Undiscovered Scotland

 

"Glasgow Harbour" by Graeme Smith and Mike McCreery is a fabulous book that should be considered essential reading for anyone living in, or coming from, or with any interest in Scotland's largest city. Go out and buy a copy: you won't be disappointed!

In their introduction, the authors say: "Glasgow Harbour, extending from Glasgow Green to the River Kelvin, and beyond to Clydebank, became the greatest port in Scotland and one of the largest in Britain. Glasgow transformed itself from being a town on a 'shallow Scottish salmon river' into a modern global port. The largest and finest ships - and the fastest - in the world were built on the Clyde with the best craftsmanship available to owners worldwide... More than 100 major shipping lines operated from the city... Here we tell the story of Glasgow Harbour."

The book is well written and eminently readable: and obviously meticulously researched. But what really makes it stand out on the bookshelf is the quality of the production and, in particular, the way it has been magnificently illustrated. Old maps and drawings rub shoulders with historical and modern photographs and a beautiful collection of images depicting the flags and funnels of all the shipping companies that were based in Glasgow. The book is informative to read and a real pleasure to browse and handle.

The publisher's description gives a good sense of the range of content: "Glasgow Harbour, the port and shipbuilding centre along the River Clyde from Glasgow Green to the River Kelvin and beyond to Clydebank, became the greatest seaport in Scotland and one of the largest in Britain. Through a mixture of striking illustrations, this book recounts the early history, development, pioneering inventions and importance nationally and internationally of Glasgow Harbour, as well as its regeneration today. From the seventeenth century Glasgow became one of the major hubs of trade across the Atlantic and to the rest of the world. In the eighteenth century Glasgow adopted new methods to deepen and engineer the River Clyde to make it more useful and the largest and most advanced docks were to be built, with some 12 miles of busy quayside lining the river. By the nineteenth century Glasgow was also the world-leading shipbuilding centre, including such famous names as Fairfield, John Brown, Beardmore, Barclay Curle, Stephen and Connell. Later Yarrow and Harland & Wolff joined the ranks of shipbuilders, and at its peak over seventy shipping lines operated from the city. Although heavy industry in Glasgow Harbour has shrunk, today much of the waterfront is being regenerated. Graeme Smith and Mike McCreery tell the fascinating story of Glasgow Harbour from its early days to the present – how ‘Glasgow made the Clyde, and the Clyde made Glasgow’."