Portobello paper mill, engineers and joiners

Category

Library Item

Item no

4441

Title

Portobello paper mill, engineers and joiners

Description

A group of thirteen engineers and joiners from Portobello Paper Mill, Edinburgh. They are all wearing flat caps and either waistcoats or jackets. They are carrying a variety of tools including a saw, hammer, pick and a wrench. They are standing outside a building with large wooden doors.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1905

Size

25.2 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 > Adults > Men

People > Commercial activities > Engineers

People > Commercial activities > Joiners

Places > Edinburgh areas > Portobello

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh