Interior View of retort house showing man working

Description Interior View of retort house showing man working

Date 14/8/1970

Collection Papers of Professor John R Hume, economic and industrial historian, Glasgow, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 766061

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Girvan Gas Works, Gas Lane, Girvan, South Ayrshire This shows a retort being charged. The retort man had to use his shovel to spread an even layer of small coal over the whole of the base of the retort, a task demanding considerable skill. As the flames show, gasification began as soon as the coal was put into the retort. Until the 1970s many Glasgow families holidayed in Girvan, and other Clyde resorts, such as Rothesay, Largs, Ayr and Dunoon. The development of cheap Mediterranean holidays ended that practice. Girvan Gas Works closed in the mid-1970s when the town was connected to the Gas Grid. This was one of the last coal-gas works in Ayrshire, and still used hand-charged retorts in 1970. It was relatively large because of the number of summer visitors, most of whom stayed in boarding houses. The retort house had an opening to the street, allowing the operation of the works to be viewed by small boys. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference H35/70/48/25

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/766061

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap