We're delighted to announce that Edinburgh Printmakers will be taking part in the City of Edinburgh Council's Edinburgh900 celebrations!
Castle Mills: Then & Now | 900 Stories in Print will capture and publish 900 industrial stories, engaging with communities in Fountainbridge and the west of Edinburgh, with stories told through words, audio, visual art, and film. The placemaking project will record personal histories, recollections, memories and tales responding to Fountainbridge’s industrial past and present.
The project will centre on Edinburgh as a City of Industry, aiming to improve civic and community pride in the working-class history of the West End of the city, established through the second industrial revolution, and still site of thriving modern creative industries. The Castle Silk Mills were originally built on the Canalside in 1836, and later became the headquarters of the North British Rubber Company up to the 1970s until Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd took over the site until its closure in 2010.
Between August 2024 and August 2025, we will collect 900 diverse stories with in-person activities and events reflecting on the built, social and intangible heritage of Fountainbridge and neighbouring areas including Gorgie and Dalry. This unique collection of stories will then be used to inspire a final visual arts project: commissioning an artist printmaker to produce a print edition, providing a visual representation for many diverse voices. This handmade fine art print edition will be displayed in the Rear Window Gallery in August 2025. All 900 Stories contributors will be invited to attend the exhibition.
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This placemaking project will record personal histories, recollections, memories, and tales responding to Fountainbridge’s industrial past and present.
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We welcome written, audio and film digital submissions. Please email your contribution to info@edinburghprintmakers.co.uk with the subject line: "Edinburgh900"or you can post hand-written stories to:
Ilaria Casini - Edinburgh Printmakers
1 Dundee Street
EH3 9FP Edinburgh
Scotland (UK)
We are accepting contributions until Saturday 31st May 2025.There isn't a story too short or too long to submit
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1, 2, 3 ... 900 STORIES
"What stands out for me is the combination of the traditional and modern buildings, as well as the canal where wildlife and nature are in such close proximity to the community." - James H.
"I remember standing in Fountainbridge opposite the windswept mall, watching a huge murmuration of birds swirling in the sky above. I remember someone telling me that one street nearby used to always stink of eggs and rubber because of the many industrial workshops. I remember a crazed old drunk outside the library telling me excitedly 'We ate a rat!', and then finding a £10 note in a puddle. Glorious seedy Fountainbridge." - Anonymous
"What I like about Fountainbridge is having the community of Edinburgh Printmakers even closer to home. I enjoy the walk there, often stopping at the canal for a few moments and watch the world go by. - Patricia Willder
"Fountainbridge seems to be in a constant state of change. " - Anonymous
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Listen to stories of life on the Union Canal
[CLICK HERE]
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"I was employed at the age of 15 to work as a 'postboy' in the Postal Department (in the basement of the Head Office building) of Uniroyal Castle Mills, in May 1968. There were 3 postboys employed at any one time and the working regime saw them working in the postal department between 6 and 12 months until such time as a vacancy arose elsewhere in the Head Office and they transferred there. The postboys were in a somewhat unique position within the offices and factory/production spaces as we were allowed access to the entire complex in order to deliver and collect mail. The majority of employees were restricted to only accessing the areas in which they worked.I continued working in the postal department until February or March 1969 when I transferred into the office within the Hose Factory building. While most of the production at Castle Mills, and all of the Head Office functions, was in the process of transferring to Newbridge (tyres and Royalite plastics) or Heathhall, Dumfries ( flooring, Tredaire, golf balls, Hunter boots, power grip belts and more), the hose factory remained at Fountainbridge (small bore high pressure hose for engines, oilfield drilling hose, shipping/tanker onloading and offloading hose, reinforced rubber expansion joints for steel pipelines in hot or very cold climates, and dock fenders). Through a company restructuring in early 1972 I was made redundant and while this was subsequently revoked I had by then found a job working in the Scottish Office (Civil Service) and I left Castle Mills in May 1972.In 2012 I discovered the existence of a webpage for former employees of The North British Rubber Company and Uniroyal Limited entitled 'nbrinklies.com'. I joined the Group and soon found myself involved in a lot of what it was doing as the person responsible for seting it up, David Air, a former senior manager at Castle Mills, had retired and was living in Florida, USA. My first project started in 2014 was to see if I could positively identify the 106 former employees who died on active military service during World War One and who were named 'Roll of Honour' which used to be mounted at the factory gate at Castle Mills but is now on display in the Industrial Heritage section of the National Museum of Scotland. I have identified 98 of those named and have provided the Museum with relevant details." - Bruce Stewart
