Portobello paper mill, night shift workers

Category

Library Item

Item no

4446

Title

Portobello paper mill, night shift workers

Description

A large group of men from the night shift at Portobello Paper Mill stop to pose for a photograph. Many are wearing caps and waistcoats. One is holding a large shovel.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1905

Size

25.3 x 30.3 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Item is dated 5th June 1905.

The business of making paper was first established in Edinburgh in 1695 and the mill at Portobello was one of the pioneering paper mills established soon after. A Nicol's Paper Mill was known locally as 'Craig's Mill, as it had been under the ownership of a number of predecessors, including Messrs. David Craig & Co.
The paper mill occupied several acres of land including the whole of one side of Bridge Street. The works were powered by several steam boilers and could produce 30 tons of paper a week, of a type known as 'fine printings' and 'engine sized writings'. The paper was made mostly from 'Esparto', a grass obtained from the European and African shores of the Mediterranean. Nicol's machinery was both modern and efficient for its time and enabled the sorting, pulping and rolling processes to achieve high quality paper. The mill machinery turned out rolls of paper six and a half feet wide and three and a half miles in length.

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Related subjects

Manufacturing Industry > Manufacturing facilities > Mills

People > Industry > Factory workers

Places > Edinburgh areas > Portobello