Greenock
Greenock (
Grianaig in
Scottish Gaelic) is a large
burgh and a
burgh of barony in the unitary authority region of
Inverclyde in western
Scotland, forming part of a continuous urban area with
Gourock to the west and
Port Glasgow to the east. Its population was recorded as being 45,467 in the
2001 census, a decrease from about 78,000 in 1966. It lies on the south bank of the "
Tail of the Bank" where the
River Clyde expands into the
Firth of Clyde, and is in what was the
traditional county of
Renfrewshire.
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Greenock waterfront from Victoria Harbour to Ocean Terminal, the skyline dominated by Victoria Tower |
The history of the town's name is uncertain. It is generally accepted, however, that the town is named after the
Gaelic word for 'sun',
grian, either as
grian-aig (sunny bay) or
grian-cnoc (sunny hill). The suggestion that the town's name comes from the words "Green Oak" appears to be unfounded, but the image has been taken as a logo for the towns main shopping centre which has been named
The Oak Mall.
Greenock was founded as a fishing village sometime prior to 1592 when it split from the
Inverkip parish. After the
Act of Union 1707, Greenock's facilities made it the main port on the West Coast and it prospered due to trade with the
Americas, importing
sugar from the
Caribbean. By the mid 19th century Greenock's importance and wealth was manifested in the construction of the Municipal Buildings, whose Italianate Victoria Tower, completed in 1886, stands 245 feet tall.
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The Clyde seen over Greenock's west end |
Further evidence can be seen in the large villas of Greenock's west end, one time home to the shipowners and investors. The three-quarter mile sweep of the Esplanade with its views across the
Clyde to
Kilcreggan almost convinces the visitor that no heavy industry could have been anywhere nearby.
|
Free French memorial overlooking Gourock. |
Greenock suffered badly during the
Second World War and its anchorage at the
Tail of the Bank was a base for the
Home Fleet as well as the main assembly point for
Atlantic convoys. In April 1940 the
French Destroyer Maillé Brézé blew up off Greenock with heavy loss of life following an accident involving her own torpedoes. Although this disaster occurred before the
Free French Naval Forces were established, many people tend to regard the
Cross of Lorraine on Lyle Hill as a memorial to the loss of the
Maillé Brézé as well as to the later losses of the Free French naval vessels which sailed from the town.
|
The ornate Municipal Buildings features the Victoria Tower. The blank brick area known as "Cowan's Corner" marks where a property owner refused to sell his building, preventing completion of the facade. His building did not survive the Blitz. The Mid Kirk spire is to the left. |
On the nights of
6 May and
7 May 1941 around 300
Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the town in the
Greenock Blitz.
Greenock thrived in the post-war years but as the heavy industries declined in the 1970s and 1980s unemployment became a major problem, and it has only been in the last ten years with reinvestment and the redevelopment of large sections of the town that the local economy has started to revive. Tourism has also appeared as an unexpected bonus with the development of the Clydeport Container Terminal as an Ocean Terminal for cruise ships crossing the
Atlantic. Students who do not travel further afield for study often attend the
James Watt College of Further and Higher Education.
Greenock reached its population peak in 1921 (81,123) and was once the sixth largest town in Scotland.
The town has a daily evening newspaper,
The Greenock Telegraph[
1], a rugby team, Greenock Wanderers rfc, a football team,
Greenock Morton F.C. [
2], and is also home to Greenock Cricket Club[
3], winners of the SNCL Premier Division in 2002 and holders of the Coronel Scottish Cup. It has featured recently as the backdrop to two successful films:
Sweet Sixteen [
4] and
Dear Frankie [
5].
Historically, the town relied on
shipbuilding,
sugar refining and
wool manufacturing for employment. Today
electronics manufacture, the
call centre business and shipping export are the most significant industries in Greenock.
Shipbuilding
In the early 17th century, the first
pier was built in Greenock. Shipbuilding was already an important employer by this time. The first proper
harbour was constructed in 1710 and the first well-known shipbuilders,
Scott's, was established the following year. It was the oldest shipbuilding business in the world and gained numerous contracts with the
Royal Navy from 1806, building ships such as the
Prince of Wales.
Scott's was
nationalised in 1969 and merged with
Lithgow's (founded 1874, later the largest privately owned yard in the world) the same year becoming
Scott Lithgow. Other yards included Cartsburn, Cartsdyke, and Klondyke - all of which closed during the 1970s and 1980s due to competition from
South Korea and
Japan.
The site of the
Scott's yard is now occupied by a
T-Mobile call centre.
Ship repair work continues at the Garvel dry dock.
Shipping
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Sunday strollers on the mile-long Esplanade with Golden Princess ar Ocean Terminal. |
Freight traffic is handled at the the
container cranes of Greenock's
Ocean Terminal, at
Prince's Pier which was constructed for the
Glasgow and South Western Railway. The same terminal is also a regular port of call for
cruise liners visiting the west of Scotland.
