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Madelvic Electric Car Factory

Jan 152019

Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1RS

Photograph of the Madelvic Car Factory from 2019 — The Madelvic Car factory as it is today

We have now returned to Madelvic, the legacy of Sir William Peck (1862 – 1925) who was a Scottish astronomer, scientific instrument maker, and a prolific inventor. He was the director of the Edinburgh City Observatory from 1889 until his death in 1925. Peck was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a man with vision: not only did he invent telescopes (one can still be seen in the Stirling Highland Hotel) but he also came up with the idea of an electric car, a most astonishing concept in 1899. This electric car, which he named ‘The Brougham’, was produced in this factory building. It was driven by a three-wheeled tractor-style front axle unit, comprising a motor, batteries and a small central wheel, set behind the axle, which propelled the vehicle. This unit was mounted to the front of a chassis, creating a five-wheeled automobile and could be attached to any horse-drawn carriage. To gain publicity Peck used it to provide public transport between Granton and Leith. For a brief period, the Postmaster General of Edinburgh employed Madelvic to carry the mail between the General Post Office and Leith. The fifth wheel is such an iconic design, Peck had it incorporated into the façade of the office building, Madelvic House, which is now the base of granton:hub.

Sepai photograph of the Brougham model from the Madelvic Motor Carriage Co. Ltd. brochure in 1899 — Illustration taken from The Madelvic Motor Carriage Co. Ltd. original brochure, 1899

Sepia photograph of the royal mail delivery between Leith and Graton taken from The Madelvic Motor Carriage Co. Ltd. original brochure, 1899 — Illustration taken from The Madelvic Motor Carriage Co. Ltd. original brochure, 1899

Sepia photograph of Sir William Peck — Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (3 January 1862, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire – 7 March 1925, Edinburgh) was a Scottish astronomer and scientific instrument maker and founder of the Madelvic Motor Carriage Company

5th Wheel on the Facade of Madelvic House

The artwork "Madelvic Car Factory" by Cecile Grey — “Madelvic Car Factory” by Cecile Grey

Granton Industries

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Jan 152019

This Powderhall Bronze sculpture "Going to the Beach" by Vincent Butler, which shows a man, woman, two children, and a dog walking

This Powderhall Bronze sculpture is entitled ‘Going to the Beach’ by Vincent Butler (1933-2017).

Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1RS

Near this site, lots of industrial activity took place. AB Fleming introduced rosin oil in 1852, a by-product of refining turpentine from dead pine wood. Due to expansion, Fleming leased a large area of land from the Duke of Buccleuch and built a new factory. ‘Granton Oils’ became popular all over the world. Later on, the company manufactured inks for books, newspapers, fine half tone work, letterpress and lithography, and had the largest capacity anywhere in the world, operating globally. Next to AB Fleming was Caroline Park Foundry, started in 1880 by Robert Mushet, who was instrumental in perfecting a forerunner of today’s steels. The Granton Ice Company (1906) was also nearby and supplied the fishing industries of Granton and Newhaven, with premises originally located on the Middle Pier of Granton Harbour. A new factory was built near the site of Granton Castle. By 1952 it was the most modern factory of its kind in Britain. Water to make the ice came from Granton Burn’s, stored in a pond behind Caroline Park, and piped down in lead pipes which still run beneath Granton Castle’s walled garden.

Advertisement for the A.B. Fleming & Co Scottish Printing Ink Factory

Advert for A.B. Fleming & Co Scottish Printing Ink Factory

Advert for The Granton Ice Co.

Granton Castle Walled Garden

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Jan 152019

Path, Caroline Park Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1QJ

Granton Castle and its garden photographed circa 1904 © Scottish Castle Association

With the building of Granton Harbour in the mid 1800s, the Duke of Buccleuch saw great financial opportunity with land either being leased or sold off for commercial and industrial development in the area. As a result, the Castle became neglected and by the mid 18th century it was already described as being in a ruinous state. Following the First World War, the Castle was bought in 1928 by a quarrying company Bain and Brown who demolished it to quarry the stone underneath it, but left sections of the wall in place.

Photograph of the exterior of Granton Castle's Walled Garden — The wall, please walk along this stretch and view Social Bite village and Granton Gasworks

Black and white engraving of the ruins of Granton Castle in the 19th century — The castle already lying in ruins in the 19th century

Close-up photograph of a section of the Granton Castle Walled Garden — Detail of Granton Castle Walled Garden. Photo from the Gina Fierlafijn Reddie collection

View from south of Granton Castle and Dovecot © Courtesy of HES (Francis M Chrystal Collection)

The Walled Garden survived and was bought by John Smith, market gardener and the business stayed in the family until 2005 when it was sold to the City of Edinburgh Council. Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden are now working to ensure that this beautiful community asset is safeguarded for the future.

Painting, titled "Granton Castle Walled Garden" by Harry Mafuji — The walled garden by Harry Mafuji

Find out more:

Canmore website, with more photos of Granton Castle

Caroline Park House

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Jan 152019

Caroline Park Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1QJ

Caroline Park House, originally known as Royston House, was built around 1585 by Andrew Logan. In 1683, it was bought by Sir George Mackenzie, 1st Viscount of Tarbat, who had the house completely rebuilt as a quadrangle, and moved its entrance to the south side, facing Edinburgh.

