‘A village falling into decay’ – How Dunoon Became a Popular Holiday Resort for the People of Glasgow. 

Introduction

Dunoon, is now the largest town on the Cowal Peninsular, however, in 1822, Hugh Macdonald, a nineteenth century social commentator, described Dunoon as a ‘village falling into decay’ with only ‘three or four slates houses.’[1] Dunoon became a fashionable resort in late 1822 when a Glasgow merchant, James Ewing, built a large mansion above the pier, and the change inspired other wealthy Glaswegians to build large holiday homes, a move that allowed Dunoon to expand and become a popular holiday resort.[2]

‘Taking the Water’ and the Convalescent Homes of Dunoon

Alistair Durie suggests it was the upper classes who first ‘discovered’ the Scottish seaside as there seems to have been no tradition of the seaside holiday in Scotland until the late eighteenth century.[3] The introduction of the Hydropathic hotel in Dunoon was late to the hydropathic trend that had spread across Britain during the eighteenth century. The highland landscape of Dunoon allowed it to be the perfect environment for hydrotherapy as the hotels ‘entire raison d’etre was the eradication of disease through water’ a commodity Dunoon had an abundance of.[4] However, after only a few years of being operational the hotels purpose changed and many became convalescent homes that ‘afforded welcome breaks for many convalescing Glasgow folk sorely in need of them’.[5] Social commentator John Blackie complied a number of letters on hydrotherapy from Dunoon that suggest the changing opinions of Dunoon from Hugh Macdonald’s earlier description.[6] The letters describe Dunoon as a ‘delectable little Caledonian snuggery’ that has ‘not its superior in Europe’, a very different view of Dunoon from the beginning of the nineteenth century.[7]

This was one of the first example of people travelling to Dunoon for leisure purposes, a move that was echoed across Britain in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Richard Morris argues that the ‘Victorian change of air’, a movement that forced people from the cities to rural environments in order to combat illness, could be seen as a ‘precursor to the modern pleasure holiday’ and therefore, a reason for why Dunoon’s popularity with tourists began.[8]

The Expansion of Dunoon

The maps show the growth of Dunoon from 1860 to 1900. The main shopping street, Argyll Street, between East and West bay was expanded inland to accommodate the growing number of tourists that were arriving in Dunoon from Glasgow and the surrounding seaside towns on the Cowal Peninsular.

The pier would be the first impression gained by the tourists and its appearance took inspiration from Tudor architecture, a popular architectural design during the nineteenth century.[9]  Eric Simpson suggests that ‘by the late nineteenth century, popular tourism had arrived’ and the seaside towns became spaces working-class people could identify with.[10]

The Importance of the Paddle Steamers to Cowal Tourists

Alistair Durie suggests that at the beginning of the nineteenth century the coming of the steamship was a sign of ’breaking away from the shackles of wind’ to be able to travel around the coast, a move that was pioneered on the Clyde in the 1810s.[11] By 1830 around three dozen paddle steamers were taking passengers around the Clyde estuaries to the towns such as Dunoon and Rothsay, a technological advancement that was to ‘transform the travel for business and leisure in Scotland.[12] Eric Simpson argues that mass tourism across Britain was a ‘product of the railway age’ however, for towns such as Dunoon and Rothsay, the paddle steamer offered the opportunity for an increasing numbers of people to enjoy the region cheaply.[13] In comparison to the tourist movement that was taking place across Britain, Dunoon’s holiday industry relied on the paddle steamers to bring people to the resort as rail travel proved difficult due to the lochs and geography of the region. Steam travel provided quick and cost-effective travel during the mid-nineteenth century in Scotland while the rest of Britain was expanding the railways. However, due to the cheap travel directly from Glasgow, the number of working-class people to the area increased, leading the ‘respectable summer residents’, who had visited Dunoon for almost half a century to consider new visitors a ‘considerable nuisance.’[14]

The Emergence of Holiday Charities

By the end of the nineteenth century Dunoon had established itself as a popular holiday resort for the people of Glasgow and beyond and as a result the importance of the annual holiday had also been realised across Britain. As a result of this charities such as Necessitous Children’s Holiday Camp Fund and Guild of Aid Work in the Gorbals emerged during the 1920s to allow the poorest people in Scotland to enjoy the highland landscape of Dunoon and have time away from the industrial cities.

The stills are from films that were played in cinemas once a year in Glasgow to raise money for the holiday charities. The films depicted the poor conditions of Glasgow and therefore, the need and importance of an annual holiday for the health and wellbeing of the poorer classes.[15]

The move towards holiday charities highlights the adaptations that Dunoon as a holiday resort has been through, from a place for the wealthy to convalesce, to a destination for people of all classes to enjoy.

