Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Historic Stoneywood paper mill was industry’s last survivor

Heartache as the last papermaking factory in Aberdeen, with 300 years of history behind it, goes into adminstration.
Heartache as the last papermaking factory in Aberdeen, with 300 years of history behind it, goes into adminstration.

Stoneywood Mill is the last remaining paper mill in Aberdeen, with three centuries of history behind it.

After this week’s news that the mill has been plunged into administration for a second time, storm clouds are gathering at a site which has been part of the fabric of Aberdeen since 1710.

The mill, based beside the River Don, was established by local laird James Moir, owner of the Stoneywood Estate, after French papermakers Nicolas de Champ and Nicolas Dupin brought the skills of the French industry to Scotland.

The pair are said to be responsible for the growth of papermaking in the country during the early 18th century.

The Stoneywood Mill pictured in 1978.    Photo: AJL

It was soon taken over by Alexander Smith, a wigmaker, whose grandson Alexander Pirie took over in 1800.

The mill capitalised on an area where there was a newspaper—no less than The Aberdeen Press and Journal, founded 1747— and several busy printers.

The business extended its line to include brown papers under Alexander Smith.

Alexander began the change from brown paper to fine papers and introduced the mill’s first watermarked paper.

The busy mill in 1935.  Photo: AJL

As Alexander Pirie and Sons, the company became  the largest envelope maker in Scotland

In 1922, the company merged with Wiggins Teape and Co, to become Wiggins Teape and Alexander Pirie.

Other mills have gone

There were previously  paper mills in Culter, Inverurie, Donside and Mugiemoss.

They have now all shut, with Davidson Mill in Mugiemoss closing down in June 2005, and the Donside Paper Mill in 2001 resulting in a loss of 525 and around 250 jobs respectively.

Stoneywood in 1986. Drierman Ashley Watt and (right) machine assistant Michael Gray keep an eye on the quality of the paper from the ‘wet end’ on the machine.   Photo: AJL

The Culter Mill was opened in 1750 by Bartholomew Smith, a papermaker from England.

A report in the Aberdeen Journal stated: “He has now erected and set going on the Burn of Culter, a Paper-Mill, where he can serve the country in paper, fine and coarse, brown paper, pasteboards”.

The mill ran until around 1980, when it collapsed  with the loss of 300 jobs and was replaced with housing.

Stoneywood in 1976 celebrating  a technological milestone , with the introduction of a new £700,000 computerised paper-making machine.  Photo: AJL

During the 1960s the industry employed 4,000 in the north-east but cheap foreign imports led to redundancies.

Mugiemoss was founded in 1769, is closure causing much grief in 2005.

People were the backbone

“The people of Mugiemoss have been the backbone to the company.

“Without their dedication, pride, work ethos and humour, the success of the mill would undoubtedly have foundered many decades ago.

“To have made it through the last 200 years is testament to the courage and hard work of all those involved, at whatever stage, safe in the knowledge that people have given their all, have made the company what it is and have raised many generations of people who have carried on the tradition with pride and expertise,” wrote local historian Ian Booth.

Vast rolls of paper pictured at Stoneywood in 1988.    Photo: AJL

The same could no doubt be applied to Stoneywood, where staff at the last bastion of paper-making in the Granite City were in tears this week with the announcement that the site, operated by Arjowiggins Scotland Ltd, is now at risk of permanently closing its doors, after previously being put into administration just three years ago.

More like this:

Workers in tears at Stoneywood paper mill as nearly 400 jobs cut with immediate effect

Aberdeen couple celebrate 60 years of marriage – after sweet secured first date

Conversation