Author : Bill Clark ISBN : 9781840339987 Cover : paperback Price : £12.95
The two villages in the old Renfrewshire may seem an odd choice for a then and now set of comparison photographs of the old and the new, but actually, there has been a fair bit of change. The old coaching inn, later a hotel, seen on the front cover, survived until 2018 when it was replaced by a convenience store. The much-lauded Wemyss Bay Station dates from 1903, when it was built on the site of the plainer and smaller 1865 building. The carnage continued with the site of the Wemyss Bay and Roghmar Hotels now houses. The Lord Inverclyde Church failed as a Memorial to Sir George Burns’s wife when it too was demolished in 1970 to become just a memory. Castle Wemyss, a large mansion in Scottish baronial style, fell into the hands of a developer in the late 1950s, had its roof removed to avoid paying rates, and met its end in 1984. These are all included, as well as views of streets and environs less afflicted by such severe loss, but still noticeably different from how they used to be.
