The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major city of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Historically, it was important to the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
because of its role in
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...
and trade. To the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, it was , and in the early medieval
Cumbric language
Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...
, it was known as or . It was central to the
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (lit. " Strath of the River Clyde", and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as ...
().
Etymology
The exact etymology of the river's name is unclear, though it is known that the name is ancient: It was called or by the
Britons
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
and by the Romans. It is therefore likely that the name comes from a Celtic language—most likely
Old British. But there is more than one old Celtic word that the river's name could plausibly derive from. One possible root is the
Common Brittonic , meaning 'loud' or 'loudly'. More likely, the river was named after a local Celtic goddess, ''
Clōta''. The goddess's name in turn derives from an older,
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...
word meaning 'the strongly flowing one' or 'the holy cleanser'.
History
Prehistory
Humans have settled along the Clyde since the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era. Artifacts dating from 12,000 BC have been found near
Biggar, a rural town close to the river. Biggar is home to an archeological site at which Britain's most ancient artifacts have been unearthed. Prehistoric
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
s, used by ancient peoples for transport or trade, have been found in the river. There are a number of
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
sites along the Clyde, especially in the Upper Clyde Valley. Permanent settlements and structures, including what is believed to be a temple to
moon gods in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
, were constructed in the area during the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
s.
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
art, language, and other aspects of culture began spreading to the area from the south during this period, and prehistoric artifacts suggest that, by around 1000 BCE, they had become the dominant cultural influences there.
Ancient history
Before the legions of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
arrived in southern Scotland, the river and the area surrounding it had been settled by the Brythonic-speaking
Damnonii
The Damnonii (also referred to as Damnii) were a Brittonic people of the late 2nd century who lived in what became the Kingdom of Strathclyde by the Early Middle Ages, and is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's ''Geo ...
tribe. It has been suggested that a Damnonii town called ''Cathures'' was located there and was the precursor to modern Glasgow. The Damnonii tribe originally distributed power among individual chiefdoms, but at some point before 500 AD the tribe politically unified and formed a centralised
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
known as
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
.
None of the documentary or archaeological evidence from the period when the Roman legions arrived suggests that battles took place in the area. Therefore the Roman legions and Damnonii tribespeople are assumed to have been on good terms and to have co-operated by means of trade and the exchange of military information. The Romans did, however, construct several
forts () in the area, notably on the banks of the Clyde. These include Castledykes,
Bothwellhaugh
Bothwellhaugh was a Scottish coal mining village housing Hamilton Palace Colliery workers and their families. Locals referred to the village as The Pailis. It was located near to the towns of Motherwell, Bellshill and Hamilton in Lanarksh ...
, and
Old Kilpatrick
Old Kilpatrick ( sco, Auld Kilpaitrick, gd, Cille Phàdraig meaning "Patrick's church"), is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 4,820. It belonged to the parish of Old Kilpatrick which itself was only a f ...
and
Bishopton. The Romans also constructed several roads along the river, both small ones and larger ones designed to be used as trade routes and to carry entire legions. The
Antonine Wall, which lies only a few miles from the river, was constructed later by the Romans as a means of defending the area against invasion by the
Picts
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
. Despite the strategic location and flat terrain of Glasgow and the surrounding Clyde basin, no Roman civilian settlement was ever constructed. Instead, the region mostly functioned as a frontier zone between the Roman province known as
Britannia Inferior and the
Caledonians, an indigenous group that was hostile to the Romans.
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde was founded as an independent British kingdom, either during or shortly after the
Roman occupation of Britain. The kingdom's core territory and much of its arable land was located around the Clyde basin. The kingdom was ruled from its capital, the near impenetrable
Alt Clut fortress (Dumbarton Rock), which was situated on the river and overlooked much of the estuary. This fortress was noteworthy enough to have been referred to at the time in several letters and poems about
Sub-Roman Britain, written by
Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
and others. Strathclyde remained a powerful kingdom during the early medieval period in Britain. It was also a reservoir of native
Welsh culture: Its territory eventually expanded along the Clyde Valley, through the Southern Uplands and Ayrshire, and southward into Cumbria.
In the
7th century,
Saint Mungo
Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow.
