Recollections North British Distillery Gorgie |
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Recollections 1. Bob Henderson Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
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Thank you Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh who wrote: |
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1954 "I enjoyed the cooperage photos because they brought back memories of my youth. "In the summer of 1954 just before my sixteenth birthday, an old slater, whose full name I can't recall, and I were set the task of removing glass in the roof lights of the Wheatfield distillery. The whole roof, including the glass, had been camouflage painted during the war and we were changing the glass to let some daylight in." |
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A Little Snifter "When we opened up the first roof light someone down below shouted to the old slater to ask if he would like a little snifter. Of course he would, so he lowered an old sponge he had for rubbing in pointing. It was duly dipped in a container of spirit and he pulled it up and squeezed it into his cup. Several lowerings and raisings later, he was flat out on the 9" wide scaffold it was customary for slaters to work off in those days. The suppliers of his downfall did not want to know about it, so I had to wait by him until the boss, Mr Angus Mckenna McKenzie (who did the chimney sweeping with me) arrived to take me home. What a job we had getting him down." |
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The Cooperage "Oh yes, the cooperage - one of the things I liked was watching the coopers. It was amazing to see a barrel taking shape |
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Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: December 24, 2007 |
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Recollections 2. George T Smith Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
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Recollections 2. George T Smith |
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Thank you to George T Smith, who worked in most of the Scottish Lowland distilleries in his youth as an Excise Officer for telling me more about the North British Distillery's maltings at Slateford. Please click on the images below. The page includes George's comments. George adds that his comments are from memory and may be inaccurate in some respects: George T Smith: Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, December 2007 |
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Recollections 3. Andy Merrylees Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
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Thank you to Andy Merrylees, who formerly worked for NB Distillery, for telling me more about the North British Distillery's maltings at Slateford. Please click on the image below. The page includes Andy's comments as 'Recollections 2'. Message received from Andy Merrylees, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: December 22, 2007. |
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Photos |
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