0:29:27'Retired BBC man Guthrie Hutton was part of the team
0:29:27 > 0:29:29'who worked on the most famous adaptation of them all -
0:29:29 > 0:29:35'a sitcom starring Roddy McMillan as roguish skipper Para Handy.'
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Oh, you see? That tune as well.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40Look at the size of it!
0:29:41 > 0:29:45So, we had to put that white line around her,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48because she was the smartest boat in the trade
0:29:48 > 0:29:49and she had that white line
0:29:49 > 0:29:53- and the white line, of course, was just two-inch masking tape.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Originally shot in black and white in the '60s,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59the show starred a host of the finest Scottish actors of the day
0:29:59 > 0:30:03and left us with the most enduring image of a puffer and her crew.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08- Well, it's wonderful to see that, actually.- Yes, it's great stuff.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10"Designer, Guthrie Hutton".
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Oh, God. I remember that - darning the socks.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18"Lady Cynthia Sins Again"!
0:30:18 > 0:30:20LAUGHTER
0:30:21 > 0:30:22Furtive -
0:30:22 > 0:30:25that's the word I'd use - furtive.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26"Furtive"!
0:30:28 > 0:30:31It's the way he kind of spits it out. It's wonderful.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Para Handy has been furtive ever since we left Inveraray.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37'The scripts were so good, they were filmed again,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40'almost shot for shot in colour in the 1970s.'
0:30:40 > 0:30:43There's not a damn thing wrong with the boiler!
0:30:43 > 0:30:45If I've told you once, I've told you 100 times -
0:30:45 > 0:30:47the whole engines need a complete overhaul.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Well, they're not going in for an overhaul!
0:30:50 > 0:30:54They want scrapped, that's what they want - scrapped! Come here!
0:30:54 > 0:30:57- You see this thing that's going round and round?- Aye.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59It should be going up and down!
0:31:01 > 0:31:03What have you got there?
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Well, these are some pages of camera script
0:31:07 > 0:31:10from 14th of November 1965.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Episode one, The Quarrel. "They strike fighting poses.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16"Jim heads for the door. I'm going to get Dougie!
0:31:16 > 0:31:18"It'll take more than Dougie to separate us!"
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Separate you? I want to see the fight!
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- Yeah?- No, no. Oh, no, no.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28It's not right for the master of the vessel
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- to fight with a common stoker. - Stoker?!
0:31:31 > 0:31:33"Stoker?!"
0:31:34 > 0:31:37When you were making the programmes in those days,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40did you realise that they would become so popular?
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Yes, we knew it would be popular, I guess,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45- because the Para Handy stories... - ..Are really funny.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48..have been popular since Neil Munro wrote them.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04This is Inveraray, the hometown of Neil Munro,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07the creator of The Vital Spark.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09He was born in the mid-19th century,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12so he was here during the heyday of the puffer trade
0:32:12 > 0:32:14and he was heavily influenced by what he saw
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and all the wonderful characters that he met.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28This is one of the last remaining puffers.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31She was originally called the Eilean Eisdeal,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33but then she was renamed the Vital Spark
0:32:33 > 0:32:35in tribute to Neil Munro and his original creation.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39She was one of the last working puffers until the mid-'90s.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43I think it's great that she's berthed here
0:32:43 > 0:32:45in Neil Munro's hometown -
0:32:45 > 0:32:47the writer of The Vital Spark.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00STEAM WHISTLES
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Now, we're currently sailing through the mouth of Loch Melfort.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15But if you look way behind me,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19you'll see in the distance the Paps of Jura - those distinctive peaks.
0:33:19 > 0:33:20To the left of them
0:33:20 > 0:33:23is a little sliver of land, coming out of the mist.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25That's Islay -
0:33:25 > 0:33:28and Islay plays an important part in the story of the puffer.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30It was a favourite port
0:33:30 > 0:33:33for all those seamen who worked in the puffer trade,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35because you see, going to Islay meant
0:33:35 > 0:33:39they were never very far away from a drop of the hard stuff.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Islay was the puffers island par excellence,
0:33:48 > 0:33:50with its distilleries and whatnot.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54It was the centre of the puffer kingdom.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58I went to a wedding there once - it was three days before we got sober.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01Look at that view - isn't it paradise?
0:34:02 > 0:34:04I've been coming to this island for years.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08I've got lots of friends here. I think it's a magical place.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11And its famous for Scotland's greatest export.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Whisky.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Islay is only 16 miles long,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20but still has eight working distilleries.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22It's a powerhouse of whisky production,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25vital to the local and national economy.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32The whisky all went out with a puffer, and the coal came in
0:34:32 > 0:34:34to fire the boilers and whatever else.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36It was one of the mainstays for the puffers.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40The whisky made here is famous the world over
0:34:40 > 0:34:44and this global trade was once utterly dependent on puffers.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49There were shipments, large shipments of whisky going out,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51so they would take them from here to Glasgow
0:34:51 > 0:34:54and then they would be exported.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Every time I left they were taking out tens of thousands of pounds.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01The puffers were like armoured carriers taking money out.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05It was liquid gold. It was so, so important.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I have here a wonderful old ledger.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13It's the account of the arrivals and sailings
0:35:13 > 0:35:18of ships to and from Islay. It's got everything marked.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22The Headlight, the Spartan,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26you've got the Warlight, the Dorothy, the Petrol.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31Page after page of dozens and dozens of entries of the arrivals and departures
0:35:31 > 0:35:32of puffers.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I've actually seen three puffers discharging or charging
0:35:36 > 0:35:40at Port Ellen harbour, and another three waiting to come in.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It was so busy. Employment-wise, it was just phenomenal.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45I was a driver.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49We had half a dozen lorries, and all we did, every day,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51was empty puffers. Coal, barley, malt.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57Barrels. Every day was an adventure.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00Whisky and puffers, it was a great match. It was really good
0:36:00 > 0:36:03because of the characters involved.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06We used to go up to the distillers, we loved that run.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Because we always got a good dram of their local whisky
0:36:09 > 0:36:13- while it was getting brewed. The white stuff.- The white stuff!
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Believe me, it was dynamite, it was absolutely potent!
0:36:16 > 0:36:20I got this, we all drank it down.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Well, ten minutes later, I didn't know which planet I was on,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26oh, dear, oh, dear. It wasn't just ordinary whisky, this was
0:36:26 > 0:36:28very, very strong.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32It was pure spirits, about 160% proof!
0:36:32 > 0:36:38I slept till the next day, because that stuff was just far too strong.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43We couldn't go it at all, so we diluted it with about a bottle of sherry and it was quite nice.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47And they were pretty handy at opening up a barrel or two, weren't they?
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Oh, that's a terrible thing to say, but, yes, they were!
0:36:53 > 0:36:56How did you manage to get the whisky from the barrels, Jimmy?
0:36:56 > 0:37:00That was a very well-kept secret amongst the puffermen,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02but when they were carrying it...
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I hope nobody's listening now, but we used to have a wee drill
0:37:07 > 0:37:11and we'd shaped pegs of the same type of wood as the barrel.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Drill a wee hole in the barrel, then we used to drain out
0:37:15 > 0:37:17maybe a quarter or maybe half a pint, no more.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22Wee plug in and bung them, make it all dirty again.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Done that with two or three barrels,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27we used to get a bottle each of whisky!
0:37:27 > 0:37:30I was sent up to the shop to get lemonade.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34The skipper says, "Get a case," so I had this case of lemonade.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37"Oh," he says, "Son, do you like lemonade?
0:37:37 > 0:37:39"Well, start drinking," he says.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42He wasn't wanting the lemonade, he was wanting the bottles.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45So they could be filled with... illegal whisky.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50But that was illegal. It was good fun.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54That was us for Christmas and New Year.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Living in an isolated Scottish island
0:38:01 > 0:38:06or an isolated Highland community has its challenges,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09but can you imagine what it was like 100-150 years ago?
0:38:09 > 0:38:12So what you couldn't get from the land or fish from the sea
0:38:12 > 0:38:15had to be brought in from outside, from the mainland,
0:38:15 > 0:38:17and the puffers were vital.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Especially if you made produce,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24or you were a trader in any way.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28The puffers were your connection to the outside world.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36The puffer was a lifeline service, absolutely essential to island life.
0:38:36 > 0:38:42The bigger vessels couldn't get into places where they've got no harbour as such.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46The puffers were the job for that.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Those years were amazing.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Nothing came into the island unless it came by puffer.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Now, a boat, if there's a breeze, the boat doesn't sail.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00In those days, they were coming in in horrendous weather.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Horrendous weather, they sailed.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Hard-working guys, you've got to give them their dues.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09If you looked at them going up the street towards you,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11you'd say, "This is a rough lot, this."
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Salt of the earth, they were. They really were.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16There were some really nice people.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20They had this name for being...
0:39:20 > 0:39:23hard drinkers, wild men. They weren't.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27They were hard workers. They spent long hours at sea,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31on ships with no navigational aids.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Wind and weather never stopped them.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43The puffers had a go-anywhere, carry-anything ethos.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46They would go to parts of Scotland that other boats couldn't reach,
0:39:46 > 0:39:50but they also had one more trick up their sleeve that made them absolutely perfect
0:39:50 > 0:39:53for the west coast communities they serviced.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59A lot of islands out on the west coast don't have piers,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02so you beached on the beach.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07The genius of the puffer meant that they could deliberately beach themselves
0:40:07 > 0:40:10right in the heart of the communities they served.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12Oh, we did a lot of beach work.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Did you? That must have been a tricky operation.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19- You really needed to have an exact knowledge of the tides.- Oh, aye.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20Very much so.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24The first time you went on the beach, you had a loaded puffer
0:40:24 > 0:40:27so you could ram her far up. You really come in at full speed.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28- At high tide.- At high tide.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31And sit there, tide would go out, and unload.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37The beach work was all tractors and trailers.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39In the old days, it was horses and carts.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43A farmer would go down with a bogey and a horse.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45That was their year's supply of coal.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49That was carted away to the farm or wherever it was.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53And then you would hear clankety-clankety-clank,
0:40:53 > 0:40:58and then when it was just above the trailer,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02the big bucket would be tipped and you'd hear this colossal
0:41:02 > 0:41:06rumble of coal falling onto the wood of the trailer.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13I'll never forget it. Never ever.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16And looking back, I thought of these men as heroes,
0:41:16 > 0:41:20coming with these wee boats to the islands, doing such good work
0:41:20 > 0:41:23maintaining the island economy.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26It wasn't the best of jobs, beach work, because you worked at nights,
0:41:26 > 0:41:30you had to work tides and you were down in a hole shovelling coal
0:41:30 > 0:41:32at all hours of the morning, two and three in the morning.
0:41:32 > 0:41:39Things like that. Trying to get a bite of food in-between
0:41:39 > 0:41:42and then a sleep, and then you were back up two or three hours later
0:41:42 > 0:41:46for the next tide, so I really wasn't impressed too much with the beach work.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Now this seemingly gentle act of beaching had its dangers,
0:41:52 > 0:41:55and you needed years of skill and experience to pull it off,
0:41:55 > 0:42:00because if you hit something like this, you would be in real trouble.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07This lovely little picture is of a puffer called the Roman,
0:42:07 > 0:42:11which is beached at Bute, and if you look round the ship,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14you see all sorts of little rocks on the beach there, which just shows you
0:42:14 > 0:42:18that deliberately beaching, as the puffer skippers had to do,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21was a very dangerous occupation.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24So how did they manage that time after time without damaging their boat?
0:42:24 > 0:42:28The answer lies in this log book.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32It's a hand-written beach book from 1933.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36It gives you a window into the past.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40These books contain all the information you need
0:42:40 > 0:42:42to work the west coast's little inlets,
0:42:42 > 0:42:47where's best to make shore if you needed to beach and discharge your cargo.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51And more importantly, where to avoid if you didn't want to damage your hull.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56"Good beach inside first two islands on starboard side.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00"Spring tides required."
0:43:00 > 0:43:04Let's look at this entry here, it's from Captain McIlwain.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07He's describing Loch Feochan.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12"Keep your vessels clear, dangerous."
