Like yirself Scary i know very little of this part of the city so it is always interesting to have a look see at what was, compared to now. _________________ MY FLICKR
A signature always reveals a man's character - and sometimes even his name.
These were taken around the time the Stephens yard closed as the Stephens yard..to the right and just out of shot of the aeriel photo.It was part of the deal to allow shipbuilding to continue on the clyde during the famous work in.There was a fabulous documentry on BBC4 the other night about this.Anyway the yard continued to operate until about 81 as part of Govan shipbuilders. GSL utilised the massive sheds to help build the ships it had on its order book at the time.
I can remember as a 16 year old apprentice going into these sheds and looking around marveling at how big and noisy everything was...so wish I had been into photography...
Main fabrication sheds looking west..No ships on the slipway
Inside one of the sheds
Various buildings in the yard
View taken from main gate on Holmfauldhead road
On the documentry the other night they had this guy on who went around the old yards photographing everyone of them as they were abandoned and whilst being demolished...His pictures were haunting...hope he finds his way to urban Glasgow and shares them
Hi guys, I have just found this thread, had a quick look at the first few pages, some really great photos.
I will have a better look tomorrow.
I am looking for a photograph of The Grafton Cinema, Parly rd Townhead, any one ever seen one?
Bye for now, norrie _________________ Bye for now, Norrie
Dave.. the training centre was the little patch of rectangular land to the left of the clyde tunnel building..Iwas there in 1977.It was for Boilermaker trades only
The main training centre was the big building to the left of the picture.
I still have the training centre rule book and my apprentice union card which I will dig out and scan..Also have some pics of Stephens yard before it was ripped down in the early eighties
Brilliant Kev as are the further pics. I remember the Boilermakers building right enough; we used to jump the wall at that side and head to the pub . . . shhh. The other rectangular patch below the tunnel building was the offices and classroom in a portakabin type thingy eh? I remember Mr. McChrystal who passed away I think a few years afterwards (asbestos related i think).
I remember occasionally being in the main building that you've mentioned - the canteen was in there too if I remember rightly. We were mainly in the Stephens building, top floor for the drawing office then bottom near the gate for Electrical Techs.
Magic - cheers again. I'm away to study the other pix you put on, to get my bearings though I never seen much of the inside of those buildings when I was there.
Dave...The guy who ran the training centre was as you say Pat mcrystal and Ernie Vergos and Willie pettigrew were the caulker/burners tutors.....god....so many memories in my head that I would love to share
I started in '82 on a 6 month "YOP" in there then returned the following year and did my first year proper before moving to Yarrows. On the YOP we got a wee go at most of the trades for a week or two and moved round the yard - you then elected your preferred choice and got to spend the last while there, so my main place was on the top floor of Stephens office block, in the drawing office.
My apprenticeship was Electrical Technician and we were based in the Stephens office on the ground floor for the year then over the river to Scotstoun. Lot of good times right enough with a good crowd - I dont recall many other instructors but a wee guy Bobby something (Ferguson maybe?) was our main instructor.
I'm looking forward to seeing the scans you mentioned; can you tell me the name of the documentary, I'd love to see it (might be able to DL it from the usual places)
It's been years since I lived in Glasgow (Edinburgh now), most of the destruction carried out in the name of 'progress' was truly criminal, have only read half of this thread but I'm sure its been mentioned..!
No doubt most of the residential areas from my day were in need of being torn down but was there any need to tear up the city center? It's just sad, how many Billions would it cost to built the old city now?
It was quite draconion and you could get the bag for any number of offences..even playing football on the old overgrown pitch Dave was talking about and still visible on the aeriel shot
Once you left the training centre and went into the yard proper the first thing you had to do was join the union
I trained as a Caulker/Burner/Driller/Riviter Which was a hard job involving the use of compressed air percussion machines to drill holes and cut steel..Thankfully I dont have to use them now
It was a great life learning experiance working in the yards and lots of memories..Would Iwork there again? No way
I wish, I had kept my Apprentice union book for the Boilermakers, alas it was tossed when I moved house.
I worked in Structural Engineering most of my life, then Babcock for 19 years, till 1993
I still stop and watch steel structures being erected, take photos too
Bye for now, norrie _________________ Bye for now, Norrie
I had all my payslips from my first job. Not as interesting as your Rule Book or your apprentice card. I also have an old book somewhere in my loft with old photos of BSC Tubes Tollcross Works. Will really need to try and find that.
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