The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 recently visited the River Clyde for the last time to celebrate her 40th birthday. The QE 2 was built by the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank. Her keel was laid down on July 5th 1965 and she was launched on September 20th 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II. Her final voyage will take place on 11th November 2008 when she will sail from Southampton to Dubai where she shall remain, probably indefinitely. The QE 2 has been bought by the United Arab Emirate’s government for $50.5 million. The United Kingdom’s most famous ship will end its’ life as a luxury floating hotel, retail centre, museum and entertainment destination in the Middle East.

In 2002 the Spoken Word took part in the Glasgow Caledonian University Witness Seminar Series. One of these seminars was based around the story of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their industrial action against the closing of the shipyards. The industrial action did not involve the traditional ’strike’ but instead protests took the form of a ‘work-in’ that centred around the completion of the orders that the shipyards already had in place.

The witness seminar series is not just a regular slice of Spoken Word media. This is an historical record of memories and thoughts of those that were directly involved in the action. It can be argued that without the protests of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders then perhaps no shipyards would exist in Glasgow today.