Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 2:00pm

End of an era for the Boilermakers

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Clydebank's legendary shipbuilding past has disappeared after the bulldozers moved in on the Boilermakers Club.

The social club, which was a thriving meeting point for thousands of shipbuilders on the Clyde for 50 years, is now all but erased from Dumbarton Road after the demolition team began work.

The site is destined to become a new improved road junction — a gateway to the stalled plans for development by the riverside.

Picture by Owen McGuigan; myclydebankphotos.co.uk

Alan Stevenson, who was secretary of the club until it agreed to accept a settlement from John Brown's site owners Clydeside Regeneration to close up in 2009, told the Post he felt pangs of sadness when he saw the old place being torn down.

Alan said: "I knew it was going to happen sooner or later but it's still so sad to see it coming down. "It's a wee bit of Clydebank's history coming to an end — fifty years it was there for.

"It will be really strange to go past and not have it there any more."

The land where the club is being demolished will lead to an improved new junction for Cable Depot Road, which is needed to provide access to the planned development on the waterfront.