Name
In Wales and England, this ...
established a new Christian community on the banks of the Clyde, replacing Cathures. This community was the beginnings of what would become the city of Glasgow. Several villages on the Clyde that were founded then have endured to this day, and grown to become towns, including ''Llanerc'' (
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
), ''Cadzow'' (
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
), and ''Rhynfrwd'' (
Renfrew). The fortress of Altclut fell in the
Siege of Dumbarton
The siege of Dumbarton was a successful four-month siege of the Brittonic fortress at Dumbarton Rock in 870, initiated by the Viking leaders Amlaíb, King of Dublin, and Ímar. Dumbarton was capital of the Kingdom of Alt Clut, the only survivin ...
of 870 AD, when a force of
Norse-Irish raiders from the
Kingdom of Dublin
Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norsemen, Norse Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest-lasting Norse kingdom in Ireland. Its territory corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The N ...
sacked it. After that, the kingdom, now politically weakened, moved its capital to
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
. However, it never fully recovered, and in the
11th century it was annexed by the
Kingdom of Alba
The Kingdom of Alba ( la, Scotia; sga, Alba) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the ...
.
Medieval and early modern history
In the 13th century, Glasgow, then still a small town, built its first bridge over the river Clyde. This was an important step in its ability to eventually grow into a city. The establishment, in the 15th century, of both the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
and the
Archdiocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annand ...
, vastly increased the importance of the town within Scotland. From the
early modern period onwards, the Clyde began to be used commercially as a trade route; trade between Glasgow and the rest of Europe became commonplace. In the centuries that followed, the Clyde became increasingly vital to both Scotland and Britain as a major trade route for exporting and importing resources.
Course
![The Carstairs meanders from the air (geograph 5679303)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/The_Carstairs_meanders_from_the_air_%28geograph_5679303%29.jpg)
The Clyde is formed by the confluence of two streams, the
Daer Water (the headwaters of which are dammed to form the
Daer Reservoir) and the Potrail Water. The
Southern Upland Way
The Southern Upland Way is a coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's ...
crosses both streams before they meet at Watermeetings () to form the River Clyde proper. At this point, the Clyde is only from Tweed's Well, the source of the
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...
, and is about the same distance from
Annanhead Hill
Annanhead Hill is a summit in the Moffat Hills of Scotland. It lies on the boundary between the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, north of Moffat, in the Southern Uplands.
Annanhead is one of four hills encircling the Devil's Beef ...
, the source of the
River Annan
The River Annan (''Abhainn Anann'' in Gaelic) is a river in south-west Scotland. It rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub, Moffat and Lockerbie, reaching the sea at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway after about 40 miles. ...
. From there, it meanders northeastward before turning to the west, where its
flood plain serve as the site of many major roads in the area, and then reaches the town of
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
.
That is where the late 17th- and early 18th-century industrialists
David Dale
David Dale (6 January 1739–7 March 1806) was a leading Scottish industrialist, merchant and philanthropist during the Scottish Enlightenment period at the end of the 18th century. He was a successful entrepreneur in a number of areas, m ...
and
Robert Owen built mills and the model settlement of
New Lanark
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...
on the banks of the Clyde. The mills harnessed the power of the
Falls of Clyde, the most spectacular of which is Cora Linn. A
hydroelectric power station still generates electricity there today, although the mills have now become a museum and
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
The river then makes its way northwest, past the towns of
Wishaw
Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it form ...
to the east of it and
Larkhall
Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France.
Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...
to the west of it. The river's surroundings here become increasingly suburban. Between the towns of
Motherwell and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, the course of the river has been altered to create an artificial loch within
Strathclyde Park. Part of the original course can still be seen: It lies between the island and the eastern shore of the loch. The river then flows through
Blantyre
Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...
and
Bothwell, where the ruined
Bothwell Castle
Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle w ...
stands on a defensible
promontory
A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...
.
![Glasgow Tidal Weir - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Glasgow_Tidal_Weir_-_geograph.org.uk_-_761267.jpg)
As it flows past
Uddingston
Uddingston ( sco, Uddinstoun, gd, Baile Udain) is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.
Geography and boundaries ...
and into the southeastern part of Glasgow, the river begins to widen, meandering through
Cambuslang,
Rutherglen
Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...
, and
Dalmarnock
Dalmarnock (, gd, Dail Mheàrnaig) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated east of the city centre, directly north of the River Clyde opposite the town of Rutherglen. It is also bounded by the Glasgow neighbourhoods of P ...
, and past
Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
I ...
