Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AROUND GLASGOW
Good transport connections mean it's easy to plan day trips out of Glasgow. There are some
excellent sights along the southern shore of the Clyde, where the ghosts of shipbuilding
haunt places like Greenock, and Paisley's magnificent abbey tells a tale of nobler architec-
tural times. Other appealing destinations within easy reach of Glasgow include New
Lanark, Helensburgh and Loch Lomond.
Inverclyde
The ghostly remains of once-great shipyards still line the banks of the Clyde west of Glas-
gow.
The only places worth stopping along the coast west of the city are Greenock and
Gourock, although there are a couple of items of interest in the otherwise unprepossessing
town of
Port Glasgow
, including the fine 16th-century
Newark Castle
(HS;
www.historic-
scotland.gov.uk
; adult/child £4/2.40; 9.30am-5.30pm Apr-Sep)
, which is still largely in-
tact and has a spectacular position on the shores of the Clyde.
SHIPBUILDING ON THE CLYDE
One of the earliest permanent Lower Clyde shipyards was established in 1711 by John Scott at Greenock. Initial
construction was for small-scale local trade but by the end of the 18th century large ocean-going vessels were being
built. As the market expanded, shipyards also opened at nearby Dumbarton and Port Glasgow.
The
Comet,
Europe's first steamship, was launched at Port Glasgow in 1812. By the 1830s and 1840s the Clyde
had secured its position as the world leader in shipbuilding. Steel hulls came into use by the 1880s, allowing con-
struction of larger ships with the latest and best engines.
In 1899 John Brown & Co, a Sheffield steelmaker, took over a Clydebank yard and by 1907 had become part of
the world's largest shipbuilding conglomerate, producing ocean-going liners. Output from the Clyde shipyards
steadily increased up to WWI and, with the advent of the war, there was huge demand for new shipping from both
the Royal Navy and merchant navy.
During and after the war many small companies disappeared and shipbuilding giants, such as Lithgows Ltd, took
their place. The depression years of the 1920s and 1930s saw many yards mothballed or closed. Another boom fol-
lowed during WWII but these were to be the twilight years.
Many yards went into liquidation in the 1960s, and in 1972 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders was liquidated, causing
complete chaos, a sit-in and a bad headache for Ted Heath's government.
