Looking east along the River Clyde from Merklands Wharf on a sunny morning in 1955. The tall cranes of Fairfield Shipyard can be seen on the far bank and a tug is sailing downriver.
Merklands Wharf (or Quay) lies downstream from Meadowside Quay. It was used by ships landing citrus fruits from Israel, Cyprus and South Africa, which was received in a large double shed. The wharf was also used as the landing for cattle arriving from Ireland and Canada and the vast Merklands Lairage (built in 1907) stood next to the fruit sheds. The lairage closed in 1974 and was later demolished.
The dredgers which keep the river channels open discharge their dredgings in the water by Merklands Wharf. These dredgings of sand, silt and clay are later lifted onto the wharfside and allowed to dry out before being sold on as topsoil. 32,000 tonnes of dredgings were used for planting out trees and bushes at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988.
In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.
Reference: 1005.97.18 / OG.1955.121.[17]
Reproduced with the permission of Partick Camera Club
Keywords:
cattle, cranes, dredgings, Fairfield Shipyard, fruit, Glasgow Garden Festival, Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, imports, Merklands Lairage, Merklands Quay, Merklands Wharf, River Clyde, rivers, tugs
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