By the early 1900`s, H&W employed thousands of men. All linked by their trades and passion for their work and the “boats” that they built. This concentrated ethos bled into the streets of Belfast giving it a raw industrial edge. The many industries which grew up around Belfast , both allied to the shipyard and independent of it , fed a burgeoning new city (Belfast gained city status in 1888) full of optimism and ingenuity.
The railways, brewers, distillers, builders, timber yards, quarries, mills, tobacco factories and gasworks all combined to give the city its rapidly expanding heartbeat. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th Century Belfast could boast the world’s largest shipbuilding yard, spinning mill, rope works and tobacco factory.
"its the smell of the shipyard, the red lead, the iron, the fumes, the oil, the wood shavings that comes home on my husband’s clothes, because I married a shipyard man..."
Jean Hunter – from the book, Steelchest, Nail in the Boot and The Barking Dog.
The shipyard was a vast work place. Up to 300 acres echoed to all maner of noises, smells and sights involving numerous jobs : welders, riveters, platers, sparks, heater boys, catch boys , holder –ups , fitters, plumbers, painters, draughtsmen and carpenters.
Well before the days when the words ‘health and safety’ weren’t used side by side in the same sentence, accidents could easily claim a victim in the shipyard. Falls from 70 foot high gantries, electrocution , severed limbs, burns, asbestos poisoning and the blinks were just some of the dangers facing the men in the yard, as they plied their trade. The “blinks” was an irritation of the eye caused by watching the arc light of the welding torch for too long. It has been likened to having sand thrown in your eyes. If a worker had been killed on the job, the news would pass among the men with the phrase : “he`s away to the other yard”.
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