. From the
Tidal Weir westwards, the river is
tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
: a mix of fresh and salt water.
The river has been artificially straightened and widened where it passes through the city centre. Although the new
Clyde Arc
The Clyde Arc (known locally as the Squinty Bridge) is a road bridge spanning the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, connecting Finnieston near the Clyde Auditorium and SEC with Pacific Quay and Glasgow Science Centre in Govan. Prominent feat ...
now hinders access to the historic Broomielaw dockland area, seagoing ships can still come upriver by following the
dredged channel as far as
Finnieston
Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre.
Finnieston is home to the SECC and SSE Hydro, where many musical concerts, sporting events a ...
, where the
PS ''Waverley'' docks. From there, the river flows past the shipbuilding heartlands, through
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
,
Partick
Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...
,
Whiteinch
Whiteinch ( gd, Innis Bhàn) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde, between the Partick and Scotstoun areas of the city. Whiteinch was at one stage part of the burgh of Partick, until that ...
,
Scotstoun, and
Clydebank, all of which historically housed several major
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
s, of which only two remain today.
The river then flows west, out of Glasgow, past
Renfrew, under the
Erskine Bridge
The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrian ...
, and past
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
on the northern shore and the sandbank at Ardmore Point between
Cardross
Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...
and
Helensburgh
Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...
. Opposite, on the southern shore, is the last remaining Lower Clyde shipyard, at
Port Glasgow. The river continues on to
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
, where it reaches the
Tail of the Bank
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately North of Greenock, between Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. This area of the Firth gets its name from the deep water immediately to the west of t ...
as the river merges into the
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
. Here at the mouth of the Clyde, there is currently a significant ecological problem of oxygen depletion in the water column.
The strath of the Clyde was the focus for the G-BASE project executed by the British Geological Survey in the summer of 2010.
Industrial growth
The economic prosperity that the Clyde made possible at the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
was due to the location of Glasgow, as a port facing the Americas. Tobacco and cotton trade began to drive this economic engine in the early 18th century. However, an obstacle to further economic growth soon became evident: the Clyde was too shallow for the largest ocean-going ships to navigate into it, so cargo had to be transferred, at
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
or
Port Glasgow, to smaller ships that could sail upstream into Glasgow itself.
Deepening the Upper Clyde
In 1768,
John Golborne advised that the river should be made narrower and the scour increased by constructing rubble jetties and dredging sandbanks and shoals. Another obstacle to navigation that had to be solved was that the river divided into two shallow channels by the
Dumbuck shoal near
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
. After
James Watt's 1769 report describing this problem, a jetty was constructed at
Longhaugh Point to block off the southern channel. This turned out to be insufficient to solve the problem, so in 1773, a training wall called the
Lang Dyke was built on the Dumbuck shoal to stop water flowing over into the southern channel of the river.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, hundreds of jetties were built out from the banks of the river between Dumbuck and the
Broomielaw
Broomielaw is a major thoroughfare in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It runs adjacent to the River Clyde, on its north bank and forms the southern, waterside boundary of the city's International Financial Services District.
History
Named after ...
quay in Glasgow proper. In some cases, this construction had the effect of deepening the river, because the increased flow of the newly constrained water wore away the river bottom. In other cases,
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
was required to deepen the river.
In the mid-19th century, engineers took on the task of a dredging of the Clyde much more extensively. They removed millions of cubic feet of
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...
to deepen and widen the channel. The major stumbling block encountered by that project was a massive
geological intrusion known as
Elderslie Rock.
Because that rock increased the project's difficulty, the work was not completed until the 1880s. Around this time, the Clyde became an important source of inspiration for artists, such as
John Atkinson Grimshaw
John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was an English Victorian-era artist best known for his nocturnal scenes of urban landscapes.Alexander Robertson, ''Atkinson Grimshaw'', London, Phaidon Press, 1996 H. J. Dyos and ...
and
James Kay, who were interested in painting scenes that depicted the new industrial era and the modern world.
