Restoration
In 1992 Dumbarton District Council bought Maid of the Loch and restoration work started. In 1995 the Council supported a group of local enthusiasts in setting up a charitable organisation, the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, to take over ownership and carry on restoration. She became ready for static operation with a cafe/bar and function suite in autumn 2000.
The key to the restoration was the repair and refurbishment of the slipway adjacent to the pier at Balloch. There not being any connection to the sea it was not possible to take the ship to a dry dock for repairs to the hull so a slipway with a steam-operated cable-hauled cradle had been built. This had fallen into disrepair by the 1990s and eventually a Heritage Lottery Fund grant was awarded along with assistance from local and Scottish governmental organisations. This enabled the paddle steamer to be lifted out of the water on 27 June 2006.
The Maid of the Loch is open to the public every day Easter to October, and weekends only through the Winter. Volunteers are working to bring her back into steam operation. She has a new livery of red, white and black, the funnel now red with a black top. Repairs and servicing are now earnestly underway to ensure that she will soon be providing a steam paddleship service on Loch Lomond again.
Read more about this topic: PS Maid of the Loch
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