Article © Imogen Allen 

Primary Sources

Advertisement of a Hydro, taken from David Pollock, Dictionary of the Clyde from Into to Ailsa Craig (J. Menzies & Co, Glasgow, 1888)

Blackie, John Stuart, The Water Cure In Scotland: Five Letters From Dunoon (Aberdeen: G. Davidson, 1849)

MacDonald, Hugh, Days At The Coast (Glasgow: Dunn & Wright, 1878)

“Dunoon, Argyll 1900s”, Digimap.Edina.Ac.Uk<https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/roam/map/historic> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

“Dunoon, Argyll 1900s”, Digimap.Edina.Ac.Uk<https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/roam/map/historic> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

“‘GUILD OF AID WORK IN THE GORBALS’ (0531) – Moving Image Archive Catalogue”, Movingimage.Nls.Uk, 1933 <https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/0531?search_term=dunoon&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes> [Accessed 19 May 2020].

“Scran: Dunoon Pier”, Scran, 1900 <https://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-093-690-C&scache=2w9ch16xa1&searchdb=scran> [Accessed 17 May 2020]

“Scran: Castle Rocks, Dunoon”, Scran, St Andrews Unviersity Library Archive, photograph registered in 1925 <https://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-600-366-C&scache=3w86f16xa6&searchdb=scran> [Accessed 17 May 2020]

“‘SUNNY DAYS’ (0893) – Moving Image Archive Catalogue”, Movingimage.Nls.Uk, 1931<https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/0893?search_term=dunoon&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes> [Accessed 19 May 2020]

“The Thomas Annan Collection, Dunoon, Argyll”, Scran<https://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-516-458-C&scache=1shzw16xa9&searchdb=scran> [Accessed 15 May 2020]

Secondary Literature

Bradley, James, Marguerite Dupree, and Alistair Durie, “Taking The Water-Cure: The Hydropathic Movement In Scotland, 1840-1940”, Business And Economic History, 26 (1997), pp.426-437

Durie, Alastair, “Medicine, Health And Economic Development: Promoting Spa And Seaside Resorts In Scotland C. 1750–1830”, Medical History, 47 (2003), pp.195-216

Durie, Alistair, “Movement, Travel And Tourism”, in A History Of Everyday Life In Scotland, 1800 To 1900 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010)

Gray, Alastair, A History Of Scotland: Modern Times (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)

Macleay, John, Old Dunoon And Cowal (Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2002)

Morris, Richard. E, “The Victorian ‘Change Of Air’ As Medical And Social Construction”, Journal Of Toursim History, 10 (2018), pp. 49-65

Simpson, Eric, Wish You Were Still Here: The Scottish Seaside Holiday (Shroud: Amberley, 2013)

References 

[1] Hugh, Macdonald, Days At The Coast (Glasgow: Dunn & Wright, 1878), p. 346

[2] Macdonald, p. 346

[3] Alastair Durie, “Medicine, Health And Economic Development: Promoting Spa And Seaside Resorts In Scotland C. 1750–1830”, Medical History, 47.2 (2003), p.198.

[4] James Bradley, Marguerite Dupree and Alistair Durie, “Taking The Water-Cure: The Hydropathic Movement In Scotland, 1840-1940”, Business And Economic History, 26.2 (1997), pp. 431.

[5] John Macleay, Old Dunoon And Cowal (Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2002), p. 12.

[6] Hugh, Macdonald Days At The Coast (Glasgow: Dunn & Wright, 1878), p. 346

[7] John Stuart Blackie, The Water Cure In Scotland: Five Letters From Dunoon(Aberdeen: G. Davidson, 1849), p. 43.

[8] Richard. E Morris, “The Victorian ‘Change Of Air’ As Medical And Social Construction”, Journal Of Tourism History, 10.1 (2018), p. 50.

[9] John Macleay, Old Dunoon And Cowal (Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2002), p. 4.

[10] Eric Simpson, Wish You Were Still Here: The Scottish Seaside Holiday(Shroud: Amberley, 2013), p. 42.

[11] Alistair Durie, “Movement, Travel And Tourism”, in A History Of Everyday Life In Scotland, 1800 To 1900 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), p. 149.

[12] Durie, p. 149.

[13] Eric Simpson, Wish You Were Still Here: The Scottish Seaside Holiday(Shroud: Amberley, 2013), p. 7.

[14] Eric Simpson, Wish You Were Still Here: The Scottish Seaside Holiday(Shroud: Amberley, 2013), p. 74

[15] “‘GUILD OF AID WORK IN THE GORBALS’ (0531) – Moving Image Archive Catalogue”, Movingimage.Nls.Uk, 1933<https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/0531?search_term=dunoon&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes> [Accessed 19 May 2020