Glass articles - Portobello Glassworks 1829-1968 |
COOPER’S AND WOOD’S BOTTLE WORKS PORTOBELLOby Archie Young (Engineer 1962–1967)William Bailey is the man that Portobello should thank for having put the town on the map further by starting a bottle factory, having built his house on the old Leith to Dalkeith road and presumably building the factory at around the same time. A great part of the ground was purchased from the “Secret Chemical Works.” Richard Cooper joined William Bailey in 1856, a partnership that was to be short-lived, as William Bailey died in 1859. Cooper was then joined by his brother-in-law Thomas Wood. In 1866 they separated owing to a disagreement. On the sketch, the original factory would have been within the red box. The sketch now shows what, at one time, would have been two glassmaking factories: the factory within the red-coloured box would have been Cooper’s factory, and the green-coloured box shows the area of the new Wood’s factory and William Bailey’s house, which he may have purchased from Cooper before the split.The sketch shows various areas that I have marked out from my memories of 1962 and are approximate. (Mouse-over image to remove key) |
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The remaining unmarked buildings had been demolished. Fishwives Causeway was formally a Roman road. |
Photo of a mould partThe photo showing part of the upper part of a mould for the making of screw-top Bottles. Section “A” would have been fixed into a part very tightly to ensure that it did not come loose. Section “B” made the thread within the bottle neck. Section “C” was the lead-in part to ensure that the thread would be in line. The upper part “A” is what we call a left-hand thread; the lower part “B” is a right-hand thread. The factory produced approximately around 40 bottles per minute. |
Photo of cartersCooper’s and Wood's would have contracted out delivering the sand and possibly the cullet. The sand was from the local Portobello Beach, which, at one time, was level with the promenade. Over the years, the sand level dropped by around 10 ft, which affected the beach greatly. Because of this, the council put a stop to sand excavation and banned the bottle works from taking any more. The sand then came from various areas elsewhere. The contractor in Portobello I remember was a William Purves; his business was, at that time, in Tower Street, now called Figgate Street. It is possible that the carters in this photo worked for William Purves. |
Photo of a bottle sorterHere we see David (Davie) Scott checking for faults in the bottles. The white lit screen in front of him assisted him in looking for around 41 different faults that could occur during manufacture. Here, he is checking whiskey bottles. |
United Glass and Wood's Bottle Works AdvertHere we have a typical advert for the time, which shows the products the factory produced. One of the most famous products was the “Vick jar”. At the bottom of the advert it reads: Telephones - Edinburgh Portobello 81701-2 - Head Office 8 Leicester Street London WC 3; the latter may be wrong as it is difficult to read. |
United Glass AdvertAnother a typical advert for the times, the date for this particular advert is unknown. |
Mr Horace H. Basterfield, the last works manager, had a great vision of what he wanted to do with the factory. Unfortunately, he could not fulfil his dreams. Had he done so, I am sure every one of his colleagues at Portobello would have appreciated what he had done for the company and for them. During my short time at the factory, I never once heard anyone complain about working conditions; we were all very happy at our work. |
The Portobello Factory (1966) → |
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