Shipbuilding and marine engineering
![Glasgow Shipyard- Shipbuilding in Wartime, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK, 1944 D20847](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Glasgow_Shipyard-_Shipbuilding_in_Wartime%2C_Glasgow%2C_Lanarkshire%2C_Scotland%2C_UK%2C_1944_D20847.jpg)
The completion of the dredging was well-timed, because the channel finally became navigable all the way from Greenock to Glasgow just when the steelwork industry had begun to grow in the city. Shipbuilding replaced trade as the major activity on the river, and shipbuilding companies started rapidly establishing themselves there. The Clyde soon gained a reputation for being the best location for shipbuilding in the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and grew to become the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre. The term ''Clydebuilt'' became an industry symbol of high quality, and the river's shipyards were given contracts to build prestigious ocean-going liners, as well as warships. The
''Queen Mary'' and, in later years, the ''
Queen Elizabeth 2'' were built in the town of
Clydebank.
Between 1712, when the
Scott family's shipyard was built at Greenock, and the present day, over 25,000 ships have been built on the River Clyde, its firth, and its
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
, the
River Kelvin
The River Kelvin (Scottish Gaelic: ''Abhainn Cheilbhinn'') is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it init ...
and the
River Cart
The River Cart ( sco, River Cairt) is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.
The River Cart itself is very short, being f ...
, by many boatyards, including those at
Maryhill
Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road.
The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station.
History
Hew Hill, ...
and
Kirkintilloch on the
Forth & Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allowe ...
, and
Blackhill on the
Monkland Canal
The Monkland Canal was a canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult construction process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed, from 177 ...
. Over the same time period, it is estimated that more than 300 firms have engaged in shipbuilding on Clydeside, although probably at most 30 to 40 firms were operating at any given time.
The shipbuilding firms became household names on Clydeside, and even around the world to some extent. These included, among many others,
John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...
of Clydebank,
Denny of Dumbarton, Scott of Greenock,
Lithgows
Lithgows Limited is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources.
History Founding
The Company ...
of Port Glasgow, Simon and
Lobnitz
Lobnitz & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company located at Renfrew on the River Clyde, west of the Renfrew Ferry crossing and east of the confluence with the River Cart. The Lobnitz family lived at Chapeltoun House in East Ayrshire. Th ...
of Renfrew,
Alexander Robertson & Sons
Alexander Robertson & Sons was a boatyard in Sandbank, Argyll, Sandbank, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, from 1876 to 1980. The yard was located on the shore of the Holy Loch, not far from the Royal Clyde Yacht Club (RCYC) at Hunters Quay, in the bui ...
of Linthouse,
Fairfield of Govan,
Inglis of Pointhouse,
Barclay Curle of Whiteinch,
Connell and
Yarrow
''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal.
The ...
of Scotstoun. Almost as famous were the engineering firms that supplied the machinery needed to drive these vessels, including the boilers, pumps, and steering gear, including
Rankin & Blackmore
Rankin & Blackmore Ltd were a Scottish firm of marine engine makers. The firms origins lie in the purchase of the Johnstone and Leitch's Eagle Foundry in Greenock in 1862 by Daniel Rankin and Edward Blackmore. The firm was incorporated in 1914 an ...
, Hastie's and
Kincaid's of Greenock, Rowan's of Finnieston,
Weir's of Cathcart, Howden's of Tradeston, and
Babcock & Wilcox
Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...
of Renfrew.
One shipyard that was known as a 'Clyde' shipyard was not actually located on any of the Clyde's waterways:
Alley & MacLellan's Sentinel Works in Jessie Street at
Polmadie
Polmadie (; gd, Poll Mac Dè, lit=Son of God pool) is a primarily industrial area of Glasgow in Scotland. Situated south of the River Clyde, Polmadie is close to residential neighbourhoods including Govanhill (to the west) and Toryglen (south-e ...
is around half a mile distant from the Clyde. It is said to have constructed over 500 vessels, many of which were assembled and then 'knocked down' to kit form for despatch to a remote location, such as
''Chauncy Maples''. Clyde shipbuilding reached its peak in the years just before World War I: It is estimated that, in the year 1913 alone, over 370 ships were completed.
Yachting and yachtbuilding
The first recorded Clyde racing yacht, a 46-ton cutter, was built by Scotts of Greenock in 1803. The pre-eminent Scottish yacht designer William Fyfe did not start designing yachts until 1807. The first yacht club on the Clyde was the
Northern Yacht Club
Northern Yacht Club is a yacht club
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting.
Description
Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Y ...
, which was established in 1824 and received its
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
in 1831. The club was founded to organise and encourage the sport of yacht racing. By 1825, Scottish and Irish clubs were racing against each other on the Clyde. By the mid-19th century, yachting and yacht building had become widely popular.
