Founded in 1884 at a time when heavy industry was booming, the club was initially comprised entirely of workers from J and G Thompson’s Shipyard.
The employees had benefited from a decision by the yard’s principle James R Thompson to secure an area of land in order to provide a form of recreation for his employees.
The club was an instant hit and soon became a hive of activity for both shipyard workers and others alike. It even survived the Clydebank Blitz of March 13 and 14 1941, which left most of the town in ruins.
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire on the north bank of the River Clyde.
Until the late 19th century the area was largely rural consisting of villages and farms.
The Clyde Bank Shipbuilding Yard was set up here in 1871. Rapid growth of heavy industry, population and housing soon followed.
In 1882 the Singer Company moved their manufacturing base from Bridgeton, Glasgow to Clydebank. It quickly became the largest sewing machine factory in the world. It employed over 12,000 workers making domestic and industrial sewing machines that were shipped throughout the world.
During World War II, on 13 and 14 March 1941, Clydebank was a major target for German bombings. In what became known as the Clydebank Blitz, the town itself was seriously damaged as were the local shipyards and armaments factories such as the Dalnottar Oil depot and the Singer Sewing Machine Factory. Over the two days 528 civilians were killed, over 617 people were seriously injured and 4,000 homes were completely destroyed. More than 1000 bombs were dropped on the town by about 400 German planes. RAF fighters shot down two German bombers
The Singer factory closed in 1980 and was demolished in the early 1990s. The site is now largely occupied by a business park.
Shipyards
Started by J & G Thomson in 1871, business built up steadily, employing 2,000 by 1880. However it ran into financial problems and in 1899 was taken over by the Sheffield steelmaker John Brown and Company. The shipyard prospered under the
new management and in 1907 it launched the Lusitania, which at that time was the largest ship ever built. As well as building ocean-going liners it also built warships including HMS Hood, launched in 1918.
The prosperity lasted 20 years but following the Great War the yard went into decline. The gloom was lifted with the order for the Queen Mary, launched in September 1934. The Queen Elizabeth, followed in September 1938.
The last great ship under the John Brown name was the QE2, launched in September 1967. In 1968 John Brown & Co. became part of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. It was bought by Marathon, an American oilrig firm, in 1972 and by UIE in 1980 but went into decline and closed for the last time in 2002, by this time as part of the Kvaerner Group. The yard is now demolished.
Situated in Dalmuir, and hardly ever mentioned now, was one of the biggest shipyards in the world in its time, The Beardmore Naval Construction Yard.
It was downstream of John Browns and stretched to the sewage works. This was the origin of Beardmore Street. A lot of the tenements and buildings in that area were associated with this yard. The yard sat in the area of the Golden Jubilee Hospital.