Greenock
The coast of Greenock formed a broad bay with three smaller indentations: the Bay of Quick was known as a safe anchorage as far back as 1164. To its east, a sandy bay ran eastwards from the Old Kirk and the West Burn as far as Wester Greenock castle. The fishing village of Greenock developed along this bay, and around 1635 Sir John Schaw had a jetty built into the bay which became known as Sir John's Bay. In that year he obtained a Charter raising Greenock to a Burgh of Barony with rights to a weekly market. Further east, Saint Laurence Bay curved round past the Crawfurd Barony of Easter Greenock to Garvel (or Gravel) Point. When a pier (or dyke) was built making the bay an important harbour, the fishing village of Cartsburn gained the alternative name of Crawfurdsdyke. In 1642 it was made into the Burgh of Barony of Crawfurdsdyke, and part of the ill-fated Darien Scheme set out from this pier in 1697. This town was later renamed Cartsdyke.
Gourock railway station
Gourock railway station is a terminus of the Inverclyde Line, located at Gourock pierhead, Scotland, and serving the town as well as the ferry services it was originally built for. The Caledonian Railway found that their service to Greenock Central station, which was an inconvenient walk away from the quay, was losing Clyde steamer trade to the new Glasgow and South Western Railway terminal at "Prince's Pier" in Greenock. The Caley extended their line through a new tunnel to the small fishing village of Gourock, with the railway running on the seaward side of "Shore Street" to the terminal which opened on 1 June 1889 and subsequently based the headquarters of their steamer fleet there. The terminal is now the headquarters of Caledonian MacBrayne who used to run a car ferry to Dunoon from the pier, a service which is now provided by Argyll Ferries on a passenger only basis, and it also serves "Clyde Marine" passenger ferries to Kilcreggan and Helensburgh.