FOR this week’s peek into Inverclyde’s pictorial past we're heading to Gourock and a street that, as well as being well known by many locals, was familiar for decades to many a driver whose sights were set on a destination far beyond Inverclyde.
Our 'then' photograph shows Tarbet Street, leading down towards Gourock Pier, in October 1979 during the removal of the old footbridge across the Gourock-Glasgow railway line.
The Gamble footbridge was removed after 40 years standing across the line, though it had been closed for some time because of its dangerous condition before finally being taken down.
The bridge's removal wasn't without controversy; the then Inverclyde District Council had strongly opposed British Rail's plans to take it away, and took legal steps to stop BR pulling it down three years before it was finally dismantled.
As the road leading to the ferry terminal, it was used by generations of motorists heading for CalMac's Gourock-Dunoon ferry - though since the town-centre-to-town-centre vehicle service was withdrawn in June 2011, the only vehicular ferry traffic using that stretch of Tarbet Street now is on the rare occasions when the company's Bute or Arran services are diverted to Gourock during spells of bad weather.
This section of Tarbet Street is now used almost exclusively by CalMac staff and people who are visiting the terminal itself, with much more greenery visible now that the walkway has long passed into history.
The telephone mast and updated streetlights are new additions to the area since 1979.
Share