Kirkintilloch

Believed to have been carried during marches supporting the 1832 reform bill. On it can be seen the scales of justice and a Phrygian cap – a French revolutionary symbol of liberty, and the following words: 1832 - NOTHING SHALL EXTINGUISH LIBERTY – REFORM REDRESS RELIEF THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE IS THE SUPREME…. A section on the right of the banner is missing. Found in former weaver’s cottage in Waterside. Influenced by the French Revolution and political activists and radicals such as Thomas Muir, many weavers, along with other working people in impoverished circumstances, looked for a political solution to their plight. They tried to form combinations or unions to protect their wages and conditions, but these generally failed because wages were so low that the unions could not support long strikes. Riots occurred throughout the west of Scotland. Large meetings were held in Glasgow and the surrounding area, and secret reform societies were set up in many towns including Kirkintilloch. Weavers played an important part in this radical activity. The 1832 Reform Bill promised a start towards improved conditions for workers and gave political representation to a larger section of the population. “In June 1832, for example, the Scottish websters were warned that although there were signs of impending cyclical recovery in the economy, they could expect ‘little or no solid benefit’ until the Corn Laws were abolished (1). And it seems that certain elements of the weaving population took that warning seriously: for in August 1832 a meeting of Kirkintilloch weavers passed a resolution to request all those in the district now possessed of the franchise, to support only Parliamentary candidates who were in favour of free trade, and above all the destruction of the corn monopoly(2).” (1) Loyal Reformers’ Gazette , 23rd June, 1832. (2) Scottish Guardian , 17th August, 1832. In The Scottish Handloom Weavers 1790 – 1850 , Murray, Norman. Edinburgh, 1978.

Kirkintilloch Gas Light Company, certificate of co-partnership. This document is the longest item in East Dunbartonshire Archives, measuring an incredible 11.5 metres.. The Kirkintilloch Gas Light Company was formed in 1838 following delays in forming a municipal gas works by the town Commissioners. They erected their premises at Canal Street, and charged the town 3d per £ rental for supplies of gas to the lamp-lights. The town had to supply 50 of its own lamps, as well as a lamplighter, James Goodwin, the Superintendent of Police. The Burghs Gas Supply (Scotland) Act of 1876 allowed the Town Council to take over the company, and they took out a £15,000 loan in order to do so in 1876. It was reported in 1895 that the takeover had proved so successful that no increase in rates had been required to cover repayment of the loan. A new type of gas-meter, the 'penny in the slot' (which produced a certain amount of gas upon insertion of a coin) was introduced in 1898, and the town council tried to persuade people to convert to this new meter, fixing gas at the price of 2/8d per 1000ft2, with a reduction for those who used the new meters. Due to an increase in demand, further expansion was required, necessitating the construction of new premises in 1908, at a cost of £30,000. The local administration came to an end following the Gas Act of 1948, when gas supply was nationalised, and British Gas took over.

The Hay family were already operating their own fleet of canal boats when John and James Hay took over Crawford's boatyard at Townhead Bridge in 1867. Initially Hay’s used the yard to maintain and repair their own fleet, but they later began construction of their own vessels, becoming famous for their puffers. These canal and coastal trading vessels generally measured 66 x 18ft and were capable of carrying 100 tons of cargo. The early vessels were powered by non-condensing steam engines which made a puff-puff sound as the steam came up through the funnel, hence the name 'puffer'. As the canal was quite narrow, puffers had to be launched sideways: a thrilling sight enjoyed by crowds of spectators. Hay's built over 60 puffers, the last being ‘Chindit’ in 1946. The boatyard was demolished in 1954, and Hay’s carried on as a boat operating company only. In 1963 they joined with Hamilton & McPhail to become Hay, Hamilton Ltd, which ultimately became Glenlight Shipping Ltd. The 1953 film The Maggie featured the Hay puffers 'Boer' and 'Inca'. While the 'Vital Spark' of Para Handy fame was actually 'Saxon', originally built as the 'Dane' by Hay’s in 1903.

