In May 2009, a 111 year old ship, built in Glasgow, Scotland, was drydocked on the shores of Lake Malawi in Central Africa, at the start of an ambitious project to restore the vessel to active service and convert it into a floating medical centre. This gallery briefly relates the story of the SS Chauncy Maples from her creation in one of the most unusual of the many shipyards of Victorian Clydeside to the present day. It is hoped that the ship, converted to run on bio-fuel, will soon be able to bring much needed medical assistance in an area where land travel is difficult and the average life expectancy of the native people is only around 36 years.
The engineering partnership of Stephen Alley & John MacLellan was established in 1875 at premises in London Road, Glasgow but, soon afterwards, the firm moved to a larger site in Polmadie Road on the south eastern periphery of Glasgow, which was then one of the largest centres of engineering, shipbuilding and manufacturing in the world. Alley & McLellan's works soon become known as the Sentinel Engineering Works and the name 'Sentinel' became, effectively, their trade mark. The Sentinel Works were located close to the huge Govan Iron Works (located in Little Govan, not the Burgh of Govan which was 3 - 4 miles further west and not part of Glasgow at that time. Little Govan is now known as Govanhill).
Govan Iron Works was established in 1839 by William Dixon using coal from several local coal mines founded by his father as fuel for its iron products making processes. The Iron Works had 5 large iron making furnaces which sent up an orange glow in the night skies over a large area of the city. The Govan Iron Works were in production 119 years and they were commonly known as 'Dixon's Blazes' by most of the local population.
A picture of the works can be seen at the SCRAN website (subscription needed to see the picture full size)
http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-124-068-C&scache=2jyz376lyh&searchdb=scran
Govan Iron Works was established in 1839 by William Dixon using coal from several local coal mines founded by his father as fuel for its iron products making processes. The Iron Works had 5 large iron making furnaces which sent up an orange glow in the night skies over a large area of the city. The Govan Iron Works were in production 119 years and they were commonly known as 'Dixon's Blazes' by most of the local population.
A picture of the works can be seen at the SCRAN website (subscription needed to see the picture full size)
http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-124-068-C&scache=2jyz376lyh&searchdb=scran
The engineering partnership of Stephen Alley & John MacLellan was established in 1875 at premises in London Road, Glasgow but, soon afterwards, the firm moved to a larger site in Polmadie Road on the south eastern periphery of Glasgow, which was then one of the largest centres of engineering, shipbuilding and manufacturing in the world. Alley & McLellan's works soon become known as the Sentinel Engineering Works and the name 'Sentinel' became, effectively, their trade mark. The Sentinel Works were located close to the huge Govan Iron Works (located in Little Govan, not the Burgh of Govan which was 3 - 4 miles further west and not part of Glasgow at that time. Little Govan is now known as Govanhill).
Govan Iron Works was established in 1839 by William Dixon using coal from several local coal mines founded by his father as fuel for its iron products making processes. The Iron Works had 5 large iron making furnaces which sent up an orange glow in the night skies over a large area of the city. The Govan Iron Works were in production 119 years and they were commonly known as 'Dixon's Blazes' by most of the local population.
A picture of the works can be seen at the SCRAN website (subscription needed to see the picture full size)
http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-124-068-C&scache=2jyz376lyh&searchdb=scran
Govan Iron Works was established in 1839 by William Dixon using coal from several local coal mines founded by his father as fuel for its iron products making processes. The Iron Works had 5 large iron making furnaces which sent up an orange glow in the night skies over a large area of the city. The Govan Iron Works were in production 119 years and they were commonly known as 'Dixon's Blazes' by most of the local population.
A picture of the works can be seen at the SCRAN website (subscription needed to see the picture full size)
http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-124-068-C&scache=2jyz376lyh&searchdb=scran
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