Helensburgh
About us Helensburgh is a town on the Firth of Clyde near Loch Lomond and bordering on the West Highlands of Scotland. The Helensburgh Heritage Trust covers the Helensburgh and Lomond District of Argyll and Bute Council and the borders run along the West side of Loch Lomond, Loch Long and the Gareloch.
Helensburgh itself is a town of wide streets bordered with cherry trees, a wonderful sight in the Spring. The town was named after Lady Helen Sutherland, daughter of the Duke of Sutherland and wife of Colquhoun of Luss. Helensburgh is not just a fine town in beautiful surroundings. It was the birthplace of John Logie Baird the inventor of Television and the town of Henry Bell who "built the first efficient steam vessel to sail European Waters"
It was also the town of Jack Buchanan,Deborah Kerrand Neil Munro and is the town of the late Jimmy Logan the famous Scottish actor and comedian who was Honorary President of the Trust. In the absence of a Heritage Trust there is no way of commemorating those distinguished people of the town and the history of the river Clyde and the boats that used to ply between the piers of the Rosneath Peninsula.
This history is in danger of being a closed book to new generations of young people. It is, therefore, important that there should be one place (a Heritage Centre) where all this information can be brought together for the education and interest of everybody. The aim is to provide a Heritage Centre where this can be done. With men such as John Logie Baird and Henry Bell to commemorate, the Trust should be in a favourable position to apply for grants but a great deal of money will have to be raised privately if the target of (probably) several million pounds is to be reached.
In the meantime, the Trust is carrying out a number of activities with the aim of bringing before the people of the area various aspects of their heritage. There is a series of open meetings where subjects such as the Architecture of Helensburgh and Helensburgh in Wartime have been presented. A Geological Walk on Ardmore Point has now been established and there will be conducted Town Walks with an itinerary which takes in some of the fine examples of Helensburgh architecture.
Following the successful exhibition, "Comet to Waverley" in September 1997, the Trust has decided to hold an exhibition again this year. The subject will be Religious Groups in the Helensburgh and Lomond Area going back, hopefully, to pre-Christian days and taking in religions that have come more recently to our area. The Trust would like to hear from people all over the world who have or have had a connection with the Helensburgh and Lomond area. This includes the many American Servicemen who were posted in the area during the war.
We will do our best to answer queries and would appreciate anecdotes for inclusion in the newsletter. Copies of old photographs would also be much appreciated. As you will see we have now set up our own dedicated website -Helensburgh Heritage As a forward looking organisation, managed by the more mature generation - we embarked on using modern technology - ie the Internet as far back as 1997 - in fact we were one of the earliest users of the Internet. Today however we are now in a position to further our Internet activities and will continue to develop the uses and facilities of this exciting and developing technology.
