Port Glasgow

Newark Castle stands close to the last shipyard on the Lower Clyde.

The origins of Port Glasgow go back to the construction by Sir George Maxwell between 1450 and 1477 of the "New Werke of Finlastoun", which became Newark Castle. At a good anchorage near the castle, a small fishing hamlet known as Newark formed,[4] like other scattered hamlets along the shores of the River Clyde. After 1589 the village of Greenock formed just under 4 miles (6 kilometres) to the west of Newark, and gradually became a market town with growing fishing and sea trade, although it had only a jetty in the bay to unload ships. Since seagoing ships could not go further up the Clyde due to sandbanks, the Glasgow merchants such as the Tobacco Lords wanted harbour access, but got into arguments with Greenock over harbour dues and warehouses. They put a bid in for the Easter Greenock estate for a harbour, but were outbid and the lands became the Barony of Cartsburn. They then negotiated with Sir Patrick Maxwell of Newark Estate, and in 1668 he agreed to lease the City of Glasgow 13 acres (5.3 hectares) of land to the west of the castle, for payment of 1,300 merks and an annual feu duty of four merks. Construction of piers and breakwaters enclosing the harbour began promptly, and Newport Glasgow was constituted as a free port.[5][6]

Trade prospered quickly, and by 1710 Newport Glasgow had the principal Clyde custom house, initially in Customhouse Lane, then after 1754 in a new building constructed on the west quay of the harbour. Through that century the town became known simply as Port Glasgow. Ships, mostly owned by Glasgow merchants, imported tobacco, sugar, rum, cotton and mahogany from the Americas, as well as timber, iron and hemp from the Baltic. These goods were then taken by road to Glasgow, as was market garden produce from farms around Port Glasgow. A change began in 1773 when the Lang Dyke was constructed to deepen the upper river, and ships increasingly went upriver straight to Glasgow. In 1830, the custom house collected £243,349 3s 1d in revenue, but after that income from the port declined, while by then Greenock had its own custom house.[7]

After 1693, the grid-iron street layout, which still forms much of the town centre today, was laid out.

Shipbuilding

In 1780, Thomas McGill set up one of the first shipyards in the area, located near Newark castle.[8] By the 19th century, Port Glasgow had become a centre of shipbuilding. The Comet was built in the town in 1812 and was the first commercial steam vessel in Europe. A replica of the Comet was built in 1962 to mark the 150th anniversary. It, and a plaque commemorating the actual site of construction, were situated in Port Glasgow town centre in the early 1970s.

PS Comet, Europe's first commercially successful steamboat, was built in Port Glasgow, and a replica of her made by shipyard apprentices now stands in the town centre.

Port Glasgow became a burgh in 1833, but around this time, the River Clyde up to Glasgow was deepened and new road and rail links meant that the town was no longer needed much as a port. The shipbuilding industry then took over as the main source of employment and prosperity. Port Glasgow has been responsible for about a quarter of the total tonnage of ships launched on the Clyde, and also dealt in scrapping old ships, most notably the French liner L'atlantique, the burnt out wreck of which was broken up in the yard of Smith & Houston.[9] However, as with most of Inverclyde's industry, the shipbuilding industry has all but gone and only Ferguson Marine Engineering remains in the town today. Ferguson's is one of the last remaining privately owned shipyards in Scotland.

Ferguson's yard changed ownership in 2014 had undergone extensive renovation and modernisation, which had resulted in the demolition of most of the buildings on the site for brand new modern ones and a more open front entrance.

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  Ferguson's shipyard gate, before demolition in 2015/16
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  Ferguson's shipyard gatehouse before demolition in 2016
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  Scott Lithgow's Glen Yard in 1986 (site is now a retail park)

The town is served by Port Glasgow railway station (main station) in the town centre and Woodhall railway station in the east end of the town. Both stations are on the electrified Inverclyde Line, which has frequent services to the termini at Glasgow Central, Gourock and Wemyss Bay. All trains stop at Port Glasgow; Woodhall has a less frequent service.

From 1869 to 1959, the town was also served by rail at Port Glasgow Upper railway station on the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway. This station was later demolished.

The town is connected to nearby Glasgow by the A8 dual carriageway and the M8 motorway.

Glasgow Airport located 21 km (13 mi) to the east is the closest airport to Port Glasgow.

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  Main entrance to Port Glasgow railway station
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  Port Glasgow railway station
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  Woodhall railway station
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  The A8 dual carriageway runs on land reclaimed from the Clyde in the east end of Port Glasgow
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  The A8 dual carriageway runs through former shipyard land in the west end of Port Glasgow.
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  The A8 at Port Glasgow, with the snow-covered Argyll hills beyond

Port Glasgow has played host to several successful football clubs, including Port Glasgow Athletic F.C. and their sister side Port Glasgow Athletic Juniors F.C., which are both now defunct. Port Glasgow F.C. have been since formed to fill this void. The team returned "home" to a new stadium at Parklea, Port Glasgow in 2012, following a spell playing their home games in nearby Greenock.

Port Glasgow was a parliamentary burgh as part of the Kilmarnock Burghs constituency from 1832 to 1918, when it was merged into the West Renfrewshire constituency. From 1974 to 1997, it was part of the Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency. It returned to the West Renfrewshire constituency in 1997, before becoming part of the present Inverclyde constituency in 2005. In the Scottish Parliament, Port Glasgow has been part of the West Renfrewshire Holyrood constituency since 1999.

• Bardrainney
• Boglestone
• Bouverie
• Broadfield
• Chapelton
• Clune Park (Home to the Clune Park Estate which consists of 430 flats, mostly abandoned, only 20 residents occupy flats in the estate as of July 2019)
• Devol
• Highholm
• Kelburn
• Kingston Dock
• Lilybank
• Mid Auchinleck
• Park Farm
• Parkhill
• Slaemuir
• Springhill
• Town Centre
• Woodhall

Part of Phase II of the retail park

From the late-1990s onwards, much of Port Glasgow's waterfront has been cleared and derelict industrial buildings removed. The A8 trunk road now runs along the waterfront through much of the town, and landscaping has opened up the site around Newark Castle. The former Gourock Ropework building has been redeveloped as luxury flats, and a retail park has been laid out adjacent to the town centre, with a large Tesco Extra store, B&Q warehouse, Marston's Pub and Restaurant and Costa Coffee occupying the site.

By October 2017, the retail park had expanded to include: Marks & Spencer, Aldi, B & M, TK Maxx and Watt Brothers. During October 2017, units were being prepared for Boots the Chemist and Next.

• Harry McNish
• Margaret MacDonald (visionary) (1815–1840)

• Monteith, Joy (2003). Old Port Glasgow. Catrine: Stenlake. ISBN 978-1-84033-250-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Port Glasgow.

• Inverclyde Waterfront (Port Glasgow)