by Robin Thompson | 3 Dec 2023 | Articles
As many articles in our industrial and commercial series have shown, medium sized towns such as Dunfermline, supported all sorts of businesses and activities which have now long been centralised at a national or international level. To brewing, engineering, food...
by Robin Thompson | 16 May 2022 | Articles
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...
by Robin Thompson | 24 Jan 2022 | Articles
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...
by Robin Thompson | 19 Dec 2021 | Articles
In “An Excellent Goose for Dunfermline”, our last new article for this year, Jean Barclay brings to our attention an unusual newspaper article written in 1865 and collected in the “Folio of Oddities”. In it, the unknown author speculates on how...
by Robin Thompson | 8 Nov 2021 | Articles
In the first of three articles about Dunfermline soft drinks manufactures, George Beattie tells the story of Gilbert Rae, whose company demonstrated the innovation and experimentation of late Victorian Scotland. Gilbert Rae produced ginger beer, lemonade, kola and...