Published: Wednesday, 30th January, 2008 10:00
Don’t let our town’s heritage fade away
By Colin Hutton
Print Article
A PROUD Bankie is calling on the town’s younger generation to take heed of their heritage.
Billy Tierney has devoted almost 25 years of his life to researching the area’s shipbuilding past.
The 61-year-old worked as a fitter at John Brown’s yard for just three years but was so inspired by the place that ships have become a deep-rooted passion for him.
And now Billy is hoping youngsters will realise the importance shipbuilding has played in the town’s past — and present.
Every conceivable inch of his flat is covered with pictures of all the major ships that were built and launched in Clydebank over the years, including the QE2, the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Queen Mary.
And his collection stretches to over 20 huge picture-filled frames, countless videos about the yards, a room dedicated to shipbuilding books and various artifacts he has acquired over the years.
The Parkhall resident told the Post: “I don’t want the shipbuilding memories to die here so I’ve got all this memorabilia stored up that can be passed on through the years.
“It’s absolutely tragic that the kids growing up in Clydebank do not know much about the shipbuilding heritage that is all around them in the area — that needs to change.”
Billy’s affection for shipbuilding stems from his admiration of John Brown’s yard.
He added: “I’m really interested in the shipbuilding heritage of Clydebank because it’s so utterly brilliant.
“I like ships just like everyone else in Clydebank that is about my age and [John] Brown’s in particular really turned me on.
“I started to collect all this stuff about 25 years ago and I did it because I’m so proud to be from Clydebank. I’ve dedicated a lot of my life to studying John Brown’s yard and everything that it has done — the more you read it becomes quite amazing.
“For example, the maximum working weight for the cranes in those days was five tonnes and they built all these ships with just that machinery — it was a phenomenal engineering feat.”
Billy took his love for Clydebank shipbuilding down under when he emigrated to Australia in 1984 as he went looking for a new life, but ended up simply regaling tales of the yards to anyone who would listen.
After 22 years in the Australian sun Billy decided it was time to come home and in 2006 returned to his beloved town.
He said: “The town is recovering very slowly since the shipbuilding work has declined and I’m pleased to be back — this is always where I’ve called home.”
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