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Titan tells story of the Clyde
27/07/2007
A 100-year old Titan Crane - the oldest of its kind in the world - opens to the public in Clydebank for the first time today as part of the regeneration of the town.
It is the oldest of the five Titans on the Clyde and has been completely refurbished and restored at a cost of £3 million. Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell performed the opening ceremony.
The Titan was used in the fitting out of ships, including the big Cunard liners, and the Navy's battleships and battlecruisers. Along with John Brown shipyards which were key to Britain's war effort it survived the Clydebank Blitz in March 1941.
From the top visitors will be able to see the sweeping views of Clydebank and Glasgow, the River Clyde and the surrounding countryside.
Mr Maxwell said:
"This government is committed to regenerating our most deprived communities and to making sure that economic change and community regeneration go hand in hand. Clydebank Re-built is showing how this can be done.
"The Titan Crane stands as a beacon for positive, life-changing regeneration in Clydebank that has involved the local community."
Eleanor McAllister, managing director of local regeneration company Clydebank Re-built which carried out the two-year restoration, said:
"When we were planning the regeneration of the town and the redevelopment of the former John Brown shipyards site, people in Clydebank made it clear to us that they wanted the Crane to remain and with great support from the community and our funders we have been able to develop the Crane as a very unique heritage centre for the public.
"The Titan is a Clydebank icon. For generations to come it will continue to commemorate the town's proud past as a world leader in shipbuilding, but it does more. It signals the town's renaissance in a new century."
The Titan will be open to the public from August 3.
The 'A' listed crane was designed and built at a cost of £24,600 by Sir William Arrol & Co in the east end of Glasgow in 1907.