Carbadan Argyll (2)
I was telling you, last week, about the Argyll Voiturette. That was the
petrol vehicle that was made in Glasgow at the start of the twentieth
century. For a while, the company was making more cars than any other
company in Britain – up to thirty vehicles every week.
The company’s executive officer, Alex Govan, put forward a plan for a
new big factory in Alexandria near Helensburgh. One thousand, six
hundred people worked there. The company’s name changed to Argyll Motor
Works.
Alex Govan made the working situation of his workers reasonable and
comfortable. There were even sporting facilities for them. And, to
begin with, things went well. The Argyll Motor Works were making up to
sixty cars every week.
Although the company was going well, there was bad news ahead. In May
1907, Alex Govan took some other folk to lunch in Glasgow. He grew
sick. A few days later, he died from a cerebral haemorrhage.
Things went badly for the company then. It was dissolved in 1908. But
the matter wasn’t over. A new company Argyll Limited was created in
1910. They began to build vehicles again. But the company wasn’t run as
well as it should have been.
Finally, in June 1914, Argyll Limited went out of existence. Some
historians were of the opinion, if they had kept going for two more
months, that they would have obtained big contracts. Why? Well, the
First [World] War started then. There was a great demand for petrol
vehicles over the four years after that.
The factory in Alexandria was bought by the Royal Navy. Torpedoes were
made there for the war effort. The building is now a well-appointed
shopping centre called Lomond Galleries. It doesn’t look at all like a
vehicle factory!
Argyll petrol cars (2)
Bha mi ag innse dhuibh, an t-seachdain sa chaidh, mun Argyll Voiturette. B’ e sin carbad-ola a chaidh a dhèanamh ann an
Glaschu aig toiseach an fhicheadamh linn. Airson greis, bha a’ chompanaidh
a’ togail barrachd chàraichean na companaidh sam bith eile ann am Breatainn
– suas ri trithead carbad gach seachdain.
Chuir àrd-oifigear na companaidh, Ailig Govan, air adhart plana airson
factaraidh mhòr ùr ann an Alexandria faisg air Bail’ Eilidh. Bha mìle is
sia ceud duine ag obair ann. Chaidh ainm na companaidh atharrachadh gu Argyll Motor Works.
Rinn Ailig Govan suidheachadh obrach a luchd-obrach reusanta is cofhurtail.
Bha eadhon goireasan spòrs ann dhaibh. Agus an toiseach, chaidh cùisean gu
math. Bha an Argyll Motor Works a’ togail suas ri seasgad carbad
gach seachdain.
Ged a bha a’ chompanaidh a’ dol gu math, bha droch naidheachd air thoiseach
orra. Anns a’ Chèitean naoi ceud deug ʼs a seachd (1907), thug Ailig Govan
feadhainn eile a-mach gu lòn ann an Glaschu. Dh’fhàs e tinn. Beagan
làithean an dèidh sin, chaochail e air sgàth fuil-dhòrtadh na eanchainn.
Chaidh cùisean bhuaithe airson na companaidh an uair sin. Chaidh a cur às a
chèile ann an naoi ceud deug ʼs a h-ochd (1908). Ach cha robh an gnothach
seachad. Chaidh companaidh ùr Argyll Earranta a chruthachadh ann
an naoi ceud deug ʼs a deich (1910). Thòisich iad air carbadan a thogail
a-rithist. Ach cha robh a’ chompanaidh air a ruith cho math ʼs a bu chòir.
Mu dheireadh, anns an Ògmhios naoi ceud deug is ceithir-deug (1914), chaidh Argyll Earranta à bith. Tha cuid de luchd-eachdraidh dhen bheachd,
nan robh iad air cumail a’ dol airson dà mhìos eile, gun robh iad air
cùmhnantan mòra fhaighinn. Carson? Uill, thòisich a’ Chiad Chogadh an uair
sin. Bha iarrtas mòr ann airson charbadan-ola thairis air na ceithir
bliadhna an dèidh sin.
Chaidh an fhactaraidh ann an Alexandria a cheannach leis a’ Chabhlach
Rìoghail. Chaidh toirpìodothan a dhèanamh ann airson adhbhar a’ Chogaidh.
Tha an togalach a-nise na ionad-bhùthan spaideil air a bheil
Lomond Galleries
. Chan eil e idir a’ coimhead coltach ri factaraidh charbadan!
