Plaque Returned After 25 Years

SURPRISE PACKAGE FOR THE MAID

A specially designed plaque to commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of the Maid of the Loch, Loch Lomond’s Paddle Steamer, has been returned after disappearing more than 25 years ago.

“Its recovery came as a complete surprise,” said John Beveridge, Director of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, the Maid’s owners. “It was handed in to us at our stall at the model rail exhibition in Helensburgh a couple of weeks ago in a plastic bag. A big thank you to the person who returned it. We will make sure it is put back on display on the Maid”, he added.

The brass plaque was presented to the Maid by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and unveiled on a special cruise in 1978. It had been removed from the ship in 1980, and its whereabouts had remained a mystery until now.

The return of the plaque comes just days before the biggest event in the Maid’s recent career. On 26^th April she is due to be taken out of the water for the first time in 25 years, on completion of the slipway rebuild. She has remained tied up at Balloch pier since her withdrawal from service in 1981. The £620,000 project means that it will now be possible to restore the Maid to steam operating condition, if funding can be found. A further announcement will be made shortly.

_____________________________________________________Ends 13 April 2006

Notes to Editors

1. The photo shows John Whittle, Managing Director of Caledonian MacBrayne, and Mrs Mona Moore, wife of the Scottish Branch Chairman, unveiling the plaque on board the Maid on 11 June 1978

2. Maid of the Loch is the last paddle steamer to be built in Britain, and the last steamer on Loch Lomond. She was built in 1953 and withdrawn from service in 1981. She has remained moored at Balloch Pier ever since, and in now a visitor attraction, café, bar and restaurant.

3. The Loch Lomond Steamship Company is a charity registered in Scotland, formed to ensure the future of the Maid. Their aim is “to return the Maid to steam operation on the loch as soon as funding allows”.

4. The Balloch Steam Slipway Complex has received funding of £290,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund; £200,000 from Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire; £50,000 from West Dunbartonshire Council; and the balance from LLSC

5. It is hoped to bring the Maid out of the water, up on the slipway, on 26^th April. This will be done with a professional company, and is a slow process. It is extremely weather dependent as a very calm day is required to manoeuvre the vessel on to the carriage and cradle.

FURTHER INFORMATION FROM JOHN BEVERIDGE ON 0777 444 0906