Queen Victoria Works, Jute Mill, Dundee – 2008

[wolfism]

Another close encounter with a derelict jute mill …


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I’ve been slowly ticking off the jute mills which made Dundee’s fortune – this is Queen Victoria Works, which was Europe’s oldest working jute mill at the time of its closure. Since the collapse of Tay Spinners, Queen Victoria Works has been slowly mouldering away, under attack from the weather, vandals, and local graffiti writers. Its plain rubble walls give no clue to the rich textures of decay inside: access must have been easy at some point in its dereliction, as the place has been decorated with spraypaint – yet sealing up the doors and windows hasn’t saved the building fabric. In fact, several bays of the spinning shed roof have given way, acting as a remainder that Queen Victoria Works is close to the point of collapse.


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History … the works was built as a flax mill called Lower Pleasance Mill between 1828 and 1834 for one J. Forbes – it later became a jute weaving factory, following standard Dundonian practice of calling the weaving factory the Mill, and the spinning factory the Works. Until its closure in 1990, the complex was the world's oldest operational jute mill. The Old Mill is a two-and-a-half storey nine bay building, which was given a fireproof ground floor in the 1870’s through the addition of brick arches: the interior retains its wooden floors supported on iron columns, and the brick arches were laid on top; the attic features wooden collar beams with wrought-iron ties. At the same time, it was also extended to create a steam engine house, and four single storey weaving sheds. Shortly afterwards, it was converted to jute spinning, and when it was extended again in 1888, Lower Pleasance was renamed for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee: a bust of Victoria R. once stood on a plinth in Brook Street. By this time, the mill had been operated successively by J. Forbes; Braid, Neish & Whitton; Ritchie & Simpson, and then C. Lyall. None of them were large scale jute barons like the Coxes, Gilroys, Lows or Grimonds, and none of them lasted long enough to figure in Dundee’s modern textile industry.


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Queen Victoria Works survived the decline of jute after WW2, operating under the aegis of Victoria Engineering, and then Victoria Spinning Co., which was a subsiduary of carpet-makers BMK. That gave the clue to the mill’s main product: jute backings for broadloom carpet. Latterly the mill was bought out by Victoria Spinning (1982) Ltd, which was eventually subsumed into Dundee’s last active jute company, Tay Spinners. Victoria Spinning (1982) Ltd. was created when the mill was bought from the receivers, which went from a £500k turnover in its first year to £4m in 1986. During 1983, the assets of William Lawson & Sons, an old-established rope-making concern were bought, and their plant relocated to Brook Street. Victoria Spinning’s original workforce of 35 grew to over 120 as the company fought back against cheap spun jute imports from India and Bangladesh, and in fact, a quarter of its sales were exports. The company produced a wide range of jute goods: yarns and twist for Wilton and Axminster carpet weaving, wound on spools or cops; jute twine for horticultural use; tarred jute gaskin for plumbers’ merchants; teased waste for underfelts; and even the coloured crowd control ropes used at Scottish golf championships. The company also diversified into a new product, a lubricated polypropylene rope core for steelclad lift cables.


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The Queen Victoria Works used traditional “apron draft” spinning machines built by Mackie of Belfast, spinning to three pitches to achieve a range of different yarn sizes; the mill’s last major investment was made just after WW2, when these spinning frames were imported from Northern Ireland. This was controversial, since Dundee had a large textile machinery manufacturing base of its own, including ULRO and TCK, along with Douglas Frasers of Arbroath. However, by the 1980’s, many of the older machines were suffering from wear, and broken drive cogs often led to flaws in the spun jute, which weakened it and caused it to be rejected. As a result, Victoria Spinning invested in new precision jute winding spindles in the mid-’80’s, and fitted photo-cell scanning equipment to monitor yarn thicknesses. Beyond the main factory, a range of corrugated iron-clad warehouses were built prior to the Great War, backing onto Douglas Street. My photo of the fading signage:*Danger – Falling Bales – Keep Out, relates to the practice of stacking bales of raw jute six or eight high, and since they were huge and dense, they were easily heavy enough to crush a man.


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In the late 1980’s, when Mark Watson wrote his seminal book on the industry, there were still four companies spinning jute in Dundee: Malcolm Ogilvie at Constable Works (now converted into flats); Tay Spinners at Taybank Works (being converted into flats); Sidlaw Industries at Manhattan Works (now industrial units), and Victoria Spinning themselves. After the closure of Cox’s mighty Camperdown Works, Manhattan became Europe’s biggest jute works, once it closed in the late 1990’s, Taybank quickly followed. When Queen Victoria Works closed, its machinery was relocated to Taybank Works, but after closure, Queen Victoria Works has been left to deteriorate: the works offices on Brook Street, which were converted from the Inkerman Tavern of 1856, were the first part of the complex to be targetted by vandals, and have since been burned out… The north gable facing onto Douglas Street features 3 windows and a door at ground floor level with a modern steel fire escape hanging in space above it: it’s suffered the worst of the graffiti. The main buildings are listed, but the ancillary buildings aren’t: they include the 1860s preparing sheds west of the Lower Pleasance Mill, and the 1872 weaving sheds on Milne's West Wynd.


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It’s probably only a matter of time before the mills are converted into flats, as has been the fate of the surrounding jute infrastructure like the Coffin Mill across the way, and both Walton Mill and Larch Street Mill in the “Blue Mountains” area of Dundee. At the moment though, Q.V.W. lies empty, a wreck of the spirally-wound ventilation ducts that kept the atmosphere of the spinning sheds damp; smashed Avery weighing machines; gutted power boards; and dramatically-collapsed roofs. It’s also strange how a place like this often has a soundtrack – for me, it’s “What’s happening?” by the Age of Chance, which came out exactly when Tay Spinners folded … “if you should lose your job, you’re just a martyr to the god of market forces …”

[converse1]

Blimey! The little darlings with spray paint have been busy here! Another fantastically detailed report ther fella. Loving the jute mills you're coming up with at the moment.

[BB]

Really nice set of pics there

[TCCI]

Looks like a cool place good stuff

[wolfism]

Thought I would update this thread, as Queen Victoria was on the news tonight…

"A derelict jute mill in Milne's East Wynd collapsed around 5.15pm today, emergency services are on the scene, there were thought to be people inside."

You what? It's not the simplest mill to get into now, but I was curious, so went along to see what had happened. Building Control and the press were there, the Fire Brigade had already gone though: in reality, another part of the roof has collapsed (see pic 7 above for previous damage!)

The cub reporter asked the duty Building Control office what had happened, -"Part of the roof's collapsed". What are you going to do about it? -"Nothing at the moment." What about long term? -"Nothing." It's owned by someone related to the mill's former operator, and they have no plans to do anything with it…

[Midnight Rambler]

So it's cheaper to let it collapse and possibly kill someone (with lawsuits that will eventually be filed) rather than shore it up enough so that it will at least not collapse any further? I shake my head at the thought process on this.