Glasgow Pool - Broomielaw.

[Duke Drennan]

Does any of the Glasgow crew know if the Glasgow pool building is still standing. There was the pool with the "clinic" on the left and the union office around the corner to the right. Although I come home every year, I've never gotten down there in so many years. I don't suppose it is there but I was just curious.

[Ron B Manderson]

I'm sure we scotsmen can find another clinic that is still open.
Oh! sorry I have mis understood your request lol
Ron

[Duke Drennan]

LOL Ron.
Think about it now, it was conveniently located between the pool and Betty's Bar. Anyway, I'll say no more about the clinic, only that I never use an umbrella in the rain !!

[jimmys]

Hi Duke,

You would not recognise the area now along Broomielaw, all big offices and yuppie flats. I do not think there is anything left of any of the seamans buildings along there.
One thing is sure if you were in Betty's Bar with the old boots you would need the clinic afterwards. I stay three miles south of Broomielaw but dont go down there at all. I will have a look for you when the weather breaks. It is snowing at the moment minus5degC. Please dont say it is sunny where you are!!

regards
jimmy

[Duke Drennan]

Hey Jimmy,
You're not the only one suffering bad weather, the temp in Fl is set to plummet to 55deg tonight and it actually rained today. If this persists, I might move back to Newlands (on the Soo side).
I had reason to visit the clinic once, a false alarm, I might add, thought that I'd brought an unexpected gift back from a BA run. I begged them not to mail the results to my home fearing my granny would have had a heart attack, after she'd killed me. I had to laugh though when they took my details, they asked for the name and address of the female. The look on my face was priceless. I doubt that those details are in my seamans pouch at the National Archives at Kew. (I hope not LOL)
I remember sweating buckets on the way back to Liverpool from Santos via Las Palmas for bunkers.

[Alex Salmond]

Listen to all you auld weegies getting all sentimental about the Broomielaw pool I was on the Leith pool and got sent through to Broomielaw where they sent me on the Baron Dunmore a SSM ore carrier going from a place called Shagaramus { True}in Trinidad, to a hellhole up the Mackenzie river in Guyana for bauxite and back for 4 months !! never went back to Broomielaw again ,your right though I went back to Embra for the first time in 20 years last year an Leiths the same all 250 000 pound houses ,unbelievable,
Alex.

[Duke Drennan]

Well Alex, I was sent through to the Leith pool only once and can't complain. They gave me Salvesen's "Salvada" and spent 7 months on her, great trip. All Weegies too.

[jimmys]

Hi Duke,

I was a shoreside apprentice and when I joined the MN it was on the Glasgow pool. I got a contract job as an engineer with Blue Flu and I completed three two year contracts. I then moved to Texaco/Caltex and was fifteen years on contract with them. I was made redundant with over twenty years service.
I went down to Broomielaw to put my books in to see if there was any jobs and the Pool was more or less shut up. It was 83/84 time. There was one clerk and he said the system was being shut down and go see the Officers Union. I went to see the Union Glasgow Office and he said I was due a payment and I filled in a form. I got my payment and that was me finished with the pool.
I dont know when it started to shut down or when it was completed, somebody may have been closer to it than me. I never got any ships off the Glasgow Pool or any other Pool. It happened after the Falklands some of the lads may have a bit more knowledge of it. Be interesting to find out. All the Pools went!!

regards
jimmy

[Gordon Turnbull]

Glasgow Pool as well. Funnily enough not been down that way for a while. Last i saw it was still there but obviously closed. Many moons ago so would be very surprised if it is still standing. A quick shuftie on Google Earth shows it is hell of a different :-). Cannot recognize much of it at all. Seem to recall it was at the corner of James Watt Street??? Maybe wrong there. Anyway, it is gone. So is the pub with the half lifeboat stuck outside it. What was that called again?
I was on the pool from Feb 72 to Jan 75 when BP offered me a job. Up to then I always remember fighting everybody to get out the door as soon as the word Br appeared on the board!!! Suppose it was the best move of my life but sure didn't feel it when I joined my first one at Milford Haven.

Ships I got from the pool were the Windsor-Southampton obviously, Bridgepool-at Meadowside granary, Summity-Rothesay Docks in Clydebank. Welly Star-Meadowside granary. Oakworth-Gravesend. Exmoor-Rotterdam.

[jimmys]

The pub on the Broomielaw was called the Double Six. It had the half lifeboat above the door. It was a real seamans pub but quite a respectable one. It had a few other names but to the seagoing crowd was always the Double Six as the address was 66, Broomielaw, Glasgow. It was next to the Clyde Port building.
It had a fire a few years ago and has never reopened, the shell is still there but no lifeboat.
I will have a look after New Year, I live just south of Glasgow.
PS I was fifteen years with Texaco, tankers are a culture shock.

regards
jimmy