0:43:12 > 0:43:13If you think about it,
0:43:13 > 0:43:18the information contained in these little books is absolutely vital.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22I bet they were like gold dust. They were like Bibles.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30In these days, there was no qualification certificates to get.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33It was based on local knowledge.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37They knew where every rock was and they knew where there wasn't rocks.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39They knew where they could shelter,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42and each had their own wee favourite place they could go.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44The other thing I remember about them
0:43:44 > 0:43:47is what marvellous seamen they were. They really were.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51They were first-class boat-handlers.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53First class.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Very difficult to steer, no hydraulic gear,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59just an ordinary chain drive,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03but it was extremely hard to steer.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06If you were a young skipper, how do I do this and how do I do that?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Experienced men used to tell you.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13They were seamen by experience. They started as I started,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15as a deckhand, and they learnt the ropes.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19That's where the experience would come, learning the ropes.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22This intimate knowledge of the waters they sailed
0:44:22 > 0:44:26was absolutely crucial, because life on the seas
0:44:26 > 0:44:30around Scotland was dangerously unpredictable.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34A lot of really frightening times on them.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Especially, you wouldn't want to go out in a gale of wind
0:44:37 > 0:44:40but you could easily enough get caught in one
0:44:40 > 0:44:42and you had to make the best of it.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46There was a load of puffers on what I would term as a half-tide rock.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48You know, a half-tide rock
0:44:48 > 0:44:51is when the sea is just rolling over the top of it.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54And that's what a loaded puffer would resemble.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00But, eh, we just went out in all weathers, you know?
0:45:00 > 0:45:03It was...a frightening job, you know?
0:45:03 > 0:45:06It was sturdy weather all the time.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08When the boat was rolling, if you hadn't got your sea legs,
0:45:08 > 0:45:12you could quite easily be washed overboard, because water's heavy
0:45:12 > 0:45:16and it would just take you off your feet and put you over the side.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18It was very, very sturdy boats and they could handle,
0:45:18 > 0:45:22as long as the hold was battened down and no water got in,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24they were usually quite safe.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28The one that I was on before I came onto this, that sank,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31going over to Liverpool.
0:45:31 > 0:45:32The hatch covers moved and it sunk,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35and she capsized. And drowned half the crew.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37Really? What was her name?
0:45:37 > 0:45:38That was the Druid.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47The number of them that sank, that foundered, sprung a leak,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49was remarkable.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53There was one that was a VIC, like this one.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56She was sunk in the Irish Sea, went down with all hands.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58It was Hogmanay in 1953.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04She left Carnlough at night. She was never seen again.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06- Just disappeared?- Just disappeared.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10Somewhere in the Irish Sea, probably.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21Stories about sinking, running aground.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27The attrition rate on these boats was enormous.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29"Lifeboat out to grounded coaster."
0:46:32 > 0:46:34"Divers hunt for coaster's crew."
0:46:35 > 0:46:38"All five members of the crew lost their lives."
0:46:38 > 0:46:42"And when they found the ship, there was no visible signs of damage."
0:46:42 > 0:46:44They'd just disappeared.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46"If she is undamaged, then she will sail again,"
0:46:46 > 0:46:49said a spokesman for the Glenlight Shipping Company.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Aye, the ship may sail again.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53But the sailors won't.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59We never thought it was dangerous. We just never thought of it.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02It was there, we done it and worked away on it.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10The puffer and her crews had proven themselves to be brave and resilient
0:47:10 > 0:47:15and during Britain's greatest hour of need, this would not go unnoticed.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20At the start of World War II, the Admiralty needed a versatile
0:47:20 > 0:47:24supply boat to service its fleets and the wider war effort.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26And they didn't have to look very far,
0:47:26 > 0:47:28because the perfect boat was the puffer.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30With its massive cargo capacity,
0:47:30 > 0:47:35these hardy little boats very quickly became vital to Britain's war effort.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42In the war, they were very, very useful for servicing warships.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44We used them to take out water.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49We used them to take out food and stores,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52anything that the big boats needed.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54The Navy had found the boat it needed.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56They took the latest Scottish designs
0:47:56 > 0:47:59and ordered 100 brand-new puffers.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03Only two were built in Scotland, though.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06The rest of the ordered VICs were made by English yards.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Each of them were given their own number
0:48:11 > 0:48:16and were designated the title Victualling Inshore Craft - the VICs.
0:48:18 > 0:48:23They were to be seen wherever you had fleets in need of servicing.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29There was another reason the Navy chose the puffer.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32The VICs were remarkable for the use of steam propulsion
0:48:32 > 0:48:34at a time when diesel engines were taking over
0:48:34 > 0:48:37and being installed in all crafts of similar size.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39It was quite simple.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Coal, unlike diesel, didn't have to be imported or processed,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46freeing up the supplies of diesel for the ships of war.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52So, the puffer was pressed into war service.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54It was called up, in effect.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58And then these puffers came back to Scotland.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02By the end of the war, the Admiralty had no more need of the VICs.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04So they flooded the market with them
0:49:04 > 0:49:06and they were snapped up by many a buyer.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08You could buy them for about £2,000.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10That was less than half the price of a new-build.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13And they were all less than eight years old
0:49:13 > 0:49:15so they were pretty damn good bargain.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18But, in fact, the purchasing of this new fleet of steam-engined
0:49:18 > 0:49:22puffers was what sowed the seed for the demise of the puffer trade.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27At that time, they should have been going into diesel
0:49:27 > 0:49:30rather than steam, rather than coal.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34- Diesel being a much more efficient fuel.- Absolutely.