In 1739 the house and its estate was sold to John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, who renamed it Caroline Park, in honour of his eldest daughter. The house was further altered in the 1740s by architect William Adam, father of neo-classical architects Robert, John and James Adam.

Photograph of the gates to Caroline House Park — The gates to Caroline Park House © Gina Fierlafijn Reddie

Engraving of Caroline Park — The elegant Caroline Park House
© Cassell’s Old and New Edinburgh by James Grant

View of north facade of Caroline Park House, Edinburgh, with man playing golf on lawn in front
© Courtesy of HES (Francis M Chrystal Collection)

In 1742, Caroline Campbell married Francis Scott, Earl of Dalkeith. The house and estate were eventually inherited by their son Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, in 1793 – a pivotal event in Granton’s history. Subsequent Tenants of the house were; Archibald Cockburn, father of Lord Cockburn – who was opposed to the development of Granton harbour, and Alicia, Lady John Scott, composer of the tune Annie Laurie, to which the romantic words of William Douglas, 17th Century Scottish poet, were set.

Lady John Scott (image from 1839) was a champion of traditional Scots language, history and culture, her motto being ‘Haud [hold] fast by the past’. One of her best known works, “Annie Laurie,” was published in 1838.
© Wikipedia

Increasingly disturbed by local industrial development, Caroline Park House became less attractive as a formal residence. The house was eventually leased as an office to AB Fleming, a nearby printing ink and chemicals company. In 1872 the company bought the house outright. It was their headquarters until 1966, when they relocated to Corstorphine. Currently, Caroline Park House is in private ownership. It is a Category A Listed Building, notable for its French-influenced south elevation, and its fine internal features.

John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll and Duke of Greenwich by William Aikman © Wikipedia

Granton Gas Works Train Station

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Jan 152019

Photograph showing the Gas Works holder is on the left, Scottish HQ across the road on the left and the original station on the right

Once you arrive at the crossing, the Gas Works holder is on the left, Scottish HQ across the road on the left and the original station on the right

Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1JD

Granton Gasworks had its own railway network within the works, both narrow gauge and standard gauge. The internal system of narrow gauge lines used steam locomotives and dealt with ashes from the production process and with other by-products and waste. The locomotives were low in height, with no cabs, and were able to pass under the gas retorts. Built by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd, of Kilmarnock, the Locos were each given names – such as Esme, Jack, and Ralph. The narrow-gauge system closed in 1965.

The coal used to produce the town gas was delivered by standard gauge wagons from both the North British Railway, from East and Midlothian coalfields, and the Caledonian Railway from coalfields in the west of Scotland. Coke and other by-products from the coal were also shipped out by rail.

The Granton Gas Works Station was formally opened on 27 February, 1903.
This was a substantial station, built to take workers to and from the Gas Works and Princes Street. With no other transport to the area at this time, it was suspected that more than just gas workers took advantage of the free service. In 1942, the Gas Works Station was closed by its then-operating Rail Company, the London, Midland & Scottish. Alternative transport had now become available, developed to serve the growing population of the new housing that was being built in the surrounding area.

Granton Gas Works Station about 1903

Black and white photograph of a Scottish Gas Works, Granton Works locomotive inside the Gas Works

Scottish Gas Works, Granton Works 0-4-0 2′ 0″ locomotive inside the Gas Works

Granton House

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Jan 152019

Photograph of a field near the gasworks where Granton House once stood — The nearby location of Granton House (now demolished)

Forth Quarter, Edinburgh EH5 1FH

Near this site once stood Granton House, a 24-room three-storey mansion with a balustraded roof, built by the Earl of Hopetoun in 1807 on the Duke of Buccleuch’s land as part of a 99-year lease. In 1883, the house became the property of Lord Gifford (1820 – 1887) the Scottish advocate and judge. Visitors to the house included Sir Walter Scott and Florence Nightingale who, following her visit, wrote to the family and said “I think Granton House the most poetic place I ever saw.” The house was purchased by the Edinburgh and Leith Corporations Gas Commissioners around the time that Granton Gas Works was built (opened in 1902), for use as the official residence of the Chief Engineer and Manager. The first Chief Engineer and Manager to occupy the house was Mr W. R. Herring. When Edinburgh and Leith amalgamated in 1920, the house passed to Edinburgh Corporation. From 1946 Edinburgh Corporation used the property to house homeless families following World War II. On 1 January 1954 it was destroyed in a disastrous fire and what was left demolished.

Black and white photograph of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford — Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford (1820-1887)

Photograph of the edge of a walkway bordered by reeds, titled "Turning Point" by Stuart Ogilvie — “Turning Point” by Stuart Ogilvie

Granton Gasworks

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Jan 152019

The entrance to Forthquarter Park, the location of Granton Gas Works

West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1RH

In the 1890s, gas was being produced in Edinburgh City, Portobello, and in Leith. All the sites were operating at full capacity. It was decided to build
a substantial new single-site gasworks capable of future expansion. Following negotiation with the sixth Duke of Buccleuch, a 43 Hectare site
at Granton was purchased for £124,000. An impressive structure, the most elegant gas holder in Scotland in terms of its external framing, was erected as part of a £450,000 stateof-the-art coal gasworks between 1898 and 1903, under the direction of engineer WR Herring.

