The Finnieston Crane

The crane is a landmark of the Glasgow riverfront and a symbol of the city. It was built at Stobcross quay in 1932 and was used to load the engineering products of the city onto ships for export around the world. In particular it lifted the locomotives built in Springburn in the north of the city.

The crane working at Stobcross quay in 1957

Lifting a loco, 1952

A loco being transported from the Hyde Park works to the docks. This photograph looks ancient but the tele forks on the motorcycle indicates the late '40s

Loco being transported to docks, 1955

Arnold Clark Vehicle Repair Building

It's not often that an industrial building is fulfilling its original purpose 100 years after construction but this is the case here. Located in Kilbirnie Street on Glasgow's south side this building was constructed in 1913 for an automobile coachwork company and is still used for vehicle repair today.

As a former civil engineer it is of interest to me since it is an early use of reinforced concrete using the Kahn system from the USA.

I spent three years working in this area during the construction of the M74 Motorway. I visited the building a couple of times to take progress photographs of a large viaduct. 

One of my progress photographs from the building