| F87 used SMYRNA, British Levant postal history 1883 cover to Thomas Stephenson, Glen Caladh by Greenock with GB QV 2½d tied "F87" with Smyrna B/DE 15 83 cds alongside, b/stamped Greenock DE 25 83.
Glen Caladh Castle had a number of owners including George Stephenson (1781-1848), nephew of the famous engineer and designer of the steam locomotive Rocket. During World War II the castle, situated on the western shores of Loch Riddon north of the Isle of Bute, was requestioned as a training establishment by Combined Operations becoming the Beach Pilotage School 1942-45, and designated H.M.S James Cook, a reference to the advancing navigation skills that the founder of Australia introduced into the Royal Navy, and reflected the task of operators of troop landing craft and their cargoes, and tank landing operations. The property was demolished in 1960, having been rendered unsafe by dry rot. £225 | |