IT was one of Glasgow's most revolutionary structures and today celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The Clyde Tunnel, which connects Whiteinch and Govan underneath the River Clyde, was built over a seven-year period from 1957 to 1964 at a cost of around £10million, the equivalent of £200m now.

Half a century later the Princess Royal is visiting the tunnel to talk to some of the people involved in its construction and ongoing maintenance.

Eamon Doherty, who is 72, remembers working on it at the age of 19.

He said: "It was my first job; I had just moved over from Donegal, Ireland, and started working there.

"It was really hard work. I was only a labourer when I started, working at the face shovelling away the muck on to a conveyor belt.

"Then I was transferred to the new segments to work on them. I got to like the work very well though after a while.

Mr Doherty would travel to work on the Subway from his home in the South Side, and spent eight hours a day shovelling between three and four tonnes of mud and gravel from the walls of the tunnel alongside 20 other men.

He said: "I was a non-drinker and non-smoker at that time and I remember everyone coming out of work and lighting up.

"When we came out of the lock and it started to decompress, nearly everyone, about 90%, lit up a cigarette straight away.

"You went down on a big hoist, like a lift, and you walked in because there was no transport in the tunnel.

"I stayed there until I was 21, and then left to work with George Wimpey homes, building multi-storey houses.

"The first time I went through it when it was finished, I felt a great sense of achievement to know I had helped to build it."

Ian Petrie worked at building firm Harland & Wolff during the time of the tunnel's construction, and helped to join enormous cast iron segments which would form the skeleton of the underground passage.

Ian said: "It was a really nasty job, I'll never forget it. It was very dirty – you got covered in a kind of Tarmac stuff that was used on the segments – and the smell was terrible.

"I started in there as an office boy in 1962, and left when I got married in 1967.

"My family laugh at me as every time we go through the tunnel I tell them that I made the segments that line it.

"Even when I have the occasion to go through with friends I tell them.

"I'm not surprised it has lasted 50 years. When things were built on the Clyde they were built to last."

The Queen attended the grand opening of the tunnel on July 3 1963, when she was greeted by pipers and thousands of people who turned out to watch.

Ellen Collum, 79, was one of the lucky residents who saw the Queen as she opened the curtain, unveiling the tunnel's entrance.

She said: "My biggest memory was seeing the Queen, it was lovely and it has left me with a feeling that I know her when I see her. It was a really big event at that time, there were lots of people there. "

Ellen's husband Hugh, who sadly passed away in 2010, worked on the tunnel for the duration of its construction, and she remembers waiting for him to come home at night after a long day's work.

She said: "He was always exhausted. I'm sure it was harder work back then without a lot of machines.

"My two brothers worked in the tunnel as well."

Ellen said she felt "sad but also proud" when she goes through the Clyde tunnel now, remembering how much hard work her husband and brothers put in to build it.

She said: "I'm proud, especially as it's been 50 years since it opened. I can't believe it's been that long."

hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.uk