|
Post by Waverley on Nov 4, 2007 13:08:53 GMT 1
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Nov 5, 2007 17:52:07 GMT 1
That's helpful Charlie, so you carry on past the white gates on the right of the Y and past the second set of gates that used to swing open to let the Forge trains cross Duke Street and the first Street on the left in Wellington Street, which was the western boundary of the Forge, the next Street up from that running parallel to it is Salamanca Street. Nisbet Street comes up from one of the main Forge gates and crosses Salamanca Street up to Westmuir Street, you can see Tollcross Road running up from the cross and leading to what looks like Tollcross park, any idea when the photo was taken?
|
|
|
Post by pwm437 on Nov 8, 2007 8:52:06 GMT 1
The forge closed in the early 1980's. In their heyday Wm. Beardmore employed 40,000 people at all their facilities (Dalmuir, Inchinnan, The Forge etc.) and when it closed they were fighting to save 400 jobs, or 1% of their previous high.
During WW1 the wage bill was £125,000 per week.
Wm. Beardmore : quite a company.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Nov 19, 2007 16:34:08 GMT 1
The main Trade union at the Forge was the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) led by Hugh Scanlon. The union members used to meet on a Saturday morning in an upstairs back room along the Gallowgate across from where the the new St Michaels Chapel was built. They also had mass meetings when they had to bring all the workers together up the old Shettlston Road at their training bit or in one of the sheds, these meetings would be addressed by the shop stewards who, as I understood it at the time, were pretty right wing compared to some of the other factories around Glasgow, especially the Clyde shipyards where the Communist Party had a big membership.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Nov 19, 2007 17:27:31 GMT 1
This was a few closes along from the bus stop where the Italian ice cream shop was, almost directly opposite the Chapel gates on the Gallowgate, you went into the close and up some stairs and turned right into this room, I remember it because my old man used to take me to the meetings when I was a kid on the Saturday mornings and then after his fatherly duties were done, plonk me back in Nisbet Street while he went into the daft shop for his pint or two. The meetings were for the AEU members only and were run by a committie elected from the district rather than one factory although the majority were from the Forge, the shop stewards on the other hand were elected by the workforce in the factory and had other union reps besides the AEU.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Nov 21, 2007 14:19:34 GMT 1
Does anyone know whether the Forge ever had a major strike, I remember my old man being on short time and the factory working a 2/3 day week and all the men having to go down to the buroo that was next to the Forge offices to get some money to make up the lost wages, but can't remember any big industrial dispute.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Jan 2, 2008 17:13:17 GMT 1
"Rigby was the name of one of the managers at the forge, and your street took his name." That's interesting pwm437, do you know what this manager did to get a street named after him
|
|
|
Post by pwm437 on Jan 2, 2008 17:22:23 GMT 1
All I know Trotsky is he was called William Rigby. Maybe he married into the Beardmore clan.
I'll see if I can dig up any more on him.
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Jan 2, 2008 17:33:02 GMT 1
WILLIAM BEARDMORE
SOLE proprietor till recently, when the concern was formed into a limited liability company, of the world-famous Parkhead Forge, Rolling Mills, and Steel Works, Mr. Beardmore was born at Greenwich in 1857. A few years later his father removed to Glasgow, to work the Parkhead Forge in company with Mr. Rigby, patentee of a new and powerful type of steam hammer. The son accordingly received his education at Glasgow High School and Ayr Academy. At the age of fifteen he entered the Forge, and served for a time in each of its chief departments, attending at the same time evening classes in mathematics and chemistry at Anderson's College. He also, for 2½ years, studied chemistry and metallurgy at South Kensington School of Mines. During this period of apprenticeship his father died, but his uncle, Isaac Beardmore, who had been made a partner on the retiral of Mr. Rigby, carried on the business. In 1880 Mr. William Beardmore was in turn taken into partnership, and six years later his uncle retired from the business. Under his sole management the Forge continued to develop and extend till it covers over ninety acres, and employs some four thousand men. It has a reputation over all the world for the manufacture of all classes of armour for battleships, boiler and ship plates, castings, shafting of all descriptions up to the greatest dimensions, railway material, such as tyres, axles, finished wheels and axles, etc., etc. In 1900 the firm purchased the old-established shipyard and engineering works of Messrs. Robert Napier & Sons, the firm which had supported Messrs. Rigby & Beardmore in their early struggles, and from which they had bought the Forge itself in 1861.
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Jan 2, 2008 17:35:37 GMT 1
William Beardmore (1823-1877) was the son of Joseph Beardmore, iron master, the first superintendent of the Deptford works of the General Steam Navigation Co, London, England. William was apprenticed to his father in 1838. He experimented with the superheating of steam for marine engineers with William Rigby, manager of the Parkhead Forge, Glasgow, Scotland, owned by Robert Napier, marine engineer. David Napier, engineer, had purchased the Parkhead Forge in 1841, from Reoch Brothers, forge masters, who had purchased the site in 1836. Rigby & Beardmore patented a superheater in 1858 and a circular compound marine engine in 1860.
