Those people who attended the talk by Johnston experienced a double pleasure; a fascinating tour of the distillery (with the opportunity to sample some drams) and an enthralling lecture on shipbuilding. Auchentoshan Distillery provided a wonderful venue for Ian’s talk, which was attended by eighty people. Auchentoshan very kindly provided two guided tours of the distillery, which was an optional extra for anyone who was interested. There was a large uptake of this opportunity and those who attended were especially relaxed after trying various whiskies.

Ian Johnston, the author of several books on ships and shipbuilding, then took us through his passion for the industry and shipping, explaining how he wrote each book. Ian explained how he was entranced by the world of heavy engineering that surrounded him when he was a boy. He developed a particular love for ships and shipbuilding. This passion was to see him spend many an hour in the Mitchell Library researching the Clyde shipbuilding industry. His books were to be the fruits of all this research. Ian told the audience about his first book, which was about William Beardmore, the engineering magnate. At one point Beardmore had a 100 acre site at Dalmuir, employing in the region of 13,000 people. Ian’s fluent and engaging style conveyed how the Clyde brought the world steam power, by fusing entrepreneurial flair with engineering genius, as exemplified by the likes of William Beardmore. He used stunning images of the yards and the ships, which managed to express the sheer magnitude of both the enterprise and the ships themselves. Ian told us how John Brown’s ousted the Thompson brothers, taking over their site at Clydebank, and went on to build liners for the prestigious Cunard firm, including famous vessels such as the Queen Mary and the QE2. As well as books about shipbuilding, Ian has also written a history of battleships, which he feels are often built by nations as symbols of their wealth and political power, as well as reflecting their military aspirations.

Ian took a large number of questions from the audience and one lady told us how her father had been a stoker on the Lusitania (one of the great ships built by John Brown’s), when it was struck by a German torpedo during WW1. Many people expressed a sense of sorrow at the passing of the shipbuilding industry and the photographs brought into stark relief just how much Clydebank and Dalmuir had changed since the industry’s demise. Various theories as to why the industry had declined were discussed and the consensus was that the yards had been a real source of pride and purpose for Clydeside. This was a wonderful evening, managing to be informative, entertaining and very thought provoking (and the whiskies topped it off!).