From 1950 to 2020 "Lion" canting.
Single heavy moorings.

"San Paulo" at number 1 berth finished loading, then shifted to number 2 berth.

Low water 19' 7"

Dredger BLYTHSWOOD completes dredging off River Cart (opposite John Brown's Shipyard)

Dredger BLYTHSWOOD working in basin of Rothesay Dock, Clydebank, Glasgow

Ardrossan Dockyard Bids For Troon Yard

From: Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald dated 30th January 1970

ARDROSSAN DOCKYARD BIDS FOR TROON YARD

Ardrossan Dockyard Co., Ltd., have made a bid for the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co., at Troon. The bid is in competition with one received recently from an English based company for the Troon yard.

The first bid was announced by Sir James R.H. Hutchison, Bt., chairman of the Ailsa Company, after the launch of the car ferry ?IONA? from the Ailsa yard on Thursday of last week.

A second ?600,000 bid was received on Tuesday from Ardrossan Dockyard Limited, which was the third attempt by the firm to gain control of the Troon Shipyard.

The Ardrossan firm made their first unsuccessful bid over a year ago. A second offer was made to the Ailsa directors in December and the third offer this week.

The Ailsa Company directors are meeting this week to consider the offers and make recommendations to shareholders. Most of the shares are held by members of the board.

Mr. James R. Miller, secretary of the Ardrossan Dockyard, said: ?We expect to have a reply from the Ailsa directors by mid February. An earlier offer made before the New Year was rejected?.

?There is nothing I can say about the position at Ardrossan at this stage. I would rather await the outcome of the bid for the Ailsa Company. We hope we have bettered the English offer?.

Before the ?600,000 offer was received, the Ailsa board decided to recommend their shareholders to accept the English bid.

Sir James Hutchison told our reporter after the launch: ?I cannot reveal details of the proposal until they are posted to the shareholders. If the change is approved a further statement will be made in a fortnight?.

No Redundancies

?There would be no redundancies and the yard would continue to build ships. The additional capital received would allow the company to expand by diversification?.

?The arrangement would be an amicable one which would allow the Ailsa yard to develop further. There is no threat in it either to our employees or to Troon.

?There would be no changes in the management and few on the board of directors?.
If the takeover took place expansion would be likely in the yard?s engineering work. Of the staff of about 400 there are 300 men working in the shipyard, 80 in the engine works and the others in the offices.

Ardrossan Yard?s Future

There has been speculation about the future of the Ardrossan yard since the end of the year when it was announced a number of workmen were paid off because of redundancy.

Rumours that the company were leaving Ardrossan have been rife and at present, work is in progress which would seem to indicate that part of the yard will be used for other purposes.

The Dockyard Company have made no statement about what they intend to do at Ardrossan but it is understood that part of the yard at least has been taken over by Ardrossan Harbour Company and will be used in connection with the increased traffic which will use the harbour.

Scribe Tango

Police at Aberdeen board deep sea trawler MOUNT SORRELL after an incident in Faroe Islands

Storms disrupt sailings of Burns & Laird' "Lion"

From: Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald Dated Friday 6th February 1970

STORM HOLDS UP FUSILIERS

A party of 150 men and 25 vehicles of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, were due to sail from Ardrossan to Belfast on Tuesday, but had to postpone their departure for 24 hours when the ferry ?LION? was unable to dock at Ardrossan due to rough seas.

The soldiers were the advance party of the regiment who will fly to Northern Ireland next month. They had driven down from Fort George, Inverness, and stayed overnight at Dundonald Camp, Troon, where they had to remain two nights instead of one.

The main party of 100 men and 35 vehicles will sail from Ardrossan tonight by special overnight ferry. This is the first time since wartime days that the transport element of an infantry battalion has embarked from a Scottish port for active service - and carries echoes of D-Day, which had to be postponed for similar reasons.

The ?LION? was unable to dock at Ardrossan due to gale-force winds and high seas which lasted over Monday and Tuesday, and only on Wednesday morning at 0515 hrs, 30 hours late, did the Burns & Laird vessel eventually tie up at Ardrossan.

She was due on Monday night at 2045 hrs, but despite repeated attempts to dock, she was forced to take shelter off Arran for that night. She had 50 passengers on board.

The following morning further unsuccessful attempts were made to dock at Ardrossan and the ferry eventually had to tie up at Greenock about 1700 hrs that afternoon and allow the passengers to disembark, but there are no facilities at Greenock for cars to be driven off so that operation had to be carried out at their correct destination.

Scribe Tango

P & O liner ORONSAY leaves Vancouver (Canada) after a three week quarantine for Typhoid

Seven Russian Naval vessels pass Gibraltar towards damaged Russian submarine off Melilla

February 1970 advert by Bell Line Limited for a "Jill of all trades" for their new Glasgow office

Ardrossan man drowned when Burns & Laird's "Lairdsfield" capsizes

From "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" dated Friday 13th February 1970.

ARDROSSAN MAN LOST AT SEA

An Ardrossan man was among the crew of the Scots coaster "Lairdsfield" who were lost when it capsized at the mouth of the River Tees last Friday night.

Mr. William Flood (35), whose home is at 26 Lawson Drive, Ardrossan, had been at sea most of his life.
At the age of fifteen he followed in his father's footsteps and first served on the Burns & Laird Lines' "Lairds Loch."
Later he was on board many of the large ships of the Cunard and Castle Lines, sailing all over the world.
He rejoined Burns & Laird about ten weeks ago.
Nine years ago, off the coast of Zanzibar, he vainly attempted to rescue a shipmate who had gone overboard into the shark-infested waters.

Mr. Flood, whose parents still live in Ardrossan, was married with a four year old daughter.
Three years ago, his elder daughter was killed after being knocked down by a bus near their home.

The coaster - a frequent visitor to Ardrossan - is reported to have suddenly turned turtle as she sailed from Middlesborough to Cork with a 600-ton cargo of steel plates and piling bars.