William Beardmore and shipbuilder Robert Napier patented a direct acting horizontal engine for screw propulsion engines that were installed in the ships of Robert Napier & Sons. William Beardmore moved to Glasgow in 1861 to join a partnership with William Rigby who had just purchased the Parkhead Forge from his father in law, Robert Napier. They made armour plate for warships at Napier’s yard in Govan, Glasgow, but the main part of their business was in the manufacture of boiler plates. William Rigby died in 1863, but William Beardmore maintained the partnership with Rigby’s widow, Jane Napier.
|
|
|
Post by pwm437 on Jan 2, 2008 18:10:16 GMT 1
A wee bit more I've found out about William Rigby ;
he first appears in the GPO Directory for Glasgow in 1851, where he is listed as a civil and mechanical engineer, living at Netherfield House, 666 Duke Street.
In the entry for the following year, 1852, he is listed as engineer and manager of Parkhead Forge, still residing at Netherfield House.
As you can see from above, Rigby eventually had his name above the door as part of Rigby & Beardmore.
He latterly lived at 10 Oakley Terrace, Dennistoun.
|
|
|
Post by pwm437 on Jan 2, 2008 19:53:50 GMT 1
Slight correction to William Rigby. It would appear after further digging, it was Beardmore who lived at Oakley Terrace, and not Rigby.
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Jan 3, 2008 15:53:03 GMT 1
Yes I agree Trotsky these guys like Beardmore , Sir William Arrol and Templeton etc., were the Sir Richard Branson's of their day. Yes Capitalists to the core but as one auld Parkheid Forge worker once said to me ' Big Bill Beardmore may have been a capitalist but he put more bread in weans's mooths than any of the Red Clydesiders or Labour Party members ever did'.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Jan 3, 2008 16:02:41 GMT 1
When people talk of this period it is the Clyde side that seems to get mentioned most, but the ships wouldn't have sailed without the Forge and all the others who all contributed. Parkheads role as a main player in the Glasgow of manufacture needs to be highlighted and preserve, exactly whit yur site is helping to do Charlie.
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Jan 3, 2008 16:08:38 GMT 1
When people talk of this period it is the Clyde side that seems to get mentioned most, but the ships wouldn't have sailed without the Forge and all the others who all contributed. Parkheads role as a main player in the Glasgow of manufacture needs to be highlighted and preserve, exactly whit yur site is helping to do Charlie. Hopefully we can do that Trotsky as I have always felt that Parkhead's role in making Glesga 'the Second City of The Empire' on which the sun never set has been erased from the annals of the history of Glasgow...likewise Bridgeton and Dalmarnock they all played a big big part but you wouldn't think so when you read the official histories. Who's Like Us ... damned few and they are aw Deid. ;D I Commit Myself To Providence - the motto of Lord Invernairn.
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Apr 2, 2008 22:36:44 GMT 1
Maybe some of your relatives are in this photograph which was taken in the "E" Shop on the 23rd March 1910... © 2008 The Glesga Keelies Website
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Jun 2, 2008 14:27:55 GMT 1
If only this bit of Duke Street could talk what stories it would be able to tell of yesteryear...
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Jun 3, 2008 15:26:47 GMT 1
The white gates were just next to where the Beardmore sign was but there was another set of gates that opened across Duke Street to let a train cross over. Was that where the opening is on the left further up the photo next to the bus stop or was it further up on the left where you can just make out another opening. I know this train crossesd over into where one of the main gates were and further up was the Forge cafe on the right.
|
|
asbo
New Member
Posts: 498
|
Post by asbo on Sept 12, 2008 22:26:14 GMT 1
These young ladies were turners in 'K' Shop in Parkhead Forge during WWI. Back row on the right is my granny's older sister Ellen McIntyre Mathieson, known as Nellie. Her son, Tommy Mitchell is my da's cousin and lives in Oz. My granny was Isabella (Bella) Mathieson and she worked in Barrs. I have posted a picture of their mum, Mary Mathieson (nee Crawford) in the old pictures section.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2009 12:10:53 GMT 1
My Pals Father was killed in The Forge circa 1947.
He was a Foreman and had to give the men their wages where they were working.
He climbed up on the roof and fell through a glass window.!
His Mother got about , I think, £100 and that was that.!!
