Old Photograph John Wood Street Port Glasgow Scotland

Old photograph of shops and buildings and people on John Wood Street in Port Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland. The grid pattern of the streets in the town centre was laid out in 1694 and took advantage of the flat area of raised beach. The grid pattern remains largely intact today, consisting of Princes Street, King Street, Bay Street, Fore Street, John Wood Street, Church Street and Scarlow Street. John Wood and his brother, Charles Wood, who had started shipbuilding in Quebec, Canada, before returning to the Clyde and opening a yard in Dumbarton, took over their father's Port Glasgow shipyards when John Senior died in 1811. Under John's management, John Wood and Company. then built the PS Comet, Europe's first viable commercial steam vessel, for Henry Bell. The 28 ton paddle steamship was 45 feet long and 10 feet broad. John Wood was noted for building sailing ships which were greatly admired for fine workmanship and symmetry. They were fondly referred to as Wood's Yachts.



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