Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick to the west, and the Yoker and Drumchapel areas of the adjacent City of Glasgow immediately to the east. Depending on the definition of the town's boundaries, the suburban areas of Duntocher, Faifley and Hardgate either surround Clydebank to the north, or are its northern outskirts, with the Kilpatrick Hills beyond.
Historically part of Dunbartonshire and founded as a police burgh on 18 November 1886, Clydebank is part of the registration County of Dumbarton, the Dunbartonshire Crown Lieutenancy area, and the wider urban area of Greater Glasgow.
A native of Clydebank is locally known as a 'Bankie', as distinct from a 'Glaswegian' - whilst the term forms the nickname for the town's football team Clydebank FC who are known as 'The Bankies'.
History
Early origins
Clydebank is located within the historical boundaries of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, the Mormaerdom of Lennox, and the parish of Old Kilpatrick, on the north bank of the River Clyde. A long-standing local legend is that the village of Old Kilpatrick derived its name from being the birthplace of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.The town encompasses part of the Antonine Wall, including, at Hardgate/Duntocher, the site of one of the forts built at regular intervals along the wall. In 2008, the Antonine Wall was designated as a World Heritage Site, as part of a multinational Heritage Site encompassing the borders of the Roman Empire.
Before 1870, the area which later became Clydebank was largely rural, and agricultural. It consisted of some villages, farms and estates, with some small scale mining operations, several paper and cotton mills and some small boatbuilding yards.
Industrial development
At the start of the 1870s, however, the growing trade and industry in Glasgow resulted in the Clyde Navigation Trustees needing additional space for shipping quays in Glasgow. They used their statutory powers to compulsorily purchase the area occupied by the Clyde Bank Iron Shipyard in Govan, which belonged to J & G Thomson. Forced to find another site for their shipyard, J & G Thomson looked at various sites further down the River Clyde, and eventually purchased, from the estates of Miss Hamilton of Cochno, some suitably flat land on the "West Barns o'Clyde" on the north bank of the river, opposite the point where the River Cart flows into the River Clyde. The land was situated close to the Forth and Clyde Canal and to the main road running west out of Glasgow to Dumbarton, and so was conveniently positioned for transporting materials and workers to and from the shipyard. The position opposite the mouth of the River Cart was to prove important as the shipyard grew, since it enabled the company to build much bigger, heavier ships than would otherwise have been possible farther up the Clyde. Construction of the new shipyard started on 1 May 1871.Initially, the company transported workers to and from the shipyard by paddle steamer. However, having to ship workers to and fro all the time was not ideal, so the company also started building blocks of tenement flats to house the workers. These first blocks of housing became known unofficially as "Tamson's Buildings", after the name of the company.
Gradually, as the shipyard grew, so did the cluster of buildings grow nearby. More houses, a school, a large shed which served as canteen, community hall and church, then finally two proper churches in 1876 and 1877. As the resident population grew, so did the needs and problems associated with a growing population. Other manufacturers and employers moved into the area, and by 1880 approximately 2,000 men were living and working there.
File:Kilbowie Road, Clydebank - geograph.org.uk - 731900.jpg|thumb|Kilbowie Road in Clydebank, featuring Clydebank railway station, with the skyline dominated by the Titan Crane.
In 1882 a railway line was built running from Glasgow out to the new shipyard. This was followed by the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway during the 1890s. Then, between 1882 and 1884, the Singer Manufacturing Company built a massive sewing machine factory in Kilbowie, less than north of the Clyde Bank shipyard. More people moved into the area, and finally, in 1886, the local populace petitioned for the creation of a police burgh, on the basis that the area now qualified as a "populous place". The petition was granted, and the new town was named after the shipyard which had given birth to it – Clydebank.
