Engineers. Stephen Adam. 1877-80. The Maryhill Burgh Halls, Glasgow. Click on image to enlarge it.
“Maryhill was not strong on engineering. The almost certain source of The Engineers would have been the Maryhill Engine Works at Lochburn Road, built in 1873 for Clarkson Brothers, later Clarkson & Becket. Possibly one of the brothers, John or James, is explaining to the workman with the spanner the requirements of the latest job. The works produced steam engines and careful analysis of the drawing sheet indicated a small steam engine to be built probably for a canal barge. The workman is again in corduroy breeks-denim dungarees were still a decade or two away — and like many others in the panels wears not a bunnet or cloth cap, but a Tam o’ Shanter headpiece. The building which housed this factory is still standing, to my knowledge the only one so doing in the entire set of panels, and remarkably it still houses a small engineering works. This works executed the ironwork for the restoration of the railings of the former public toilet just outside the Burgh Halls.” — Ian R. Mitchell
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Photograph courtesy of the Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust and Glasgow Life/Glasgow Museums. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
Gossman, Lionel. “Stephen Adam’s Celebration of Industrial Labor.” Victorian Web.
Last modified 3 June 2016