EVEN though Glasgow had a global reputation for building great ships, the city also excelled in making smaller items.

From Tradeston to Tollcross and Parkhead to Partick, small engineering firms were helping to build the modern world.

Dressed in oil-stained blue overalls, standing at equally oily and pockmarked benches, the men in this welding shops in 1935 were hard at work. Sadly, the original caption doesn't give its exact location. On the job training was obviously important. The blackboard, back left, advertises a lunchtime talk for staff, the subject: 'The human element in metallic arc welding'. Riveting. They'd rather have been!

And while the men on the left did the welding, the men on the right filed off any rough edges at their bench.