Jessie Roberta (Rita) Cowan, was born in 1896, the eldest of four children of Samuel and Robina Cowan. The Cowan family occupied Middlecroft, one of the largest and most prestigious houses in the centre of Kirkintilloch. The property also functioned as Dr. Samuel Cowan’s medical surgery. After Dr. Cowan’s death in 1918 the Cowans were forced to take in a lodger to supplement the family income. Masataka Taketsuru, a Japanese chemistry student in Scotland to study whisky distilling, took up lodgings at Middlecroft and fell in love with Rita. Oblivious to the doubts and protests of their families, they were married in Calton register office in January 1920 in a simple civil ceremony. Ten months later, via New York and Seattle, Rita arrived in Japan. Despite working for other distillery companies, Masataka was determined to produce whisky to the highest standards and realized the only way to do this was to create his own company. Masataka Taketsuru’s distillery was founded in 1934 in the little fishing village of Yoichi on the island of Hokkaido because the location is said to have reminded him of the Scottish Highlands: mountains, clean air, pure spring water and a good supply of peat. Life was not easy for Rita as an ‘enemy alien’ in Japan during the Second World War. Ironically, though, the war proved a blessing for the distillery. Before the conflict, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been an enthusiastic consumer of imported Scotch whisky. With imports from enemy countries banned, the Yoichi distillery was classified as a war industry and allocated large volumes of increasingly scarce barley and coal. The first bottle of Masataka and Rita’s whisky was produced in 1940. In 2007, a bottle of “Taketsuru” was voted the world’s best blended malt, followed in 2008 by 20-year-old “Yoichi” winning the best single malt in the world award in a blind test of more than 200 whiskies. Rita died in 1961and was buried on hillside near the distillery. Her husband was buried beside her when he died in 1979. Yoichi’s main thoroughfare is named, “Rita Road”.

This wooden dog head pattern represents the cast iron industry of Kirkintilloch. Cast iron had a huge impact when it first came into use on a large scale. Unlike wrought iron, by making a pattern in a material such as wood one can recreate as many copies of a shape as desired. For mass manufacture and production of large quantities of detailed work at reasonable cost this process was unbeatable. Cast iron has great resistance to corrosion and heat and is extremely strong in compression. However, it is prone to cracking and an expensive method for producing a ‘one off’. At Kirkintilloch the canal and railways meant that iron could be easily conveyed to its markets. This, along with the many local coal mines providing fuel, made Kirkintilloch an ideal centre for the iron founding industry. Iron work made in Kirkintilloch was exported all over the world. Iron founding began in Kirkintilloch during the 1830s, when Archibald Gilchrist established the ‘Kirkintilloch Foundry’ just south of the Canal Aqueduct over the River Luggie (also known as the ‘Luggiebank Foundry’ and the ‘Old Foundry’). In the early years Gilchrist found a niche market in railway castings to service the embryonic but fast developing railway industry. Later the foundry specialised in heavy engineering castings, but it ceased to function during the 1890s, when the building was taken over by F. McNeill a Co. for the manufacture of roofing felt. In 1861 a second foundry was established in Kirkintilloch when Alexander Smith opened the ‘Star Foundry’ in Southbank Road. In 1867 it was purchased by the locally well-known firm of Cameron and Roberton who renamed it ‘South Bank Iron Works’, although it remained the ‘Star Foundry’ in local parlance for the rest of its life - which lasted until 1981. For most of its 120 years it was best known for the manufacture of commodities in the category of ‘Rainwater Goods’ - drains, gutters, pipes and pipe fittings. The Lion Foundry, just across the Canal from the old Kirkintilloch Foundry, was established in 1880. The site of the new foundry was well chosen, right beside the North British Railway and the Forth and Clyde Canal. This proximity to the two main arteries of communication meant that raw materials could conveniently be delivered, and the finished products distributed economically. The best known products to come out of the foundry were red telephone kiosks and post boxes. The foundry was also noted for its highly decorative architectural ironwork such as railings, fountains and bandstands. The Lion Foundry survived for over a hundred years and was the last of the town's iron foundries to keep working, but when British Telecom stopped ordering red telephone kiosks in 1984 it closed down. A fourth iron foundry in Kirkintilloch was the Basin or Etna Foundry, at the canal basin in Southbank Road, which opened in 1872. It specialised in kitchen ranges, grates and heating stoves, which were fitted into houses throughout Scotland, England and Ireland. Like ‘The Star’ and ‘The Lion’ it was established on the canal bank at a location where rail access was also immediately available. Typically, raw materials would be brought in by canal boat and finished products taken away by rail.

Selection of photographs by Edward Z. Smith of the use and demolition of spider bridge in 1980's. “ When the Parochial Board tried to stop people using a path through the estate from Waterside to Lenzie Station they started a battle with local residents that was to last some years and result in the creation of a local landmark. Farmer James Cochrane first applied for an interim interdict in 1876 claiming rights along the path to cut peats. This dispute remained unresolved until 1885 when the board brought matters to a head by erecting and locking gates at each end of the path, stopping its use. Incensed by the Boards high handed behaviour a crowd of three thousand residents marched the gates, burst the lock and declared the path open. Their action clearly persuaded the Board to compromise and by 1888 a new path had been laid and a foot bridge erected across the valley of the Bothlin Burn. This spindly structure became known as the spider bridge , It was Lenzies most quirky land mark but by 1985, despite continued maintenance by patient squad, it had become a liability. A report to Greater Health Board recommended demolition. Local opposition, although vocal, was not perhaps as direct as it had been a hundred years earlier and the spider bridge was taken down in 1887.” Publication held in EDLC Archives.