Thornycroft merged with Vosper in 1966, while the later corporate changes involving Babcock International and BAE remain an uncertain recollection. The disappearance of the Woolston yard meant losing facilities and a working community with accumulated knowledge. Judging a yard only through short-term costs and revenues overlooks the skills embodied in its people. That knowledge forms an intellectual culture which formal ownership of intellectual property does not fully capture. Replacing physical facilities alone cannot recreate a lost working culture. The criticism concerns industrial ability as well as heritage and infrastructure.
Notable Point · 56:05-57:50
Shipyard closure and the loss of institutional memory
The disappearance of Thornycroft's Woolston yard raises the problem of preserving industrial knowledge held in people and communities.