Clydebank Post | News | It’s a benchmark of bad grammar

Saturday, 10th May, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 7th May, 2008 10:00

It’s a benchmark of bad grammar

By Lynsey Knight

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MISTAKE: John Crosby made the bench, but WDC is to blame for the error

THE newly installed goldfish bench at the canal has again caught the attention of passers-by — but for the wrong reasons this time.

Two grammatical blunders on the inscription of the £3,500 wooden art work have been spotted.

The inscription, which reads: “THE Singer sewing machine factory stood opposite this site between 1882 — 1980, at it’s peak Clydebank produced 80 % of the worlds sewing machines”, has one rogue apostrophe, while another is missing altogether.

The word “it’s” does not require an apostrophe, while “worlds” does and should read “world’s”.

One eagle-eyed passer-by who noticed the error told the Post: “The bench is a poignant addition to the canal, but with this mistake, it’s an embarrassment to the town.

“This is the kind of thing that people learn at primary school, and it doesn’t make Clydebank look good.

“It’s a busy area with lots of people passing through on the canal, and it needs to be fixed.”

But a spokesman for West Dunbartonshire Council, which has admitted responsibility for the errors, told the Post they will not be rectified.

He said: “There was a procedural error which meant, unfortunately, that this mistake in punctuation was not picked up.

“However, we believe that this does not detract from the interesting information given on an attractive and unusual seat.” The artwork was commissioned by WDC. It is part of a wider £50,000 artwork programme along the canal corridor.

The seat is an emblem for the tropical goldfish which thrived in the canal during the time when the Singer factory was open.

The factory pumped warm water into the canal which allowed the fish to survive.

The seat, near to Rosebery Place, took artist, John Crosby from See Level Design, two weeks to carve out from 400kg of solid oak.

It is one of three pieces of art work, funded by money from the Scottish Government, which will be dotted around Clydebank as part of the regeneration work.

Two other pieces, a large bike made from galvanised steel, to be placed near the Whitecrook Business Park, and a rope seat near the Lidl store, should be in place in the next couple of months.

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