Directors and volunteers are unpaid and LLSC has no staff. Yet this dedicated group have turned the Maid from a hulk in danger of sinking at the pier in 1992, into a successful business by 2001. Fortunately the Maid is in fresh water, so her hull is sound. Her steam machinery is also in good condition, and with further work can be made to operate for another 50 years. The original boiler was in a very poor condition, and had to be removed. Her wooden promenade and upper decks were so badly rotten they were replaced in 1996/7 with steel and aluminium respectively.
The former fore saloon now contains Maid & Loch Lomond steamer histories, and our Souvenir Shop. The after saloon, formerly her bar, is now the Douglas Mickel Saloon complete with tartan carpet and disabled toilet. The Lomond Lounge was previously the dining saloon, and serves sandwiches, snacks, teas & coffees. Located at the stern, the Queens’ Restaurant (formerly the cafeteria) can seat up to 90 for a formal dinner. On the lower deck forward, the Princess May Lounge was originally the tearoom. Below the Queens’ Restaurant is the Lower Bar which we are in the process of renovating as a cocktail bar area.
And the restoration does not stop with the Maid. The pier has been completely rebuilt, the access road was formerly the railway line up to the pier, and a new car park was created just 250 metres away. In 2005 and 2006 we created planters and made a feature of an old wooden boat. A pontoon is joined to the pier from where local boat operator Sweeney’s Cruises now sails every day in summer. In 2007, the rebuilt Balloch Steam Slipway will be open to the public with “In Steam” days throughout the year
RENOVATION
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Full descriptions of the major steps forward are highlighted in the souvenir booklet, but this photograph shows the early efforts to remove rust and flaking paintwork in 1996, after she had been lying forlornly at the pier for 15 years. Shortly after this, LLSC gave her a striking new livery of black hull with red boot-topping, white superstructure, and red funnel with black top.
