There is barely a corner of the five great oceans where Clyde-built is
not recognized as the ultimate shipbuilding accolade. As late as the
1950s, around a seventh of the total of the world's sea going tonnage
was built on the Clyde. It is not a particularly wide river, nor
spectacularly long - it is certainly no Mississippi or Amazon - but its
fame is legendary. From the many yards on its banks, north and south, en
route from the gentle hills of Lanarkshire to the Firth of Clyde, came
engineering innovation and fabled names in shipping - iconic vessels
like the Cutty Sark and the Delta Queen, fearsome warships like the
mighty Hood, and the cream of the world's great liners, the Cunard
Queens and the beautiful white Empress vessels. All that and cargo
carrying workhorses that opened up the world. More recent times have
seen the phoenix-like revival of Ferguson Shipbuilders, the last
remaining yard on the Lower Clyde, saved from closure by industrialist
Jim McColl and now investing in the hybrid technology of the future that
has thrown a lifeline to this once great yard.This is the fascinating,
often turbulent, story of a great river, its great ships and the folk
who built them.
