Monday 8 July 2013

Greenock Town Trail Launch

 
 
There's another opportunity to grab copies of Wee Nasties and see the accompanying exhibition upstairs at The Dutch Gable House tomorrow as part of the launch of the new Greenock Town Trail....
 
From Discover Inverclyde....

On Tuesday 9th July a new Greenock Town Trail is being introduced, using 21 plaques which are situated in pavements across the central area of Greenock, highlighting historic locations in the town as well as famous local people in Greenock’s past, notably James Watt and Abram Lyle.
The new Town Trail has been put together by local tourism group Discover Inverclyde and the Inverclyde Tourist Group with help from local historians and Inverclyde Council and with the majority of funding coming from the Council’s Community Facilities Fund.

Chris Jewell, a Director of Discover Inverclyde said, ‘We are delighted to have had this funding to introduce what we believe will be a fascinating insight into many aspects of Greenock’s past. The Trail will take around an hour to complete on foot, unless you linger at some of the areas highlighted by the individual plaques, but you can start and stop the Trail at any point. Thanks are due to the Council and the Tourist Group in particular for enabling the Trail to be put together for the benefit of the many tourists coming here and also for the local community.’

Eleanor Robertson, Chairperson of the Inverclyde Tourist Group added, ‘The Trail will provide a lot of interesting history of Greenock to the many visitors coming from the cruise liners, and help them to focus on our local heritage, while giving them a fascinating Trail to follow. We had a lot of fun putting all this information together, and also discovered a lot of facts about Greenock’s past which are not well known.’

On behalf of Inverclyde Council, Provost Robert Moran said, ‘Inverclyde has a rich and varied history. The Greenock Town Trail highlights some of the most fascinating aspects of the town. It's appropriate the launch of the trail is in William Street in Greenock. It is our oldest street with two of the oldest surviving properties, next to the birthplace of the incredible James Watt, in the shadow of the historic Municipal Buildings and round the corner is the Strathclyde Fire Museum and Heritage Centre. Within a very short walk this town trail will open up some amazing stories and I would encourage as many residents as possible to take the trail and share the incredible history of Greenock with your friends and family.’

The plaques extend from the Custom House on the river’s edge to Greenock Cemetery to the south and take in the Esplanade, Ardgowan Square and part of Nelson Street, Grey Place, Clyde and Cathcart Squares and William and Cathcart Streets. An accompanying booklet has been produced giving more detail to each location and copies are available free of charge from local libraries, the Dutch Gable House, the McLean Museum and a number of local shops.

In addition to the new Trail, six new double sided information signs are being installed highlighting to tourists and visitors many places worth visiting and including a number of additional facts about Greenock, its people and its past. Chris added, ‘We hope that both the new Trail and the information banners will add considerable interest and enjoyment to visitors’ time spent here and they will also provide a good source of information for the local community.’

The new Town Trail will be launched in William Street at 11am on Tuesday 9th of July after which a mini trail of four of the plaques in the immediate area will be visited by those present, accompanied by a number of characters from yesteryear including James Watt and Abram Lyle.


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