Out and about with EK’s Probus Club
EK Probus club recently had a day visit to the Fairfield Heritage Centre in Glasgow.
After watching a short video and quick potted history of shipbuilding on the Clyde and Fairfield from their guide, they proceeded on a guided tour to learn that this was the greatest of the Glasgow yards and which recently had celebrated its 150th Anniversary.
It does continue as the BAE Systems today while the Heritage Centre tells the story of shipbuilding on the Clyde over the last 150 years.
Over the years, this yard was the undisputed centre of world shipbuilding, producing many of the largest, fastest and most beautiful vessels ever built.
The world knew, if a ship was clydebuilt, then it was the best that you could get.
The members learnt that for example by 1913, on the eve of the first world war, a staggering 20 per cent of global shipping output was launched from the banks of the Clyde.
All this began from the genius of a small group of Scottish engineers who designed super efficient marine engines that enabled ships to travel farther and faster that any previously.
They required less coal and were able to carry more passengers which changed the face of world wide sea transportation.
To this day, that tradition is still carried on by the designers, engineers and workforce alike to which our Royal and Merchant navies are for ever grateful.
During the tour the Probus members saw a fine selection of ship models depicting Fairfield built vessels from the 19th century through to the late 20th century.
They also saw how life in the yards was far from glamorous with workers having to toil in the wet and cold of a Scottish winter.
Of course employment was always insecure as it was tied up to the boom and bust round of orders.
They also saw some of the shipyard memorabilia such as the cloth caps and bowlers hats as well as the tools used in the yards.
As to the headgear the local expression arose as “The Bowler and the Bunnets” which so delineated the bosses from the workforce.
The tour of the centre finished with Mr Ray Jones who gave a vote of thanks to the guides on behalf of the EK Probus Club and about how much everyone had enjoyed the trip down memory lane and the fact that the heritage group were keeping the history of shipbuilding alive, especially for future generations.
He also presented a cheque, as a token of their visit, to go towards the upkeep of the centre and the goodwork that it carries out.