Back then, few would have believed the end of a shipbuilding concern dating to 1711 was fast approaching.

The photograph was loaned to me by Greenock reader Roddy MacAskill, who was a foreman shipwright in the yard.

He served his apprenticeship there, then spent eight years at sea with the Clan Line before returning to Scotts".

Roddy"s photograph is the reminder of Scotts" long and illustrious history of building naval ships and submarines, cargo vessels and other designs.

I cannot identify the Oberon-class submarines in the photograph, but the group possibly includes ones preserved Down Under after leaving service with the Australian navy. Pictures of these museum ships have appeared in Talk of the Towns on several occasions.

It remains a great sadness to many that appeals for a Scotts"-built submarine to be brought back to Greenock for preservation fell on stony ground. A number of redundant submarines made by Scotts" lay in a shipbreakers" in England for some years, but these are all gone. Indeed, the sole indication Scotts" ever existed is the small drydock, which lies in a state of disrepair.

Similar old workplace pictures are always welcome. Items can be handed in to the Telegraph office or sent by email, in j-peg form, to viator@cfpress.co.uk