AMONG many memorials to Greenock-born inventor James Watt is one in Glasgow Green.

It was unveiled in 1969 by the city’s Lord Provost, Donald Liddle.

The memorial is a boulder which is engraved with the words: “Near this spot in 1765 James Watt conceived the idea of a separate condenser for the steam engine. Patented in 1769.”

Less than four feet above the ground, the Watt memorial stands close to the 144ft-high Nelson’s column.

Lord Provost Liddle expressed the belief James Watt was a greater man by far than Horatio Nelson.

He said: “Nelson was for the moment. Watt was, and is, for all time.”

The Lord Provost added that the memorial was modest in size but Watt was not a flamboyant character.

The memorial’s unveiling coincided with a two-day symposium being held in Glasgow University to mark the bi-centenary of Watt’s patent.

Colonel Patrick Thomson was chairman of the symposium’s organising committee.

Regarding the memorial, Colonel Thomson said: “It is a simple and permanent remembrance.

“I hope that it may inspire the people of Glasgow to new technical development and progress in the future.”

Also present at the memorial ceremony was Professor Eric Robinson, visiting professor of British history at the University of Pittsburgh, who came over from America for the symposium.

The previous evening Provost William Riddell of Greenock and the Lady Provost attended a reception in Glasgow University’s Bute Hall in connection with the Watt patent bi-centenary.