Scottish Maritime Museum - Port Glasgow Shipbuilding – here, there and everywhere
19th September 2026 5:00 pm
A talk by Alastair Hart
Saturday 19 September 2026 Scottish Maritime Museum, Linthouse Building, Irvine
Join us at the Linthouse Building for an illustrated talk exploring the remarkable shipbuilding story of Port Glasgow, from the early 1800s to the late twentieth century.
About the talk
Developed to mark the 250th anniversary of Port Glasgow and the installation of the town’s new Comet replica, this talk traces the highlights of Port Glasgow’s shipbuilding history.
Alastair Hart follows the story from the time of the Wood family in the early 1800s through to the late 1970s, when Lithgows Ltd built the largest ship in the UK. Along the way he looks at the engineering excellence and achievement that defined the town’s yards, Lithgows’ involvement with overseas shipyards, and the shift in world shipbuilding towards Japan, South Korea and China.
The talk closes with a look at some of the 1970s aspirations for how Port Glasgow shipbuilding might have developed, and a few final thoughts on what we can take from that period in the town’s history.
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