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Mar 19, 2009 11:45:14 GMT 1
My first job when I left Rivvy was at the Forge, I sat the test and got offered an apprentiship as, what I think they called, a fitter and turner. I assumed the turners worked the lathes but not sure what the fitters did, maybe fitted bits of metal together. Because I was 15 at the time of leaving school and couldn't start the apprentiship until I was 16 they had me working as an office go-fur in the HQ along the old Shettleston Rd. Well a went fur this and goed fur that and after a couple of months go-furing I goes fur a walk up Duke Street tae Parkheed and never went back ;D best thing I ever did knowing what I do now
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Aug 6, 2009 11:26:56 GMT 1
Haw Brian you never know he could be driving this wee train... © 2009 The Glesga Keelies.
|
|
|
Post by briancharlton on Aug 6, 2009 13:07:59 GMT 1
Here is a part of some old maps that I have from the 1950s showing the area around Parkhead and the forge. It also shows Elba Lane Nursery School and Newlands School, both of which I attended. You may also notice the railway station in Whitby St. called "Parkhead Stadium" as it is near Celtic Park. Brian.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Aug 26, 2009 12:07:51 GMT 1
Hello Brian, last time I was up in Parkheed was for Peter’s grand tour. Got there a bit early so had a look round the Forge shopping centre and couldn’t help notice all the wee men an wumin in the place. The men had the responsibility fur pushing (or pulling) the wee shopping trolly and the wumin walked in front telling the wee men where to go and when to stop at whatever shop window they wanted to look at. Like you I’m 6-2 and 15 stone (but dieting) so maybe there is a lot of wee men and wumin that we look down at from our vantage point in the clouds, but there just seemed to be a lot of wee people that day in Parkheed, maybe all the big people were having a lie in bed that morning ;D On a serious note, maybe it is to do with Parkheed’s industrial past and or present day diet and living conditions, or something like that, but the prevalence of a lot of smaller men and wumin was noticeable at the time
|
|
|
Post by tammccann on Dec 19, 2009 21:44:36 GMT 1
Ernest Shackleton the polar explorer started work for William Beardmore 1906 following his return from accompanying Scott and Wilson on there first attept at the pole William Beardmore gave Shackleton a loan of £7000 (half a million today) for his NIMROD expedition to Antartica ,The snow cats and sledges were all made at the forge and as gratatude Shackleton named a giant glacier he discovered The Beardmore Glacier.
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Dec 21, 2009 12:19:45 GMT 1
Word on the streets of Parkheed way back then was that Wullie Beardmore’s wife and Mr Shackleton were more than just friends, wink, wink, say no more, and that the loan was to make sure yur man was removed as far away as possible from the said wife, an lets face it, you couldn't get further away than the Antarctic. Wonder if the Beardmore Glacier has melted yet with all this global warming
|
|
trotsky
New Member
Hello Hello
Posts: 404
|
Post by trotsky on Dec 21, 2009 23:43:11 GMT 1
Source Charlie, it’s the best source that you can always depend on , family inheritance.......my Grandfather who worked with the wee puggy train things at the Forge, passed it on to his son, my Dad, who worked the electric cranes in G,H and I shop, who passed it on to me, who worked at the Forge as a 15 yr old goffer in the main office on the Old Shettleston Rd, who passed it on to his son who worked as a shelf stacker in the Forge shopping centre......only kidding about the last bit......in fact only kidding about it all, the real source is ................ The James Caird Society: Sir James Key Caird (1837-1916), a wealthy Dundee jute manufacturer and philanthropist, to whom Sir Ernest Shackleton wrote in 1914 asking for a donation of £50. Caird promised £10,000 and in the event gave £24,000 - a huge amount of money in 1913/4, amounting to many millions of pounds in today’s terms, to Shackleton’s 1914-16 Imperial Transantarctic Expedition, thus making the privately-financed Endurance trip possible. Quote from the James Caird Society source:- “Shackleton’s friendship with Elspeth (Eliza) Beardmore, then in her thirties and three years older than the explorer, continued after he became Secretary to the [Royal] Scottish Geographical Society, and she encouraged him to make plans for the Nimrod expedition of 1907-9. Beardmore was the chief supporter of the Nimrod expedition, providing Shackleton with a £7,000 loan, worth almost half a million pounds in today’s money: not a vast figure all the same, but sufficient perhaps to make the expedition viable. Some thought that he did this partly to get Shackleton off his hands, there being rumours that Elspeth and Shackleton were having an affair. Don’t panic my friends, I am quoting from other published sources, whether they are right or wrong, I’m no making it up
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2009 0:23:46 GMT 1
trotsky I wonder if theres any records, still in existence, of the people who used to work at the forge, do you or anyone else know of any such records? Have a look here, Patrick: www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_60302_en.pdfThis is a list of the records relating to Beardmore's held by the University of Glasgow Archive Service. I don't know if they're available for public inspection or if it's only for the use of academic staff and students, but there's nae herm in askin.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2010 4:42:43 GMT 1
I have a 1910 pic of #2 Foundry Parkhead Forge. My Grandfather is 3rd from the right looking at the pic. His name was Henry (Harry ) McDonald .His last address was where I was born 427 Gallowgate (up the pen!) I will try to post it on here. PS Thanks for the memories,,, Linda .
|
|
|
Post by Waverley on Mar 11, 2010 14:11:02 GMT 1
|
|