VIC 27/Auld Reekie/Vital Spark

Vital Spark
Credit: Evelyn R
Credit: Evelyn R
Vital Spark
Credit: Jean Reid/New Glasgow Society
Credit: Moira Langston
Credit: Moira Langston
Credit: Violet Langston
Credit: Violet Langston
Sponsor, if appropriate

Bathgate Brothers (Marine) Ltd, Edinburgh

Type of object

Vehicle, boat or ship

Current situation

Known

Current location, if known

Crinan Boatyard

Notes

Built as VIC 27 by Isaac Pimblott & Sons, Northwich, Cheshire in 1943. Working for the Ministry of War Transport, she spent some time in Liverpool, then Greenock. Following the war, taken on by the Admiralty, then - after passing through the hands of a couple of subsequent owners - purchased in 1968 by Sir James Miller and converted into a youth training vessel based at Oban. After the conversion, she was renamed 'Auld Reekie'. In 1979, sold to Bathgate Brothers (Marine) Ltd, Edinburgh, for charter. Nine years later, she appeared at the Garden Festival with banners carrying the words 'Vital Spark' covering her formal name. Apart from a brief employment as this fictional vessel in the 1994 BBC series 'The Tales of Para Handy', she spent the intervening years resting at Crinan Basin. In 2007 she was transferred to Archie McArthur and Inveraray Pier for a year, after which she was returned to the ownership of Crinan Boatyard, where she is still being restored (as of 2022). This information - and much more - at vic27.co.uk.

Add information for this object

We need your updates! If you have any more information about this Glasgow Garden Festival object - especially if you know of its current location - then we want to hear from you.

We'd also be glad to receive an image (or images) of this object, if you have any. Documents can be added, too (and if you spot any inaccuracies in our records, we'd also like to hear about those).

Notes on formats: most common image formats can be sent to us, up to 20Mb in size. Documents can be in pdf or Word formats.

Your email address will not be published, but we need to retain it as a way of contacting you, if necessary. However, you can use a pseudonym or alias if you prefer to remain publicly anonymous. Contributions will only be published after review. Required fields are marked *

Use the text box below to tell us anything you know about this object. Don't worry if you don't have all the details - just fill in what you can. Anything is helpful! If you're submitting an image or images, please use the text box to let us know how you would like that image to be credited.



The maximum upload file size: 20 MB. You can upload: image, video, document. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

You can also email us if you prefer, or if you have any enquiries related to submitting material.

By submitting this form, you agree that you solely own the rights to the material supplied, and that 'After the Garden Festival...' will have the right to reuse that material, for the purposes of this website, social media or any publication or materials derived from it. You will be given credit, as per the name provided, on any use of your supplied images. In the event of an approach by a third party to reuse your image, we will direct such a request to you by email. We are happy to discuss specific terms - please email us in these cases.