Our Clydebank story
Clydebank
through the years
Our showroom sits in the heart of one of Scotland's great industrial towns – a place of sewing machines and ocean liners, hard times and real resilience. Here is the story of Clydebank, told along the way.
The town around us
A town worth the visit on its own
For well over a century, Clydebank has been known far beyond Scotland – for the machines it made, the great ships it launched, and the spirit of its people. Our home, the Co-op Department Store on Sylvania Way, sits right in the middle of that story. Follow the timeline below for a few of the chapters that shaped the town around us.
A Clydebank timeline
A short journey through the town's history
From the 1880sSinger comes to Clydebank
Singer built a vast sewing-machine factory at Kilbowie that employed thousands of local people and put Clydebank on the map around the world. Its great clock became a landmark for miles around, and for generations the town and the Singer name went hand in hand.
Read the Singer story →The burgh of Clydebank
As the factories and shipyards drew in workers and their families, the settlement grew quickly into a town in its own right and was established as a burgh – the Clydebank that generations would come to call home.
The Lusitania takes to the water
At John Brown & Company's yard, Clydebank launched the Lusitania – for a time one of the largest and fastest liners in the world. It was the start of an era that would make the town famous for shipbuilding.
Read about John Brown's →The Queen Mary is launched
Huge crowds gathered on the Clyde to watch the mighty Queen Mary slip into the water. Built at John Brown's, she became one of the most famous ocean liners ever made and a source of enormous local pride.
March 1941The Clydebank Blitz
Over two nights in the spring of 1941, Clydebank was among the hardest-hit towns in Scotland, with the great majority of its homes damaged or destroyed. The town rebuilt and carried on, and that resilience is still part of who Clydebank is today.
Read about the Blitz →The QE2 slips into the Clyde
John Brown's launched the QE2, the last of the great Cunard liners to be built at Clydebank. She would go on to sail the world for decades, carrying the name of the town with her.
Singer closes its doors
After nearly a century, the Singer factory closed. It marked the end of a chapter that had shaped the town for generations – but the skills, pride and community it helped build remained.
TodayA town reborn
Modern Clydebank has been reshaped around its waterfront and town centre, with the preserved Titan Crane still standing proud as a monument to the shipbuilding years and a visitor attraction in its own right. And on Sylvania Way, the Co-op Department Store is home to us – Paul James Home – proud to be part of the town's next chapter.
Read about the Titan Crane →Image credits: Singer station © Stephen Sweeney; the Clydebank Blitz Memorial © Lairich Rig; the John Brown's shipyard site with the Titan Crane © Jim Smillie. All from geograph.org.uk, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Inside the Co-op Department Store, Sylvania Way
Come and be part of the story
A proud town, a building full of memories, and a team who love what they do. Pop in any day except Sunday, Monday to Saturday 9 to 5.