Greenock's Great Harbour is one of the three main ports providing marine services support to the
Royal Navy, in dual site operation with
Faslane at
HMNB Clyde on the
Gare Loch. This formerly came under the
Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, but is currently operated by
Serco Denholm, who are
preferred bidders for the next contract. This faciloity means that "Admiralty" boats and tugs are a common sight on the Clyde, and can often be seen from Greenock's attractive esplanade which is about a mile (1.6 km) long.
Sugar
|
The Sugar Warehouse dominates the James Watt Dock |
Sugar refining began in Greenock in 1765.
[Online encyclopedia from Britannica 1911] John Walker began a sugar refinery in Greenock in 1850 followed by the prominent local
cooper and shipowner
Abram Lyle who, with four partners, purchased the
Glebe Sugar Refinery in 1865. Another 12 refineries were active at one point. The most famous of these (and successful in terms of being the only survivor until August 1997) was
Tate & Lyle. It was formed from a merger in 1921 between Abram Lyle, who had expanded into
Plaistow, and
Henry Tate, who had set up a sugar refinery in
Liverpool and had also expanded into
London.
|
A covered arcade sheltered sugar unloading. |
By the end of the 19th century, around 400 ships a year were transporting sugar from Caribbean holdings to Greenock for processing in the 14 sugar refineries.
Tobacco from the Americas also arrived here.
|
The Sugar Warehouse from the main road. |
When Tate and Lyle finally closed its Greenock refinery in 1997 it brought to an end the town's 150-year old connections with sugar manufacture. A newly built sugar warehouse continued shipping operations at Greenock's
Ocean Terminal. The former sugar warehouse at the James Watt Dock was by then scheduled as a
grade A listed building as a fine example of early industrial architecture, with an unusual feature of a
colonnade of cast iron columns forming a sheltered unloading area next to the
quayside. This building has since lain empty, with various schemes being proposed for conversion and restoration. The photographs show the building still intact in February 2006, but a fire on the evening of
12 June 2006 caused severe damage to much of the building before being brought under control in the early hours of
13 June. The local council confirmed that parts of the building will have to be taken down to ensure public safety, but promised an investigation and emphasised the importance of this world heritage building.
[Inverclyde Now][Picture Gallery]Electronics
Since
IBM arrived in the town in 1951, electronics and light manufacturing have, until recently, been the mainstay of local employment.
National Semiconductor has also run a
silicon wafer manufacturing plant in the town since 1970.
However, with manufacturing moving to
Eastern Europe and
Asia, work has shifted to the
service sector, especially call centres.
T-Mobile and IBM both have major call centre operations in Greenock, while the
Royal Bank of Scotland has a facility dealing with all the groups' UK mortgage calls.
IBM have in recent years curtailed their operations greatly in the area.
Sanmina, another electronics company, took over much of the IBM installation. As of 2006, Sanmina have themselves announced major cuts, with 370 jobs being moved to
Hungary. [
6]
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The old main Post Office has been converted to The James (or Jimmy) Watt pub, much used by students at the nearby James Watt College |
Greenock's most famous son is the engineer
James Watt. He is remembered in the name of the local college, at the library instituted in his memory and near the place of his birth in William Street, commemorated by a statue.
Other famous Greenockians include: the composers
Hamish MacCunn and
William Wallace, musician
John McGeoch, poets
Denis Devlin,
W. S. Graham and
Jean Adam, merchant
Matthew Algie, actors
Richard Wilson and
Stella Gonet, comedian
Charles 'Chic' Murray and pirate
Captain Kidd were born in the town.
The novelist
John Galt, noted for founding
Guelph, Ontario in 1827, lived in the town and based some of his work, most notably
Annals of the Parish (
1821), on Greenock and surrounding towns. He is buried in the
Inverkip Street Cemetery.
Mary Campbell,
Robert Burns's
Highland Mary, is buried in Greenock Cemetery where there is a monument to her memory. Greenock is also home to the world's oldest Burns club,
The Mother Club, which was founded in 1801.
Its most infamous resident is
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the
Libyan intelligence officer and former head of
Libyan Arab Airlines, who was convicted on
January 31,
2001 of murder after causing a bomb to be placed on board
Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over
Lockerbie,
Scotland on
December 21,
1988 with the loss of 270 lives. Megrahi was moved in February 2005 from solitary confinement in Barlinnie Prison in
Glasgow to Gateside Prison Greenock, where he is expected to serve the rest of his 27-year sentence.
Another famous local resident was recently covered in an article by
The Daily Telegraph and is known as "The Catman". He is a man of around 60 who lives wild.
Arran View,
Bow Farm,
Braeside,
Branchton,
Bridgend,
Broomhill,
Cartsburn,
Cornhaddock,
Fancy Farm,
Fort Matilda,
Gibshill,
Greenock West,
Grieve Hill,
Hole Farm,
Larkfield,
Lyle Hill,
Lynedoch Overton,
Pennyfern,
Strone,
Strone Farm, and
Whinhill.
*
The Greenock Telegraph*
Greenock Morton FC*
Greenock Cricket Club*
James Watt College*
Inverclyde Views*
Inverclyde Riverside*
Inverclyde Tourism & Community Website*Monteith, J (2004)
Old Greenock*Snoddy, TG (1937)
Round About Greenock*Weir, D (1827, r. 2004)
History of the Town of Greenock
