As the 20th anniversary of Verdant Works opening is marked, a volunteer at the museum tells MICHAEL ALEXANDER why she is seeking public help to fund a book about the history of Dundee’s former jute industry.
Anyone who’s visited Dundee’s Verdant Works museum will know that the city’s 19th century jute mills offered little but drudgery, exhaustion, low wages and constant danger.
Now Perth woman Alison Carrie, 32, who works at the museum as a volunteer, is looking for the public’s help to fund a book she is writing about the history of the city’s 60 former mills and how the buildings have adapted following jute’s demise.
“If These Wa’s Cuid Talk…” aims to tell tales of 170 years of Dundee’s jute industry and the stories of the more than 50,000 workers who were once employed there.
For 18 months, Alison has been researching, supplying her own photography and writing the text which will include new photos, graphics and walking routes for readers to follow round ‘Juteopolis’.
But because Alison is running the project on a shoestring, she has now turned to crowd funding to help cover the estimated £4500 costs of printing and publishing.
“If These Wa’s cuid Talk…they’d tell tales of 170 years of Dundee’s textile industry, and the stories of over 50,000 workers at its peak,” explains Alison.
“They’d tell of accidents, fires and explosions; of good times and bad, and how the buildings themselves have outlasted an industry which at one time seemed unstoppable.
“Yet 18 months ago I knew next to nothing about Dundee’s jute mills. It’s been a fascinating learning curve which has been ‘my baby’ for 18 months now and means the world to me. I’d love to see all my hard work come to fruition.”
A former pupil of Glamis Primary and Webster’s High School, Kirriemuir, Alison’s interest in old buildings was sparked growing up around the James Jones & Sons sawmill at Ladywell, near Kirriemuir, where her dad Colin still works as a mechanic.
The keen cyclist, who left school to train as an apprentice joiner, was “literally surrounded by outstanding buildings”, she says.
But it was Dundee’s industrial heritage that captured her imagination.
“When you live in Angus, Dundee is the place you go for shopping on Saturdays, “she says.
“I always saw these buildings. I knew they were old jute mills but I never knew anything about them. They were just sitting there like sleeping dinosaurs. My mind started wondering what they did and what, if anything, are they used for now? Maybe I’m a nosey kind of person!” she laughs.
Alison made contact with Hillcrest Housing Association which gave her access to some of the converted properties they now owned including the old Upper Dens mill on Princes Street.
Other former mills had been turned into flats. South Dudhope was occupied by a furniture charity and Verdant was a museum.
“My research started to reveal some fascinating stories,” she continues.
“At Dura Works I was allowed into the loft and found initials engraved in the wood by the apprentices.
“At South Dudhope a mechanic had fallen into and drowned in one of the hot water pools used for cooling water. The wife then threw herself off the Balgay Bridge, leaving seven kids. Her ghost is meant to haunt the bridge to this day!
“And one time at the Coffin Mill – the Logie Works – a boiler exploded and blew out the side of the building. To this day you can see where they rebuilt the side of it. Boiler explosions were pretty common in those days, and there was little health and safety.”
Alison has found The Courier’s newspaper archives “invaluable” in her research.
Another useful resource has been Facebook where she has been able to collate more contemporary memories of life in the mills.
And having volunteered as a machine demonstrator at the Verdant Works for the past year, it has also been a great way to find out more about the industry – especially as the museum celebrates its 20th anniversary on September 16.
Alison’s book will also be an interactive experience with several walking routes for interested parties to follow around the old mills.
She used to go out and walk the routes with her now-deceased Border Collie Ziggy , who passed away in June, aged eight, after contracting cancer – and Alison is set to dedicate the book to his memory.
One of the walks begins at The McManus in the city centre, before heading to the Lindsay Street Mill, New South Mills at Brown Street, the Old Mill Complex and Dudhope Works where the scale of the old mills becomes apparent across the roofscape.
From Lochee Road, the route heads down Smellies Lane towards the five-storey Meadow Mill, and South Dudhope Mill on the corner of Douglas and Ash Street.
The next stop is the iconic Verdant Works, with South Anchor Works sitting opposite.
Then it’s Burnside Mill, Douglas Mill, Park Street Mill, the derelict Queen Victoria Works, then onto the Coffin Mill or Logie Works, Milnbank Mill, before heading to Edward Street Works. The final stop is Walton Mill.
To find out more about Alison Carrie’s crowd funding project go to www.gofundme.com/ifthesewascuidtalk