The Clyde became famous worldwide for its significant contribution to yachting and yachtbuilding, and was the home of many notable designers:
William Fife III
William Fife Jr. (15 June 1857 – 11 August 1944), also known as William Fife III, was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders. In his time, William Fife designed around 600 yachts, including two contend ...
,
Alfred Mylne
Alfred Mylne (1872–1951) was a Scottish yacht designer, born in Glasgow. He founded A Mylne & Co. in 1896.
Work
Alfred Mylne was apprenticed to the Scottish shipbuilders Napier, Shanks and Bell, and went on to work as a draftsman and appr ...
,
G. L. Watson, E. McGruer, and David Boyd. It was also home to many famous yacht yards.
Robertson's Yard started repairing boats in a small workshop at Sandbank in 1876, and went on to become one of the foremost wooden boat builders on the Clyde. The 'golden years' of Robertson's yard were in the early 20th century, when they started building classic racing yachts. More than 55 boats were built by Robertson's in preparation for World War I, and the yard remained busy even during the Great Depression in the 1930s, as many wealthy businessmen developed a passion for yacht racing on the Clyde. During World War II, the yard was devoted to Admiralty work, producing large, high-speed
Fairmile Marine
Fairmile Marine was a British boat building company founded in 1939 by the car manufacturer Noel Macklin.
Macklin used the garage at his home at Cobham Fairmile in Surrey for manufacturing assembly which is why the boats he designed came to ...
motor boats (motor torpedo boats and motor gun boats). After the war, the yard built the successful one-class Loch Longs and two challengers for the America's Cup, designed by David Boyd: ''Sceptre'' (1958) and ''Sovereign'' (1964). Because of difficult business conditions in 1965, the yard turned to doing GRP production work (mainly building Pipers and Etchells), and it closed in 1980. During its 104-year history, Robertson's Yard built 500 boats, many of which are still sailing today.
Two other notable boatyards on the Clyde were Silvers, which operated from 1910 to 1970, and McGruers, which operated from 1910 to 1973. They were situated on the
Rosneath peninsula on the banks of the
Gare Loch
The Gare Loch or Gareloch ( gd, An Gearr Loch) is an open sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland and bears a similar name to the village of Gairloch in the north west Highlands.
The loch is well used for recreational boating, water sports and f ...
, within half a mile of each other. McGruers built over 700 boats. Both yards built many widely-known and classic yachts, some of which are still sailing today.
Glasgow Humane Society
![GHS lifeboat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/GHS_lifeboat.jpg)
The
Glasgow Humane Society is responsible for the safety and preservation of life on Glasgow's waterways. Founded in 1790, it is the oldest lifesaving organisation in the world.
Shipbuilding decline
![HMS Daring at Scotstoun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/HMS_Daring_at_Scotstoun.JPG)
During and immediately after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Clyde's importance as a major industrial centre rapidly declined. During the war, the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
singled out Clydebank for bombing, and its buildings sustained heavy damage. In the immediate postwar period, the sharp reduction in warship orders was initially balanced by a prolonged boom in merchant shipbuilding. But by the end of the 1950s, other countries had begun to establish well-capitalised and highly productive shipbuilding centres that were able to outcompete many of the European shipbuilding yards. Several Clydeside yards booked a series of loss-making contracts in the hope of weathering the storm, but their unprofitable circumstances continued for too long, and by the mid-1960s they faced potential collapse.
Harland and Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...
's Linthouse yard went under, and Fairfields of Govan faced bankruptcy. The government tried to limit the decline by creating the
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) was a Scottish shipbuilding consortium, created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde. It entered liquidation, with much controversy, in 1971. That led to a " work-in ...
consortium, but the consortium became mired in controversy and collapsed in 1971. After that,
James Callaghan's Labour government implemented the
Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act
The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British S ...
, which nationalised most of the Clyde's shipyards and grouped them with other major British shipyards, such as the firm
British Shipbuilders.
Today, two major shipyards on the Upper Clyde remain in operation. They are both owned by a naval defence contractor,
BAE Systems Surface Ships
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
, which specialises in the design and construction of technologically advanced warships for the Royal Navy and other navies around the world. The two yards are the former
Yarrow
''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal.
