Blog at the Ballast

Today's photo is from the new batch of L's which I've added to flickr and I'm working on their descriptions.The photo I liked best from the bunch was this one of the MV Leven a launch built by William Denny & Brothers in 1938 for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company and still going today!Full specification details available from clydebuilt. ...

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I received a very helpful email today from Mick at Irish Ship Wrecks with information about a ship I posted about back in September 2009, the Alert.This was one that I struggled to find information about from my usual sources Clydebuilt and Miramar but Mick has suggested the Crew List Index Project CLIP as another potential source of information. ...

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Today's photo is the King Edward, a passenger vessel built by William Denny & Brothers in 1901 for Turbine Steamers Ltd.Full specification details are available from Clydebuilt as usual. ...

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The BFI this month presents tales from the shipyard;a fascinating selection of documentaries, studio features and independently produced films that bring alive the stories of the shipping communities and shipyard cities around the UK and offer a fascinating and often surprising view of a vanished way of life.I was alerted to it by this message on twitter - A #shiptales message from Sean...

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An interesting post from Glasgow University Archive Services on their blog about their collection of records for John Hastie & Co. Ltd. Read it here.There is some more information including this image about the company on this site from the people at the McLean Museum.(Image Source) ...

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Today's photographs are of the Kathleen and May, one of 60 tall ships on the UK’s National Register of Historic Vessels.Built by Ferguson and Baird at Connahs Quay, Wales in 1900. She was bought in1908 by Martyn Fleming of Youghal, Ireland to be part of his fleet of coal ships and was re-named after his daughters Kathleen & May.More information about her can...

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Finally I have uploaded more of the Dan McDonald photographs so the 'Ks' are now available on our flickr pages.I can't resist a paddle steamer so bring you the KYLEMORE today:She was built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow in 1897. ...

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The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland has great image collections of industrial sites available on their Canmore site and they've just uploaded more new images for February which include some of "international building projects from the Sir William Arrol Collection, including sites in Denmark, Egypt, Ghana and England, as well as photographs of John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank...

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Although the Pacesetter project isn't finished, I recently filled in the official evaluation questionnaire for the Pacesetter team. This is because we were originally supposed to finish up in October, so my evaluation wasn't as comprehensive as it will be once we have completed a full collection, imported it and then seen it made available online but it did give me an opportunity...

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