Wemyss Bay
Wemyss Bay | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
Wemyss Bay station and pier by the A78 at the Inverclyde / North Ayrshire boundary | |||
| |||
County | |||
Renfrewshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Inverclyde | |||
Transport Scotland Roads | |||
A78 | |||
Places related to the A78 | |||
Wemyss Bay, pronounced Weems Bay, is a small town on the Firth of Clyde coast from which the main ferry service to the Isle of Bute sails. The town was never more than a village of large houses and villas lying a little to the north of the harbour and railway station. This area is little changed, except that few of the houses are now single properties, either being converted into flats, nursing homes or guest houses. However, along with Skelmorlie to the south and Inverkip to the north, Wemyss Bay has grown substantially in the last 50 or so years, with new housing estates and coastal blocks of flats making the most of the views across the Firth. Indeed, there is little green space left between Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie, save the steep wooded gully of the Kelly Burn. A large caravan park climbs the hill above the town, also making the most of the views.
The main road, indeed the only classified road, through Wemyss Bay is the A78, the main trunk road from Greenock and Glasgow to the Ayrshire coastal towns. The old part of the town is, perhaps unusually, served by a warren of private roads and driveways, few of which have ever been adopted, although the new estates to the north are all on adopted roads. A little further north, at Inverkip, the A770 takes the coastal route via Gourock to Greenock.
As noted above, Wemyss Bay is the main port for the Isle of Bute. The Rothesay Ferry sails from the pier head next to the fine Edwardian Station across to Rothesay and the A844. The station was built in the days of the Clyde Steamers when the richest of Glaswegian Business Men could live on Bute and still commute into the city each day. Today a regular car service operates, using two vessels throughout the summer, although in the winter storms the service can be diverted north to the more sheltered harbour at Gourock.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Largs, Ardrossan, Irvine | ||
Greenock, Glasgow (M8) | was A742 north of Inverkip | |
Gourock | was A78, starts at Inverkip | |
Rothesay and the A844 |
Links