CHANGING LOCATION OF INDUSTRY IN

CENTRAL SCOTLAND

PRE-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• Most people were involved in primary activities (farming, fishing, quarrying).

• Manufacturing industries developed anywhere there were clusters of population in villages e.g. weaving in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire.

• Industry was dispersed and made use of local raw materials.

• Transportation was slow due to lack or roads.

PRE-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• Industries were small-scale.

• Manual power e.g. weaving and spinning carried out by individuals in houses or small workshops

Weaver’s Cottage, Kilbarchan

This typical 18th century handloom weaver's cottage houses the last of the 800 looms working in the village of Kilbarchan in the 1830's.

• Originating towards the end of the 17th century, the Kilbarchan weaving industry employed about 900 people at it's highest point circa mid 19th century.

• By 1900 approx 200 looms were left working and by 1953 this had dwindled to 3 or 4.The retirement of John Houston and the death of Willie Meikle in 1955 reduced this number to one.

This is a picture of Willie Meikle (the kings kiltmaker) in 1936 sitting at his loom, working at his profession.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION• Industry was still mainly found in rural

locations and was still largely labour intensive.

• The development of water power led to the growth of large textile mills and associated villages e.g. New Lanark on the Clyde

• Capital for these new industries came from businessmen, landowners or wealthy merchants.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• Market expanded during this time as transport improved with the opening of toll roads and the building of the canals

Founded by David Dale in 1785, New Lanark became famous as a model industrial community

19TH CENTURY COALFIELD EXPLOITATION

• Period of large-scale exploitation of coalfields and the development of steam power.

• New industrial towns were concentrated where the raw materials (coal, iron-ore, limestone and clay) were found.

• Industrial expansion was aided by new technology – the steam engine, the pump and the blast furnace.

• Demand for labour increased – tenement blocks were built to house workers, many of whom were pouring in from the Highlands and Ireland

19TH CENTURY COALFIELD EXPLOITATION

• The Carron ironworks near Falkirk is a good example of early industry becoming established because of local supplies of raw materials, application of new technology and importance of entrepreneurs who supplied the necessary capital.

19TH CENTURY COALFIELD EXPLOITATION

• Glasgow became the main industrial centre during this period because of its improved port facilities and imports of cotton, tobacco and sugar.

• Local innovations e.g. the first steamship ‘Bell’s Comet’, led to the rapid development of shipbuilding on the Clyde. By the end of the 19th century there were 50 ship yards on the Clyde.

POST 1950s• The latter part of the 20th century saw a

rapid decline in the primary sector due to a decrease in the farming workforce and decline in coal mining.

• There was also a major decrease in the secondary sector as the heavy industries such as shipbuilding declined.

POST 1950s• New industrial landscapes began to appear at the

end of the economic depression of the 1930s. Hillington Industrial Estate in Glasgow was one of the first to be built.

• New industrial estates used electricity rather than coal and road transport was more important than rail.

• Buildings were single storey and surrounded by landscaped, open areas.

• Government policy was becoming more important than decisions taken by entrepreneurs.

POST 1950s• Today, the majority of the Scottish workforce

is engaged in the tertiary (service) sector.

• Scotland has now reached a new stage of industrial development – the quaternary sector has emerged, based on knowledge economy, IT, biotechnology and telecommunications