The ...
yard at
Scotstoun, and
Fairfields
Fairfields is a district and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people who l ...
at Govan. In addition, the
King George V Dock is operated by the
Clyde Port Authority
The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...
.
Ferguson Shipbuilders
Ferguson may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Ferguson Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario)
*Ferguson, British Columbia
*Mount Ferguson (Ontario), a mountain in Temagami, Ontario
United States
*Ferguson, a meteorite fall in North Carolina
*Ferguson, Arkansas
* F ...
, at Port Glasgow on the Lower Clyde, is now owned by the Scottish government. It is the last survivor of the many shipyards that once dominated Port Glasgow and Greenock. Its core business is now the construction of
car ferries.
Regeneration
, the
Clyde Waterfront Regeneration
Clyde Waterfront is a 20 km stretch of the River Clyde, Scotland, running east–west from Glasgow Green in the heart of Glasgow, to Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde. With over 200 projects on both sides of the Clyde, this is one of United K ...
project was expected to attract investment of up to £5.6bn in the area from Glasgow Green to Dumbarton.
Market gardens
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to som ...
and
garden centre
A garden centre (Commonwealth English spelling; U.S. nursery or garden center) is a retail operation that sells plants and related products for the domestic garden as its primary business.
It is a development from the concept of the retail plant n ...
s have sprung up on the fertile
plains
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands.
In ...
of the
Clyde Valley
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
. Tourism has also brought many people back to the riverside, especially in Glasgow, where former docklands have given way to housing and amenities on the banks in the city. Examples include the
Glasgow Harbour
Glasgow Harbour is an urban regeneration scheme at Partick in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
Construction
After many years of dereliction caused by the decline of shipbuilding and the migration of Glasgow's docks to the Firth o ...
project, the
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's ...
, and the
. The commercial Port of Glasgow has been moved downriver to take advantage of the deeper waters of the
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...
. And the river, which used to be plagued by pollution and
sewage, has been extensively cleaned up to make it suitable for recreational use.
The
Clyde Walkway
The Clyde Walkway is a foot and mountain bike path which runs from Glasgow, Scotland, to just above the UNESCO World Heritage Site of New Lanark. The path runs close to the River Clyde for most of its length. It was completed in 2005, and is n ...
, completed in 2005, is a foot- and mountain-bike path that follows the course of the Clyde between Glasgow and
New Lanark
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...
.
Scottish Natural Heritage
NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and s ...
has designated it one of
Scotland's Great Trails
Scotland's Great Trails are long-distance "people-powered" trails in Scotland, analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales or the Grande Randonnée paths of France. The designated routes are primarily intended for walkers, but may have se ...
.
Pollution
The British Geological Survey has identified and evaluated organic chemical pollutants in the sediment of the Clyde estuary.
Surface sediments from the Glasgow reaches of the Clyde and
Cuningar to
Milton, were previously found to contain
polyaromatic hydrocarbons
A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. P ...
(PAH) from 630 µg/kg to 23,711 µg/kg and
polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...
(PCB) in the range of 5 to 130.5 µg/kg, which puts these sediments in the range classified as "non-toxic."
However, a later study showed PCB concentrations as high as 5,797 µg/kg, which is above published threshold levels for such chlorinated compounds.
A comparison between individual PAH compounds that have different thermal stabilities shows that the source of PAH pollution in the Clyde is different in different parts of the river. PAH in the inner Clyde (Cuningar to Milton) are from combustion sources (vehicle exhaust, coal burning), whereas PAH in the outer Clyde are from petroleum spills.
The amount and type of sedimentary pollution in the Clyde reflects the area's industrial history.
In order to assess how the nature of the pollutants has changed over time, from 1750 to 2002, seven sediment cores of one metre's depth were collected, and dated using lead concentrations and changing lead isotope ratios. The sediments showed a long but declining history of coal usage and, beginning around the 1950s, an increasing reliance on petroleum fuels. The decline of hydrocarbon pollution was followed by the appearance of PCB concentrations in the 1950s. Total PCB concentration levels peaked in the period 1965 to 1977, and declined beginning in the 1990s.
The
Polmadie
Polmadie (; gd, Poll Mac Dè, lit=Son of God pool) is a primarily industrial area of Glasgow in Scotland. Situated south of the River Clyde, Polmadie is close to residential neighbourhoods including Govanhill (to the west) and Toryglen (south-e ...
