One step at a time

4. On reaching Elder

Street on the right, the gates of the former Fairfield Yard, now BAE Systems, loom into view; no longer do 5000 men stream in and out of here twice a day; the old tramlines which brought goods into the yards are still visible amongst the cobbles. A further walk along Govan Road brings you to the impressive front door of the former offices of the yard, now Fairfield Heritage, hosting a fine display on the history of shipbuilding housed in a building to match. The offices were designed by Keppie and Honeyman, the firm Macintosh later worked for, and though splendid inside, their finest feature is the doorway itself where amongst the usual icons of nymphs and Neptune, stand two life-size sandstone scultures of working men done by Pittendreich Macgillivray.

This building is also A-Listed. (www.fairfieldgovan.org.uk).

Though achieving its maximum size under Pearce, the yard became a world leader under the previous owners, the Elders. Crossing the road gives a good view of the office building and also allows entrance to Elder

Park, the only piece of ground in central Govan formerly not covered by tenements or industry. The park has a varied collection of sculptures relating to Govan’s history and a boating pond. Previously there was also a dairy farm and a small zoo! (“They wid poach the animals noo,”observed a cynical local to me.) Just south of the park gates stands a statue of John Elder, leaning on the compound steam engine he invented, which gave Clyde shipbuilding a competitive edge. The statue was exectued by Boehm and is complemented by one of Isabella Elder herself further over in the park.

Despite the importance of this place it was shockingly refused a Heritage Lottery grant some years ago – while many less worthy were not.

Exiting the park is done from behind the library, with its splendid cast iron railings, and very fine frontage. The building was designed by another top Glasgow architect, J.J Burnet, and Govanites are proud of the fact they had a public library in 1903 some years before Glasgow built their various examples. Inside the building are busts of the Elders, and an interesting painting of preindustrial Govan by Brotchie. This building is also A -Listed.

5. Moving back east along pedesrianised Langlands Road through an assortment of housing built to replace demolished tenements, brings us to Golspie Street, with its stunning “Amsterdam”-style new tenement, and then past the car park for the Govan Shopping Centre till we emerge back at Brechin’s and the Black Man with a very clear view of the PI. Back at Govan Cross, visit the excellent Cafe 13. Rest and reflect that you have only scraped the surface of central Govan, never mind Greater Govan...and if you leave unimpressed, there is no hope for you.

Ian R Mitchell is the author of Walking through Glasgow’s Industrial Past (Luath Press)

The statue on the left is of shipbuilder Sir William Pearce Below: BAE Govan