Clydebank blitz
On 13 and 14 March 1941, Luftwaffe bombers attacked various targets in and around Clydebank. In what became known as the Clydebank Blitz, the town was seriously damaged as were the local shipyards, the Dalnottar Royal Navy oil depot and the Singer's Sewing Machine factory. Over the two days 528 civilians were killed and over 617 people were seriously injured.Governance and politics
Clydebank is in West Dunbartonshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. West Dunbartonshire Council, the unitary local authority, is based in Dumbarton, to the northwest, although Clydebank is the largest town in the council area. For local electoral purposes, West Dunbartonshire is split into wards electing either three or four councillors. The Clydebank Waterfront ward broadly covers the area between the River Clyde and the Forth and Clyde Canal, including the town centre, Whitecrook and part of Dalmuir; it also includes neighbouring Old Kilpatrick. The Clydebank Central ward includes Kilbowie, Linnvale, Radnor Park, Parkhall and the northern part of Dalmuir.West Dunbartonshire is also divided into community council areas: those covering Clydebank include Dalmuir and Mountblow; Parkhall, North Kilbowie and Central; Linnvale and Drumry; and Clydebank East. The area that is now Clydebank was once in the territory of the Kingdom of Strathclyde and has been part of the historic county of Dunbartonshire since medieval times. From 1890 onwards, Dunbartonshire was an area of local government administered by a county council. Although Dunbartonshire ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975, it continues to exist as both a Lieutenancy area and registration county. Clydebank is also within the ancient parish of Old Kilpatrick. The town became a burgh in 1886; as such, it exercised most local government functions independently of the county council. Following the abolition of administrative counties in 1975, a new Clydebank District was created within Strathclyde Region under the new two tier system of local government. As well as Clydebank itself and its suburbs, the district also covered a wider area including Old Kilpatrick and Bowling. This lasted until the creation of the present unitary authorities in 1996.
In the early 20th century the town was synonymous with the Scottish socialist movements led by the shipyard workers along the river Clyde, giving rise to the title of Red Clydeside. The 11,000 workers at the largest factory of Singer sewing machines went on strike in March–April 1911, ceasing to work in solidarity of 12 female colleagues protesting against work process reorganisation. Following the end of the strike, Singer fired 400 workers, including all strike leaders and purported members of the Industrial Workers of Great Britain, among whom Arthur McManus, who later went on to become the first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1922.
Labour unrest, particularly by women and unskilled labour, greatly increased between 1910 and 1914 in Clydeside, with four times more days on strike than between 1900 and 1910. During these four years preceding World War I, membership of those affiliated to the Scottish Trades Union Congress rose from 129,000 in 1909 to 230,000 in 1914. The town is part of a single urban area with the terms Glasgow and Greater Glasgow often used interchangeably, though for some Clydebank residents any claim of the town being part of Glasgow can be a sensitive issue. This Glasgow City Metropolitan Area includes places falling within the limits of several local authorities surrounding Glasgow proper; these form a single health service area, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Most of Clydebank uses the Glasgow telephone area code "0141", however Duntocher, Faifley, Hardgate and Old Kilpatrick use "01389". The G81 postcode is the most widely used in the area, but Bowling and Old Kilpatrick use G60.
Coat of arms
The Burgh of Clydebank adopted an unofficial coat of arms in 1892, when it was required to obtain a common seal by the Burgh Police Act 1892. The design was described disparagingly by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies as a fine healthy specimen of home-made heraldry.The design comprised a shield surmounted by a mural crown, above which was a helm bearing a wreath and crest. In the centrepiece of the shield was a Lennox Cross representative of the ancient Earls of Lennox. In chief position was a sewing machine representing the Singer Corporation and in base position "on the waves of the sea" was a representation of the battleship built at J & G Thomson's Clydebank Shipyard in 1892. In the dexter fess position was a stag's head taken from the coat of arms of shipbuilder James Rodger Thomson, the first Provost of the Burgh. In sinister fess position there was a lion rampant taken from the coat of arms of local landowner, Alexander Dunn Pattison of Dalmuir. The crest was a garb or wheatsheaf representing the agricultural interests of the area. The Latin motto below the shield was Labore et Scientia or by work and by knowledge.
In 1929 there was a concerted campaign by the office of Lord Lyon King of Arms to ensure that all burghs using unmatriculated arms regularised their position, and more than fifty burghs registered arms between 1929 and 1931. This led to Clydebank's arms being matriculated on 6 February 1930. The 1930 grant was almost identical to the 1892 device.
When the burgh was abolished in 1975 to become part of a larger Clydebank District, the burgh arms went out of use. Clydebank District Council was granted new arms on 3 September 1975, consisting of a red saltire on a white field for the ancient province of Lennox and for the town's more recent historic links to Ireland which previously used the same flag. The cog-wheel symbolised all the local industries and the demi-figure of Saint Patrick referred to Old Kilpatrick, a burgh of barony from 1672, and where the saint is reputed to have been born. A representation of part of the Roman Antonine Wall was included as the Wall and Roman forts at Old Kilpatrick and Greenhill were features common to the burgh and to the villages in the district. The lymphad was for Clyde shipbuilding. The burgh motto was retained.
At the request of the district council, the arms were rematriculated on 19 April 1985 with the addition of a dove of peace in the centre of the saltire. The coat of arms went out of use in 1996 with the abolition of the District Council. In 1998, the successor West Dunbartonshire Council was granted very similar arms.