An Interesting Town-Sign
Introduction
The photograph on this page of An Interesting Town-Sign by Ian Dodds as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
An Interesting Town-Sign
Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 21 May 2022
The boat pictured on the sign, 'The Vulcan', was built just over 200 years ago. The iron plates its hull was made out of were cut and bashed into shape at the Calderbank Forge, which once straddled North Calder Water, just a couple of hundred yards NorthEast of here. The forge expanded into an ironworks, and then a steelworks over time, eventually closing in the 1930s due to a decline in shipbuilding brought about by The Great Depression. It is thought to be the first iron-hulled vessel ever built and was operational for over 50 years, initially as a passenger ferry and then as a cargo boat. It was horse-drawn and went up and down the Forth And Clyde Canal. A big deal is made about its rivets being flush with the surface of the hull - I have no idea if this was just aesthetic, or provided other benefits. It didn't leak nearly as much as other boats of the time anyway, reports state.
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Image Location
Latitude
55.840263
Longitude
-3.965414