OUT OF STOCK

'Ach, bit thers nae need tae worry,
ah'll get yi a joab in the yards,
yi'll be fixed up fur life
so yi wull, fixed up fir life'


Every ship has a story, and so does every
shipbuilder, whether they are bowler hats,
the foremen whose job it was to make sure
deadlines were met, or bunnets, the skilled
artisans that did the graft.
Meet the characters of The Black Squad:
Sam Abbott, the knicker knocker from
Duntocher; Wild Bill Hickok, the card shark;
Irish Pat, the burner who likes his bevvy too
much, and many more. They've spent their
lives together in John Brown's shipyard
sharing in the hilarity and tragedy of their work.
Brian Whittingham started his career in the Clydeside shipyards at just 15 years
old when a job in the yards was for life. Bunnets n Bowlers follows this
Clydeside odyssey, familiar to so many, from smart-arsed apprentice to skilled
artisan and celebrates the humour and camaraderie of an ailing profession.

View Brian Whittingham reading from this collection at Glasgow's Transport
Museum.