The Royal Scotsman moored at the Broomielaw, 1955.
Built at Harland & Wolff's Belfast yard, the Royal Scotsman entered service with the Burns & Laird Line in 1936. Along with her sistership the Royal Ulsterman she operated on the Glasgow to Belfast run until 1967. The Royal Scotsman was then bought by L Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer and founder of the Church of Scientology, who used the ship as a floating college of Scientology in the Mediterranean. The ship was later renamed Apollo and was scrapped in Texas in 1984.
In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.
Reference: 1005.97.319 / OG.1955.121.[254]
Reproduced with the permission of the Partick Camera Club
Keywords:
Apollo, Burns & Laird Lines, Church of Scientology, Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, Harland & Wolff, quays, River Clyde, Royal Scotsman, scientologists, ships