Gas Holder Number 1, still standing and fully renovated today, has an external framework constructed of riveted rolled steel. It has 26 vertical columns with finials, divided into four tiers by horizontal tie beams with latticework bracing between. The gasholder had a capacity of 180,000 cubic metres, and was built on the telescopic principle, with four lifts. The masonry tank, within which the holder moved up and down, was 77 metres in diameter and 11 metres deep.

Gas manufacturing stopped in 1987 and the gasholder is now Category B Listed as a building of architectural and historic interest. Two more gasholders, built in 1933 and 1966 respectively, were demolished in 2003-4.

Sepia photograph of the three separate gas holders at Granton Gasworks.. — The three separate gas holders at Granton Gasworks. Photo from the John Dickson collection.

A black and white aerial photograph of Granton Gas Works showing the gasworks, the Caledonian Railway lines going into the site and the station building. — An aerial picture of Granton Gas Works showing the extent of the gasworks, the Caledonian Railway lines going into the site and the station building (bottom right corner)

Photograph of the gasworks — Picture by Gareth Hutchison

Painting of the gasworks — Gasworks by Harry Mafuji

Granton Sea Quarry

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Jan 152019

West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QT

Looking West toward Cramond Island, over flooded quarry and Arc © Universal History Archive

This stretch of grassy fields (Gypsy Brae) was the location of Granton Sea Quarry. The earliest recorded use of stone from this quarry is for Holyrood Palace (1532) and Leith Bulwark (1552-53). Later, the stone was used for Granton Harbour’s pier and breakwater, the Granton Hotel, and even the statue on top of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. The quarry, nearly 80 feet deep and over eight acres, collapsed and flooded after a storm in 1855. In 1884, it became the headquarters for the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research. This organisation carried out research on marine life in the quarry both from a floating platform and nearby buildings.

Photograph of a field with the harbour in the background; this was the original location of the quarry — The original location of the quarry, now near-invisible

Extract from Mechanic’s Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal & Gazette, Jan-June 1842, p480

Black and white illustration of the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research in the quarry — Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research in the quarry

The inconspicuous rock beds along the Forth shoreline are known as the Muirhouse ‘shrimp-bed’, in which geologists made a major discovery: a complete conodont, an eel-like creature whose teeth are the earliest found in the fossil record. The first trace fossils of the body of a conodont was unknowingly collected in the quarry in the 1920s. Starting in the 1980s, 11 more near-complete conodonts were found and identified, and then more again in 2013.

Portrait of Patrick Geddes Inga Mantle — Patrick Geddes was the director of Education & Zoology of the Royal Scottish Marine Station (Laboratory) based at Old Sea Quarry in Granton 1884.

Charles Darwin in Granton

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Jan 152019

Granton Harbour wall in the distance and the outlying rock beds

Walking Path, West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and entered Edinburgh University to study medicine in 1825. Interested in natural history, he joined the Plinian Society, a University student club, and collected specimens along the shores of the Firth of Forth. The book The Berwick and Lothian Coasts, by Ian Campbell Hannah (1913), refers to Darwin and notes that, “About this point the coast again becomes rocky, and Charles Darwin found it a convenient spot for the study of seaweed and shells.” In 1859, a little over two decades after he started university, Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species would be published and go on to become a worldwide bestseller.

Black and white photograph of Charles Darwin taken in 1868.

Charles Darwin. Photo taken by Julia Margaret Cameron during the Darwin family’s 1868 holiday in her Isle of Wight cottage

WWII Air Raid – 16 October 1939

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Jan 152019

The entrance to the shore path

Walking Path, West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

On October 16th, 1939, the skies over Granton’s shoreline were filled with enemy bombers. In the first major raid against Britain of WWII, the German Luftwaffe sent twelve Junkers Ju88A-1s to intercept Royal Navy Battleship HMS Hood. Approaching from the west, the bomber crews saw they were too late – a battleship already safely docked in Rosyth Dockyard. Seeking alternative targets, the Junkers dived to attack shipping in the river below. With total surprise they dropped their bombs unopposed, narrowly missing HMS Edinburgh and HMS Southampton. Wave after wave of bombing harried the desperately zig-zagging ships. Then a shock… Spitfires! The raiders had been briefed there were no Spitfires in Scotland. Now two squadrons of them swarmed in defence. The bombers broke and fled for their lives, chased back down the river or across Edinburgh at rooftop height. Citizens dived for cover as machine guns rattled and bullet casings cascaded onto the streets. Two bombers were shot down into the Forth, their surviving crew rescued by local fishing boats. The 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron had claimed the first ever Spitfire victory. Edinburgh’s skies were safe, but disaster had only narrowly been averted.

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