1958 end of an era

At Brodick steamer pier is the new 1957 vehicle ferry "Glen Sannox" which will carry lorries which export Arran products and import Arran needs just as in now 2021 in Calmac ferries
At the old stone pier is the steam puffer "Cuban" (built 1908 in Kirkintilloch at JJ Hays canal boatyard) a familiar vessel to Arran people. Her hold could carry 100 tons of coal from the mainland coalfields to heat and power the island's homes and workplaces. Puffers carried everything to and from the islands and are immortalized in Neil Munro's tales of life aboard the Vital Spark.
Arran's famous potatoes and other products would be carried by the puffer to feed the people of Glasgow .
In 1958 "Cuban" was scrapped and the age of these small cargo boats and the colourful puffermen who crewed them would soon be history.