Stuart Nisbet on the second mill to bare the Dawsholm name As we saw in the last edition of FORK, two separate mill sites on the Kelvin bore the ‘Dawsholm’ name. Here we look at the upstream site, ‘upper’ Dawsholm. Both upper and lower Dawsholm first appear as mill sites in the 1750s, although they [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet gives us his next portrait in the Lost Mills of the Kelvin series Many mill sites supported two or more mills, all of which were powered by the same dam on the Kelvin. Dawsholm (or Dalsholm) had two entirely separate mill sites, both sharing the Dawsholm name, but each with their own dam [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet goes in search of an early paper mill Balgray Mill was located on the west bank of the Kelvin upstream of Kelvindale Road and was probably the site of an ancient grain mill. By the mid-eighteenth century several other mills were added on the same site. The most important and longest-lasting was a [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet continues his series on the lost mills of the Kelvin with a look at another flint mill Garrioch Mill is one of the most elusive mills on the River Kelvin. It appears to date from the 1770s, but could be much older. Like North Woodside, Garrioch Mill is indelibly linked with grinding flint [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet explores the colourful history of a mill with which walkers by the Kelvin are familiar – in under a different name North Woodside is probably the best-known mill on the Kelvin. This is because of the survival of the mill foundations, the dam and the long lade. At the time of writing, the [Continue]
Glasgow’s oldest cotton mill Stuart Nisbet returns to the site of his first article in the Lost Mills series (FORK News No. 40) to describe Glasgow’s oldest cotton mill. Glasgow’s journey from medieval town to world-leading manufacturing city covered many stages. One was its reign as ‘King Cotton’. This occurred with the advent of steam [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet explores more of the old mills of the lower Kelvin The final group of mills on the lower Kelvin were located on the Partick side of the river. As it is difficult to imagine their location today, it is easiest to start with the current buildings, Scotstoun Mills. These are the large collection [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet traces the history of a surviving mill building on the Kelvin One of the earliest mills on the Kelvin, and the oldest on the lower Kelvin, was the Old Mill of Partick. This was one of three very early grain mills serving the area corresponding to the present city of Glasgow north of [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet reminds us of an age when the Kelvin reverberated to the clang of blacksmithing machinery The lowest mill on the River Kelvin was the elusive and intriguing Slit Mill. It was located on the east bank of the Kelvin, downstream of old Partick Bridge, and just upstream of the railway and Clydeside Expressway. [Continue]
Stuart Nisbet on the trail of another vanished Kelvin mill One of the most elusive mills on the Kelvin was Clayslaps Mill. The mill was situated on the Kelvingrove side of the river, directly behind Kelvingrove Museum. Clayslaps was the highest and last of the traditional Partick mills, situated at a natural sandstone weir. Originally [Continue]
