Sunday, 14 August 2016

James Watt's Makeover

At long last Greenock's statue of James Watt has had a makeover!


The statue, situated on the corner of Dalrymple Street and William Street, was unveiled by Andrew Carnegie on 1st June 1908.


You can see that it was looking a bit stained and faded.  It is now a deep shade of brown.  I'm still getting used to the difference!


These sculptures are around the base of the statue's pedestal.


The strange looking device he is holding in his right hand is the Watt Indicator.


Here you can see the name of the sculptor - Henry Charles Fehr (1867-1940).  He produced another statue of Watt which is in Leeds.


Born in Greenock in 1736, James Watt was responsible for improvements to the steam engine and was a brilliant inventor and engineer.

2 comments:

  1. James Watt, I only learned of him recently when I looked researched "horse power" for engines. James Watt was responsible for this measurement! Such a brilliant mind, I admire inventors like him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kay. It certainly was James Watt who coined the term "horsepower". The Watt unit of power (as in lightbulbs) is also named after him. A great man!

      Delete

Your comments are very welcome.