The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused
giant cantilever crane
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transpor ...
in the centre of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
s, onto ships to be exported around the world.
It is one of four such cranes on the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
, a fifth one having been demolished in 2007, and one of only eleven giant cantilever cranes remaining worldwide.
History
The first crane to be called 'Finnieston Crane' was moved from a site opposite York Street to Finnieston Quay in 1848. It was tested with a load of 30 tons of pig-iron and ready for use at the end of April of that year. A newspaper report mentions the crane would be entirely used for lifting machinery on board steam-vessels.
Queens Dock was opened in August 1877 as a
dock
A dock (from Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The exact meaning vari ...
for exporting goods from the centre of Glasgow.
[ A steam crane was constructed west of the current one in the 1890s, until it was demolished to make way for a proposed bridge crossing between Finnieston Quay and Mavisbank Quay that was never built.] The present crane, constructed as a replacement, was the last giant cantilever crane to be built on the Clyde.
It was commissioned in June 1928 by the Clyde Navigation Trust, the operators of the port and dock facilities in Glasgow, completed in 1931 and commenced operation in 1932. The tower was built by Cowans, Sheldon & Company
Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partner, ...
of Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
and the cantilever by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a UK bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington. It built landmarks including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humber suspe ...
, under the supervision of Daniel Fife, mechanical engineer to the Clyde Navigation Trust.[ The contract to build the crane did not go to Sir William Arrol & Co., who had significant experience in dock cranes, and built a number of other cranes along the Clyde including the Titan Clydebank, although Arrol was involved in the design of the foundations.]
The total cost of the crane and foundations was £69,000, 85% of which was met by the Trust.[ It is properly known as the "Stobcross Crane" or "Clyde Navigation Trustees crane #7", but its proximity to ]Finnieston
Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre.
Finnieston is home to the SECC and SSE Hydro, where many musical concerts, sporting events an ...
Quay, and the fact that it was intended to replace the previous Finnieston Crane, has led to its being popularly known as the Finnieston Crane.
Public artwork
Commissioned as part of the TSWA 3D exhibition, and displayed during Glasgow's 1987 Mayfest arts festival, a full-size replica locomotive made from straw by local sculptor George Wyllie
George Ralston Wyllie MBE (31 December 1921 – 15 May 2012) was a Scottish artist. Wyllie produced a number of notable public works, such as the Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat.
Life
Wyllie was born in Shettleston, in the east end of ...
was hauled from the old Hyde Park Works in Springburn and suspended from the crane, then hauled back to Springburn and burned to reveal the metal framework underneath.
After Wyllie's death in May 2012, a giant question mark was suspended from the crane in an acknowledgement of his work. In 2013, microphones were attached to the crane by American artist Bill Fontana
Bill Fontana (born April 25, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio) is known internationally for his pioneering experiments in sound art.
Life and career
Fontana attended the New School for Social Research in New York and studied both music and philosophy. He ...
, to record the sounds made by the structure.
Purpose
Connected to a spur of the Stobcross Railway
The Stobcross Railway was a railway line in Glasgow, Scotland, built by the North British Railway to connect from Maryhill to the new dock being built at Stobcross; the dock became the Queen's Dock, opened in 1877. The line was opened first, in ...
, the crane's primary purpose was the lifting of heavy machinery, such as tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...
s and steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
s, onto ships for export. As many as 30,000 locomotives were hauled through the streets of Glasgow by Clydesdale horses, traction engines and diesel tractors, from the works at Springburn to the crane for export to the British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. The crane is (as of 1988) not in working order, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage.
Design
The Finnieston Crane is a giant cantilever crane, tall with a cantilever jib.[ It has a lifting capacity of 175 tons, and could perform a full rotation in three and a half minutes.] It can be ascended either by a steel staircase or an electric lift, the only example of such a personnel lift in Britain.[ It is also the only crane fitted with a horizontal rail to permit movement of the jigger hoist, an auxiliary crane intended to handle lighter loads.]
The docks serviced by the crane were closed in 1969, and have since been filled in and redeveloped.[ The North Rotunda (part of the defunct Clyde Harbour Tunnel) stands to the east of the crane, and the and the Clyde Auditorium to the west.
It is one of four such cranes on the Clyde, after the ]Fairfield Titan
The Fairfield Titan was a giant cantilever crane at BAE Systems' Govan shipyard, and the largest such crane on the River Clyde until it was demolished in 2007.
History
The crane was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. at the Fairfield Shipbuildin ...
was demolished in 2007, and one of only eleven giant cantilever cranes remaining worldwide.[ The crane can be seen in the background of '']Reporting Scotland
''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the BBC Pacific Quay, headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
History
Although BBC Television was esta ...
'' broadcasts from BBC Pacific Quay
BBC Pacific Quay is BBC Scotland's television and radio studio complex at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, Scotland. Opened by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 20 September 2007, the studios are home to BBC Scotland's television, radio and online se ...
and also in the backdrop of '' Live at Five'' on STV 2.
Cultural references
The Finnieston Crane is the subject of a sketch in Limmy's Show!, a Scottish anti-humour sketch show
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...
broadcast on BBC Two Scotland
BBC Two Scotland ( gd, BBC Dhà Alba) was the national variation of BBC Two for BBC Scotland. It was broadcast via digital television and was the sister Scottish channel of BBC One Scotland and Gaelic-language BBC Alba. Unlike BBC One Scotland, ...
, written and directed by Brian "Limmy
Brian Limond (born 20 October 1974), known as Limmy, is a Scottish comedian, author, and Twitch streamer.
While working as a website designer and Flash developer, Limmy began releasing comedy on his website and blog, Limmy.com, which contain ...
" Limond. In character as Dee Dee, a zoned-out Glaswegian waster with a loose grip on reality, he recalls a dream he had that he can't be sure happened or not, where he had a party at the top of the 'Finneston Cran' with his father and sister.
“It was me, ma Sister and ma Da, and we wur huvin’ a party. But somehow we wur huvin’ it up the top a’ that Finnieston Cran. That’s whut makes me ‘hink it nevur happened 'cuz that canny be done.” - Dee Dee, Limmy’s Show
References
Sources
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External links
Flickr gallery of the crane at night
{{Clyde Cranes
Individual cranes (machines)
Shipyard cranes
Tourist attractions in Glasgow
Category A listed buildings in Glasgow
Industrial buildings completed in 1931