Old Port Glasgow

Before the Clyde was deepened at Glasgow in the late eighteenth century, large trading vessels could not sail up it as far as the city, and Port Glasgow was created in the 1660s as a deep water port for the city, facilitating trade with the New World. The port and its accompanying village grew substantially, and in 1775 absorbed the neighbouring fishing village of Newark. By this stage, however, trade was shifting gradually eastwards towards Glasgow as the Clyde was deepened. Fortunately Port Glasgow diversified its economy, with shipbuilding commencing about this time. Shipbuilding, along with sail- and rope-making, became the key source of employment in the town, and these industries supported the area well into the twentieth century. Having expanded dramatically during its boom years, Port Glasgow in the twentieth century found itself with an unenviable amount of cramped and inadequate housing. This problem was addressed throughout the century and new housing developments replaced many of the crowded and crumbling tenements and closes. During the same period the harbour - the original reason for the town's establishment - was filled in. Joy Monteith's narrative provides fascinating background to a comprehensive collection of pictures showing the key aspects of Port Glasgow's growth and redevelopment from the late Victorian period up to 1970.