An aerial view from the south bank of River Clyde of Yarrow & Co's shipyard, c 1932.
Alfred Yarrow started business in 1865 at Poplar on the River Thames. At the turn of the century he decided to move his shipyard from the Isle of Dogs to Scotstoun on the Clyde. He gave his reasons as the cost of materials and labour but widespread labour unrest on the Thames probably contributed to his decision.
Yarrow signed the contract to move to Scotstoun in 1906 and the Isle of Dogs yard was gradually run down as machines and materials were moved north. Yarrow took 300 of his Poplar workers with him to Scotstoun. They did not like the new Scottish tenements where they were housed so Yarrow commissioned forty brick houses, aptly named "Yarrow Cottages", to be built with gardens. When the First World War began in 1914, his son Harold took over the running of the company and remained in charge until his death in 1962. The shipyard came to specialise in the design and build of warships for the Royal Navy and overseas navies.
Reference: P561
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
aerial views, cottages, marine engineering, River Clyde, Royal Navy, shipbuilders, shipbuilding, ships, shipyards, tenements, warships, Yarrow & Co, Yarrow Cottages, Yarrow's Shipyard