I TOOK the PS Waverley — the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer — to Dunoon last weekend.

Built in 1946 and now restored to her original condition, this marvel of engineering is taken to even greater heights by the fact one can see the huge piston rods in action when passing the engine room.

Cruising down the Clyde, industrial relics gave way to greenery as Sunday roasts were served up on board.

But as we approached our destination, my eyes were peeled for a Christ the Redeemer-style figure on the shore.

After all, at this year’s Scottish TUC Congress, Unite delegate Mick Rice had offered to make RMT general secretary Mick Cash “the darling of Dunoon” if his union championed champion improvements to the peninsula’s neglected ferry service.

“We will have a public subscription for a statue of Mick Cash looking down over the harbour,” Rice told the hall in Aviemore.

When Cash and fellow RMT delegates entered the pub quiz at the Cairngorm Hotel that week, they named their team “Darlings of Dunoon.” 

I can only hope this means they’re working on restoring the full paddle steamer experience, complete with two bars and a restaurant, to the regular ferry.