0:49:36 > 0:49:41Each puffer carried a massive boiler. To feed that boiler,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45they carried 12 tonnes of water. They also carried 12 tonnes of coal.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49That means that each puffer gave up in space
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and dead weight a massive amount.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54No match for the economies of diesel.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57I originally was a steam engineer.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59I served my time as a steam engineer.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01But I switched to diesel, earlier on.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06Steam puffers were too warm and smelly and dirty.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11So, in the early 1960s, these puffers were remodelled,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13given diesel engines,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15and they changed completely,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17compared with the old ones that I knew.
0:50:19 > 0:50:24After 100 glorious years, the golden age of the steam puffer
0:50:24 > 0:50:25had finally come to an end.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29If boats like our old friend the Spartan,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33which had been built for the war, were to have any kind of future
0:50:33 > 0:50:35they had to convert to diesel.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39The capacity needed for storing coal
0:50:39 > 0:50:42and suchlike was put to other use, then.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46Many extended the hold so that they could carry a wee bit more cargo.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49It was very economical, easy to work with.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Despite the late attempts at modernisation,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56the tide was turning against the puffer.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Inland improvements to roads and a subsidised rail network
0:51:02 > 0:51:05finally put pay to the Forth and Clyde Canal
0:51:05 > 0:51:07as an economically viable cargo route.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13In January 1963, the waterway that had been
0:51:13 > 0:51:16the birthplace of the puffer was closed to all traffic.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22The demise of the puffer was slow.
0:51:22 > 0:51:23But it was sure.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29With no inland trade available,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33the puffers now became entirely dependent on work from the islands.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40However, the puffer was about to meet a challenge it could not face.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46In the late '60s, a strange new craft appeared out of the mist.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50The trade was about to be destroyed by a futuristic monster.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55The first fleet of Scottish roll-on-roll-off ferries
0:51:55 > 0:51:57had now been launched.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00It must have been a fairly devastating effect that the
0:52:00 > 0:52:04- roll-on-roll-off ferries had on the puffer trade.- Oh, definitely did.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08Especially the whisky, the distilleries.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11They went on to articulated lorries carrying over their barley
0:52:11 > 0:52:14and taking out the whisky.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21You could put almost a puffer's worth inside a big container,
0:52:21 > 0:52:23put it on wheels
0:52:23 > 0:52:26and tow it on board a ferry.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31And the crews on the puffers couldn't run then.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34So they started selling puffers and amalgamating companies.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37But the lorries killed it, eventually, after that.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39They didn't need the puffers any more.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44When the roll-on-roll-off ferries came in,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48especially in Islay, it must have been a big change.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51- Oh, the writing was on the wall.- Oh, yeah.
0:52:51 > 0:52:52Oh, it definitely was.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57A lot of folk say it was the best thing that happened to the island
0:52:57 > 0:53:00was the roll-on, but not for me, not for a lot of folk.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03- The changes must have been brutal. - It was just brutal.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I mean, as for the company, we had probably seven, eight,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08nine lorries.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10And that just died away in a year.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12Did you sense it was coming to the end of an era?
0:53:12 > 0:53:14Yeah, that's the way that we came off.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17I left them in the sort of late '60s, early '70s.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21I said, "Well, change is on here, you know?"
0:53:24 > 0:53:28New roll-on-roll-off ferries would keep on coming.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31And they would prove to be a disaster for the puffers.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33And, just as the puffers themselves had once killed
0:53:33 > 0:53:36the trade in horse-drawn canal traffic
0:53:36 > 0:53:41and cargo-carrying sailing scows, their days were numbered.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43They were about to become obsolete.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46A lot of the roads and a lot of the ferry terminals
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and a lot of the boats, even, were built with public subsidy,
0:53:49 > 0:53:54and that meant that these little coastal boats,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57operating as private business, couldn't compete.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02And the competition element then became unfair.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06With only a handful of vessels remaining,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08the puffers limped on to the early '90s.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12But finally a trade which had been part of a costal tradition
0:54:12 > 0:54:16for over 140 years sank completely.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Anyway, I joined the puffers.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20That was in 1966.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24And I was there right up to their demise.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25That was it.