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
, which flows into the Clyde at
Richmond Park
Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...
, remains heavily contaminated by
hexavalent chromium
Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is chromium in any chemical compound that contains the element in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). Virtually all chromium ore is processed via hexavalent chromium, specifically the ...
, to the extent it turned bright green in 2019,
and yellow in April 2021.
Although pollution from heavy industry and power generation has been decreasing, there is evidence that man-made pollution from new synthetic compounds in electrical products and textiles has been increasing.
The amounts of 16
polybrominated diphenyl ether
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are a class of organobromine compounds that are used as flame retardants. Like other brominated flame retardants, PBDEs have been used in a wide array of products, including building materials, electronics, ...
(PBDE) compounds used as flame retardants in televisions, computers, and furniture upholstery were measured in sediment cores collected from six sites between Princes Dock and Greenock. Comparison of the amounts of PBDE compounds revealed a decline in certain compounds, in line with the European ban on production of mixtures containing environmentally harmful PBDE with eight and nine
bromine
Bromine is a chemical element with the symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is the third-lightest element in group 17 of the periodic table ( halogens) and is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a simi ...
atoms. At the same time, there was an increase in the amounts of the less harmful mixture, composed of ten bromine atoms.
Media
The Clyde plays an important role in the ''
Para Handy
Para Handy, the anglicized Gaelic nickname of the fictional character Peter Macfarlane, is a character created by the journalist and writer Neil Munro in a series of stories published in the '' Glasgow Evening News'' between 1905 and 1923 under ...
'' novels of
Neil Munro, and subsequent adaptations. It also features in novels by
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark: A Life in Four Books, Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays ...
,
Matthew Fitt
Matthew Fitt (born 1968) is a Scots poet and novelist. He was writer-in-residence at Greater Pollok in Glasgow, then National Scots Language Development Officer. He has translated several literary works into Scots.
Early life
Fitt was born in 19 ...
, and
Robin Jenkins. It is mentioned in the "
Ossian" poetry of
James Macpherson
James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...
, as well as the works of
John Wilson,
William McGonagall
William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work.
He wrote about 2 ...
,
Edwin Morgan,
Norman McCaig,
Douglas Dunn
Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University.
Background
Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...
and
W.S. Graham. It also features in the work of many visual artists, including
William McTaggart
William McTaggart (25 October 1835 – 2 April 1910) was a Scottish landscape and marine painter who was influenced by Impressionism.
Life and work
The son of a crofter, William McTaggart was born in the small village of Aros, near C ...
,
J.M.W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...
,
Robert Salmon
Robert Salmon (1775 – ) was a maritime artist, active in both England and America. Salmon completed nearly 1,000 paintings, all save one of maritime scenes or seascapes. He is widely considered the Father of American Luminism.
Early ...
, and
George Wyllie
George Ralston Wyllie MBE (31 December 1921 – 15 May 2012) was a Scottish artist. Wyllie produced a number of notable public works, such as the Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat.
Life
Wyllie was born in Shettleston, in the east end of ...
.
The Clyde appears prominently in the films ''
Young Adam'', ''
Sweet Sixteen'', ''
Just a Boys' Game
''Just a Boys' Game'' is a 1979 '' Play for Today'' written by Peter McDougall and directed by John Mackenzie.
It features Frankie Miller, Gregor Fisher, Ken Hutchison, Hector Nicol, Jean Taylor Smith, Katherine Stark, Barry Malone, Michae ...
'', and ''
Down Where the Buffalo Go
''Down Where the Buffalo Go'' is a 1988 film made for television by BBC Scotland for The Play on One. It stars Harvey Keitel. It was written by Peter McDougall and directed by Ian Knox.
Synopsis
Carl is a US Navy Shore patrol officer (played by ...
'', and was the subject of the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning film documentary ''
Seawards the Great Ships
''Seawards the Great Ships'' is a 1961 British short documentary film directed by Hilary Harris. It won an Oscar in 1962 for Best Short Live Action Subject, the first Scottish film to win an Academy Award. The film chronicles the Shipbuildin ...
''. It is referenced in the traditional folk songs "
Clyde's Water
The Mother's Malison or Clyde's Water is Child ballad number 216, Roud 91.
Synopsis
Willie, against his mother's advice, goes to May Margaret's home, where he is not admitted. He drowns in the Clyde. May Margaret wakes and says she dreamed of ...
