People

ONE of Scotland's most acclaimed collectors of Gaelic folk tales was born in Row (Rhu) parish and grew up on the Gortan estate on Loch Longside.

John Dewar was the third child of Arrochar couple Alexander Dewar, a farm manager, and Mary McFarlane, who were married in their home village in 1798.

THE EXTRAORDINARY story of a young ballet dancer’s traumatic journey from southwestern Russia to Helensburgh has just been compiled by her nephew.

Alistair Quinlan, who grew up in the burgh but now lives in Ashford in Kent, kindly agreed that the Trust could retell Vera Nina Dobudoglo’s life on this website.

A CENTURY ago a steady flow of visitors beat a path to the door of Susie and her ‘Castle’, an upturned half-hull of a fishing boat on the shore at Portincaple.

Postcards showing her and the unusual dwelling were prepared and sold well. However, Edwardian excursionists soon found out that the short crossing of Loch Long from Portincaple brought them to the home of another notable person.

STATUES in Glasgow’s George Square have been under close scrutiny because of possible slavery connections . . . but that was not a problem for one in a prime site which is of a Loch Longside laird.

James Oswald MP, who also had a Clyde paddle steamer named after him, was the laird of the Gortan estate at Glen Douglas.

THE 2020 Coronavirus worldwide is scary, heart-breaking or deadly, depending on how it affects individuals. But a pandemic hitting Helensburgh is not new.

It happened a century ago, from January 1918 to December 1920, and it was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus.

AN ENGINEER from Helensburgh is one of the world’s most highly cited scientists whose work is often used by others.

Professor Robert Maxwell McMeeking is a key figure in the international engineering world.