As you travel from Glasgow City Centre by car or by foot, you know you are near the conference centre when you see this sight (from outside the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel):
On the right is a circular building and on the left is a tall crane, the subject of this post.
I am not an expert in the classification of types of crane but it is said that there are only eleven giant cranes like this left in the world (of 42 built) and four are on the River Clyde (this one, Whiteinch, Clydebank and Greenock).
There is a tower (the vertical bit, obviously) which is 53 metres high and a cantilever (the horizonal bit) which is 46 metres long, so it is nearly as wide as it is tall. It was operated from a cab in the cantilever – there are stairs but there was also a lift. (I have no information on whether there is a toilet …)
For such a landmark, it might be surprising that several ideas we have today are partly or wholly wrong.
First, there is the name. Today it is universally referred to as the Finnieston Crane, but this seems to date from the late 1980s. Before that it was referred to as either the Stobcross Crane or the fitting-out crane on Stobcross Quay. It’s official name is rather forgettable – Clyde Navigation Trustees Crane Number 7.
Second, today the crane is thought of as loading railway locomotives onto ships. It DID do this but its main purpose was for fitting-out work, Several factories specialising in making engines and boilers for ships were located between the city centre and the modern Hydro / conference centre site. In some cases, hulls were assembled at shipyards further downstream, then towed to Stobhill Quay where the giant crane to have these pieces of machinery lowered into place.
Third, because of its size and reputation of lifting railway engines, the crane is thought of as having been ‘uniquely strong’. It could lift 175 tons (and had been tested with loads up to 220 tons. On the south bank of the river the Clyde Villa crane was already lifting locomotives into ships’ holds:
[insert Clyde Villa pic]
even in the age of steam engine on the railway it would only be comfortable with small and medium-sized engines.
Fourth, the crane is an icon of Scottish engineering. The tower section was built in Carlisle and the cantilever in Darlington, both in England.
Photo 1: the crane under construction, 1931-1932
Queens Dock is on the left. The North Rotunda is easily visible just above the part-finished tower of the new crane. To the left of the new crane is an existing crane capable of lifting 70 tons. Immediately to the right of the new crane, is a boarding point for the ferry – three ferry boats are visible on the other bank (bottom right of the photo). In the top right are the engine works making the engines and boilers. Finnieston Street runs from the top-left corner to the centre-right of the photo; at the river end a crane is visible on the dockside.
Photo: I’m indebted to Stuart Cameron for posting this photo and an explanation:
This is the crane visible in the previous photo at the end of Finnieston Street. It could lift 130 tons and is seen here lifting locomotives (four are visible) onto a ship; note the school boy watching in the bottom right of the photo. It’s interesting that railway engines were driven to the dock by steam engines on a trailer as opposed to being driven on the railway.
This is approximately the same view today:
While the new crane could lift 175 tons compared to 130 with the existing crane, it establishes that cranes lifting heavy goods such as railway engines existed for some time. Stuart Cameron points out there was another 130-ton crane on the south of the river at Princes Dock as well as the 70-ton Clyde Villa Crane on the river front (in modern terms close to the base of the tower at the Science Centre).
Photo: Stuart Cameron describes this as the view from the part-completed new crane, which would suggest a date of 1931.
We’re looking back towards the city centre – the 130-ton steam crane at the end of Finnieston Street is shown very clearly. In the foreground, it seems the ferry ‘terminal’ is being replaced, having been moved upstream. It’s interesting to note the workmen who appear to be standing gazing at the work to be done – of course, this couldn’t happen today. A vehicle ferry is crossing from north to south, it’s frame-like design was to allow the vehicle deck to be raised and lowered according to the state of the tide in order to allow vehicles to drive straight on. Just this side of the vehicle ferry, a smaller passenger ferry is going in the opposite direction.
In modern terms the gazing workmen would be in the Hilton Graden Inn Hotel (possibly in the bar).
Photo: the crane’s official name
Photo: cutting from the Liverpool Journal of Commerce, dated 3rd December 1931, establishing the original purpose was as a ‘fitting-out’ crane (part of the shipbuilding process):
Photo confirming the crane was used for this purpose, here is a cutting from the Belfast Telegraph of 28th February 1938:
This would have been of interest to Belfast readers because Harland and Wolff was based there. It does seem Harland and Wolff would have been the main beneficiaries of the 175-ton fitting out crane – as noted the other launches were fitted out in the yard where they were built. A second cutting, this time from 22nd January 1939 (Sunday Post) tends to confirm this:
I’ve included the rest of the cutting as being of interest to see the types of goods and the other countries involved in trading.
Photo: I cannot find a photo of the Stobcross Crane lifting engines or boilers into a ship being fitted out. I thought this photo showed a boiler awaiting placement but on closer inspection a small boat is being lowered by the crane into the larger ship, suggesting this was cargo, not fitting out.
Note the rather cool looking man on the left walking towards the camera!
This does look similar to a photo dated 1938:
The Daily Record and Mail of 6th April report on when “Ships were the Cargo”, in this case bound for Abadan in modern day Iran.
Photo: However, it is railway engines that domnate the photos and newspaper reports we have available today. this is one of the first mentions of the Stobcross Crane, from the Port Glasgow Express of 17th March 1933:
The final sentence reminds us that the crane started its life during very depressed economic times following the Wall Street Crash in 1929, hence the comment that it was the largest shipment “for several years”. Another notable point is that the derrick on board the City of Barcelona was capable of lifting 148 tons, not far short of the 175 tons for the new crane. The amazing Garace’s Guide website has a photo of a model of the derrick lifting a railway engine:
Photo: from 1955
This view is taken from the ship tied up alongside the quay, looking to the tower of Glasgow University on the skyline.
Google Earth really does not work well at this magnification:
Photo: the Stobcross Crane was powered by electricity, as distinct from earlier cranes which were powered by steam. Of course, this brought its own problems:
Newspaper cutting from 16th April 1951 (Dundee Courier)
Photo: another type of mishap, the day a steel hawser snapped:
Cutting from 16th October 1954, Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser.
Photo: everything changed in the 1960s with the closure of companies in Glasgow. In photos from the 1970s and 1980s the decline was obvious:
Photo from 1980, taken by Chris Doak (who has kindly agreed I can use it):
The special breakfast consisted of: bacon, egg, sausage, black pudding, tattie scone, (baked) beans, a (bread) roll and a mug of tea for £1. I wonder if the first five items shared a frying pan? Today, the Hilton Garden Inn offers breakfast from the same spot, but probably with the same items on offer but possibly not offering the same value for money.
In summary, the Stobcross Crane was capable of lifting the heaviest loads in the docks. The difference compared to older cranes was not huge but, as important exports like railway engines became heavier over time this might have been important.
Another feature was the length of the cantilever which meant it could load goods into wider ships than a quayside crane which was limited by the length of its jib.
The crane was completed just over 93 years ago but has not been in working order since the late 1980s, so it has been a monument for nearly half of its life (and was probably only intensively used for the first 30 years). Sadly, Stuart Cameron comments that little (if any) maintenance is now carried out so, despite being a structure with the highest level of protection, it is in danger of being neglected until it becomes unsafe. Enjoy the view while you can.