" and "
Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)
"Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" (Roud 3103) is a traditional ballad folk song known in the US as associated with colonial and later music in the Appalachian Mountains. It is believed to have originated in Scotland, as it refers to ...
", as well as "
Song of the Clyde", which was popularised by
Kenneth McKellar.
File:Wfm bells bridge glasgow.jpg, Bells Bridge
File:Wfm millennium bridge glasgow.jpg, Millennium Bridge
The Finnieston Clydeport Crane and the Clyde, Glasgow.jpg, Modern buildings, including the Clyde Auditorium
The SEC Armadillo (originally known as the Clyde Auditorium) is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro. , Finnieston Crane
The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, i ...
, Crowne Plaza
Crowne Plaza is a British multinational chain of full service, upscale hotels headquartered in the United Kingdom. It caters to business travelers and the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family ...
Hotel and the SSE Hydro
File:Clyde_from_M8,_Dumbarton.jpg, The estuary opens out past Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
.
File:Dumbarton across Clyde.jpg, Looking across to Dumbarton at low tide
File:EastGlasgow.JPG, Looking east toward Glasgow's CBD
File:Tradeston Bridge.jpg, South-facing view of the Tradeston bridge
File:Erskine Bridge from the air.jpg, Aerial view looking downstream along the River Clyde to the Erskine Bridge, the Firth of Clyde and the Argyll hills
Heat Pumps
The River Clyde, or more accurately the Clyde Estuary, has significant potential as a heat source. The flow rate downstream alone is around 50 m
3/s.
Reducing this temperature by 3 °C would enable river heat pumps to extract 188.1 MW of heat. Since river heat pumps typically have an efficiency of 3.0, the heat deliverable is 1.5 times the river component. As a result, the estuary could deliver 282 MW of heat. The temperature of industrial heat pump delivery is typically 80 °C.
In 2020, West Dunbartonshire Council deployed a river source heat pump scheme in the area called Queens Quay. It is the first large heat pump scheme in Britain to deliver at 80 °C. The heat pumps were supplied by Star Refrigeration Ltd, who manufactured them in their Glasgow factory. The project was delivered by Vital Energi.
See also
*
Bodinbo Island
Bodinbo Island is an islet in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to the old ferry slipway at Erskine. Before the dyke or training wall was built the rocky Bodinbo Island was a prominent feature in the river hereabouts and a hazard to s ...
*
Bonnington Pavilion
The Bonnington Pavilion or Hall of Mirrors, now a ruin, is situated in the grounds of the old estate of Bonnington, near New Lanark, overlooking Corra Linn falls on the River Clyde in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Alternative names are the Corra Linn Pa ...
*
HMNB Clyde
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
*
Red Clydeside
Red Clydeside was the era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, and areas around the city, on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. Red Clydeside is a ...
*
Rivers of Great Britain
*
Donald's Quay
Donald's Quay was once the location of the northern terminus of the Erskine Ferry then run by Lord Blantyre of Erskine House that provided foot passengers with a crossing of the River Clyde, giving direct access between Dunbartonshire and Renfre ...
References
Further reading
* Millar, William John. ''The Clyde: from its source to the sea, its development as a navigable river....'' (1888
* Shields, John. ''Clyde built: a history of ship-building on the River Clyde'' (1949)
* Walker, Fred M. ''Song of the Clyde: a history of Clyde shipbuilding'' (1984), 233 pages
* Williamson, James. ''The Clyde passenger steamer'' (1904
full text
External links
River Clyde: Source to Firth Panorama Project
The data base of ships built on the Clyde and in the rest of Scotland – lists over 22,000 ships built on the ClydeCarmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on loan to Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, ''Shipping on the Clyde'' in Glasgow from Grimshaw, on Flickr.comClyde Waterfront regenerationClyde Waterfront HeritageRiver Clyde waterfront regeneration
Gallery of pictures of the River Clyde from the Erskine BridgeIn Glasgow Photo Gallery of pictures of the River Clyde
Clydebank Restoration Trust – Pictures and historyClyde Bridges Heritage Trail
Clydebank Restoration TrustVideo footage and history of Bodinbo or Bottombow Island at Erskine
{{authority control
River Clyde,
Bridges across the River Clyde
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
Firth of Clyde
Ramsar sites in Scotland