0:54:25 > 0:54:26There you are.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28What a shock to the system that was!
0:54:50 > 0:54:52Spending a couple of days on the VIC32
0:54:52 > 0:54:54has been a real treat for me.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56It's been a joy.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00I never thought I would see the day when I would have that opportunity.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03It's been lovely, because it's a very tangible boat.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05It's there, it's real, it's visceral,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08it's sweaty, it's oily, it's noisy, it's mechanical,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12it's engineering at its best. For its day.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Um...it's got a personality.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17It's got a very, very strong personality,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19and a lovely one, at that.
0:55:19 > 0:55:20It's been like an adventure.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Currently, the VIC32 is the last of the ocean-going steam puffers
0:55:27 > 0:55:29in Scottish waters.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33But, very shortly, she might just have an ally on the water with her.
0:55:50 > 0:55:51This is Auld Reekie.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55She's currently undergoing a major rebuilding and renovation programme
0:55:55 > 0:55:59which hopefully means the VIC32 will have a sister ship.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06You know, we think of puffers as short, stubby little boats
0:56:06 > 0:56:08but when you see them out of the water like this,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11you realise the sheer scale of them. They're magnificent.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Like the VIC32, Auld Reekie was built for the Navy
0:56:19 > 0:56:23during World War II and then sold back to Scotland.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27After her working life, she was used as a training vessel
0:56:27 > 0:56:31for youth clubs before narrowly avoiding the scrapyard.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34She's now being brought back to life by a dedicated team
0:56:34 > 0:56:36at the Crinan boatyard.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42This is the refurbished engine of Auld Reekie.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44They've done a grand job with it.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49Almost like new.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54I'd love to see her working, but that won't happen now until next year.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56They hope, with a wing and a prayer.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03What a wonderful thought,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07that another one of these boats could very soon be back on Scottish waters.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33You know, those stubby, chunky little ships, for over 100 years,
0:57:33 > 0:57:35they would carry anything and go anywhere.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37They were a regular sight on this river.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40And I am a Glaswegian and I'm deeply,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42deeply proud of our great shipbuilding heritage.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46We built some of the greatest ships the world has ever seen,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49but I bet most of us would say the one that we hold dearest
0:57:49 > 0:57:51to our hearts is the little Clyde puffer.
0:57:53 > 0:57:59The puffer filled a niche in Scottish life.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03But I think it went further than that. It filled a niche in Scottish identity.
0:58:04 > 0:58:10And it represented a Scottish solution to a Scottish problem,
0:58:10 > 0:58:14and it was built and manned by Scots.
0:58:16 > 0:58:17And, you know,
0:58:17 > 0:58:21Scotland is the poorer for the passing of the puffer.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24And the people who were the puffers.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26And that was the story about life on the puffers.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28Worked, slept and played hard.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31Chased women when we got the chance.
0:58:31 > 0:58:35We used to know everybody and everybody knew us.
0:58:35 > 0:58:40- So there you are.- Thank you, Jimmy. - Thank you.- Pleasure.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42You might get a wee story out of that! Heh-heh!
0:58:51 > 0:58:53# I've crossed the broad Atlantic
0:58:53 > 0:58:55# I've sailed the China Sea
0:58:55 > 0:58:59# I've sighted Honolulu and the far New Hebrides
0:58:59 > 0:59:01# But nothing that I've seen or heard
0:59:01 > 0:59:03# Can fill me wi' such pride
0:59:03 > 0:59:08# As the black smoke fae my puffer as she's chuggin' doon the Clyde!
0:59:08 > 0:59:10# Oh, we're no' gaun tae blaw
0:59:10 > 0:59:12# And we're no gaun tae craw
0:59:12 > 0:59:16# We don't want tae injure your feelings
0:59:16 > 0:59:18# But take it fae me
0:59:18 > 0:59:21# You'll never, ever see
0:59:21 > 0:59:28# Ony braes half sae braw as the Hielans! #
0:59:28 > 0:59:30PUFFER'S STEAM WHISTLE