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Tour Bus Around Bute, and Mount Stuart House

Today’s outing (20 June 2024) wouldn’t make much use of the bus pass. I’d get the train  from Glasgow Central to Wemyss Bay, a 1 hour journey, then a 35 minute ferry trip to Rothesay. The ferry terminal is next to the railway station. Then, I’d get the tour bus around Bute (£15.50), getting off at Mount Stuart House. Usually, I’m not much interested in stately homes, but Mount Stuart has a reputation for being the most magnificent stately home in Scotland, and after googling some pics, I decided to pay it a visit.

Wemyss Bay Terminal

Bute bus tour

Rothesay

The weather forecast predicted a cloudy start, brightening up by early afternoon. But, it was cold and drizzly early on, not what you want, sitting upstairs on an open top double decker. The bus went around the island anti-clockwise, and took an hour and a half to complete the trip. Many passengers combine the tour with a visit to Mount Stuart, hopping back on the next bus. There’s also a local service bus (490) from Rothesay to Mount Stuart, which takes 14 minutes to make the trip. There’s one bus an hour.

Scalpsie Bay

It was a pleasant enough trip, marred by the weather, but there wasn’t a lot to see. Arran and the Cumbraes loomed in the mirk. The driver’s commentary compensated for the lack of sights, as he narrated the history and prehistory of the island, including standing stones, islands and sounds where commandoes and midget submariners had trained during the war, and ruins of chapels from the earliest days of Christianity in Scotland. There really wasn’t much to photograph, even if the drizzle and bumpy ride hadn’t made taking photos difficult, and we arrived at Mount Stuart an hour and a quarter after leaving Rothesay.

Mount Stuart House

Mount Stuart House

Mount Stuart Tour

Mount Stuart is the ancestral home of the Marquesses of Bute. An earlier house burned down in a fire in 1877, and the current building was built in the late 1870s by the 3rd marquess, who was reputed to be the richest man in the world, having inherited his wealth from his industrialist father. No expense was spared, the sandstone being shipped from Wales, and a port and railway constructed to carry the stone to the site. Tickets cost £15, and there were  members of staff in some of the rooms, ready to conduct a tour for visitors if they were interested, and all very good at their jobs. It was the first house in Scotland to be lit by electricity, and the first to have an indoor heated swimming pool.

Fireplace Mount Stuart House

Staircase and statue Mount Stuart

Mount Stuart definitely has a massive ‘wow factor’, but I could understand it if those with a more socialist outlook on life were disapproving of the possibly over the top opulence. But, many people would have been employed, from Wales to Bute, in order to create such a masterpiece. I noticed there were a lot of people, many of them elderly, speaking with a north of England accent. It became clear that coach operators from the north of England ran day trips to Mount Stuart. One of the three coaches parked outside had ‘Wigan’ painted on the side. So, its fame has spread quite widely. It’s strange that I’d never heard of the place until doing some research for places to visit a year ago.

Stained Glass Windows Mount Stujart

Library Mount Stuart

The sun came out around two o’clock, and I hopped on the tour bus at 1530. On the way into Rothesay, I spotted a seal hauled up on a rock, and the puny 6X zoom on my camera just about managed to capture it.

Seal on rocks

We arrived in Rothesay at 1550, in just enough time to catch the 1600 ferry across the road. I got back in to Glasgow Central at 1800.

Wullie Davidson, June, 2024

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