THESE three former employees of the Fairfield shipyard in Govan had to call on a different set of skills when it came to making this rather fine aluminium and fibreglass plaque.

John Nicol, 78, John McArthur, 48, and Tommy Stewart, 66, had between them worked for 60 years at Fairfield’s, later Kvaerner’s, yard.

Their plaque, the first of a set of six depicting local scenes, portrays the staff entrance at the old yard.

The three men, photographed by Ian Hossack for The Herald in June 1990, all belonged to an art class in Govan’s community education centre, which had been born out of a reminiscence group of former employees.

Art teacher Andy Scott, who ran the class each Friday afternoon, told The Herald: “It’s all part of the expansion of the arts into the community, which is a feature all round Strathclyde [this being, of course, Glasgow’s Year of Culture].

“The men have never done work like this before, but they have all been skilled in their own crafts and have become tremendously enthusiastic about the project.”

The imposing Fairfield building on Govan Road, which was designed by John Keppie, fully reflected the yard’s global status, and was built between 1889 and 1891.