In the third of his series on aerated water manufactures in Dunfermline, George Beattie presents the history of James Woodrow and Sons, the largest and longest lasting of the these businesses. For 100 years from 1908 this firm produced, bottled and distributed a wide range of soft drinks, and also bottled beer and cider for several drinks companies. In 1993 they bought Mitchells as part of an ambitious expansion campaign. Their history is one of growth, in volume and geographical range, until they too were bought over by a still larger business.
Lighting Dunfermline
In the next of his series of articles based on “Reminiscences of Dunfermline”, George Robertson presents Alexander Stewart’s description of life before gas lighting, both indoors and in the streets. He also discusses the means of communicating local news and announcements to the town – made by a bellman or, at a higher cost, by a drummer.
‘Bacca B’ : John Beveridge and his Two Careers
In “Bacca B: John Beveridge and his Two Careers” Jean Barclay gives us a short biography of a well-known Dunfermline tobacconist and Town Councillor, who, in 1850, moved to Edinburgh and began a new career in an unusual profession.
Mitchell’s Soft Drinks
In the next in our series on Dunfermline’s Industrial Past, William Mitchell and Sons Ltd, George Beattie relates the history of another of the soft drinks manufactures. They latterly operated from Garvock Hill, having built the factory which later became the Vine Centre. The firm operated from about 1938 until 1993, when they were taken over by Woodrow.
An Excellent Goose for Dunfermline
What Dunfermline Would Have Been (And May Become) Without Damask By Dr Jean Barclay The material for this item comes from an article entitled `Dunfermline and the damask trade` from The Weekly News of Saturday, November 4th, 1865, which was included in the Folio of Oddities, Volume 3, pp. 87-8 (see notes below). The article was written at a time when power-loom weaving was growing apace and, although some hand-looms were employed in the new factories, many weavers were experiencing great hardship and leaving the trade in large numbers. When times briefly looked more prosperous, there were no longer enough weavers to fulfil quotas and the future for the time-honoured damask industry looked dire. Dunfermline and the Damask Trade “The present rise in the wages of the weavers is, in no small degree, raising the hopes of that particular class, and almost alluring them to believe that, in a short time, their weekly earnings will be up to the average of the rest of the labouring community. If there is anything more certain than another, it is that if the wages, after a short feverish period of prosperity, sink down again to the low point around which they have been fluctuating for many years back, the damask weaving trade will very soon shake hands and bid farewell to Dunfermline. The present briskness has lifted up the veil of the future, and disclosed that inevitable issue as plainly as any coming event can be foreseen. There are not enough weavers to meet the present…