Greenock's Finnieston Crane

It is a well known fact that the Finnieston Crane can be found at Stobcross in Glasgow.  However, Greenock has its own cantilever crane at the James Watt Dock Marina.  By a curious coincidence, part of this area in the east end of Greenock was once called Finnieston.  You can see the crane clearly in the Greenockian Blog header.

A look at a local map from the 1840s clearly shows, just across the street from Garvel Park, at what was then called Archibald Street (now Macdougall Street), a few buildings which are labelled "Finnieston".

Greenock's Titan cantilever crane is an icon in the town, built in 1917 by Sir William Arroll & Co for the Greenock Harbour Trust.  The town's shipyards have all gone, but the Titan crane remains as a reminder of our proud shipbuilding and engineering past.

Click here for more reflection photographs.

A very strange coincidence that the area right across from where the Greenock crane stands was once called Finnieston - just like the Glasgow crane!

Rust and ruins

There's something missing from Greenock's skyline in the east end of the town.  The little steam crane that used to be visible just above the wall on the north side of East Hamilton Street at the bottom of Ratho Street is no longer sticking out above the wall.  On closer inspection I discovered that it had collapsed.  After all these years of standing proud, another of the few lasting remnants of Greenock's industrial past has rotted away.  You can still see what's left at the James Watt Dock Marina.

The crane before its collapse.

All that remains now is a pile of rusty twisted metal.

Built by Thomas Smith & Sons of Rodley near Leeds it was of a kind to be found all over the UK, especially on busy quays.  (You can see a much better photograph of the crane here.)

I used to love seeing the difference between this little crane and its nearby "big brother" - the Titan Cantilever crane which fortunately is still standing.

Another Greenock icon .......... gone!

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