Lochwinnoch Industries

The village has seen many industries come and go over the years. Initially it was textiles which were at the heart of the Industrial Revolution that swept through the UK and ultimately the world. This was followed by furniture manufacturing, soft drinks production and lastly a cooperage. These spanned almost 270 years from around 1740 till 2008.

​

An industrial centre such as this spawned several supporting enterprises such as construction (Keanie and Connell), engineering (Beechburn Engineering, IronArt, Blacksmith), gas works for fuel and a full range of trading enterprises. There were no out of town shopping malls in those days so local shops provided all the basics, food, clothes etc.

​

In the section on Lochwinnoch is a copy of the "Lochwinnoch Official Guide", unfortunately it is not dated but given the businesses that are listed it is probably dated around 1935 and it gives a flavour of the range of businesses that traded in the village. At one time there were 4 bakers, 4 butchers, a fish shop, 8 or 9 grocers some with delicatessens, drapers, shoe shops and cobblers, a sizeable Co-op presence in both High Street and Main Street, several sweet shops, gents and ladies outfitters, 2 paper-shops, 3 garages one of which had a new car showroom, taxi and bus hire, a blacksmith, builders and joiners and plumbers yards, a painter’s shop, a cinema, a dairy, two working farms (actually within the village!) a Foyle’s library shop……and much more. In fact, you could still have your coffin made and funeral arrangements carried out by a village firm!

​

As this section is about the industrialisation of the village it is appropriate to include some generic articles about the industrial revolution itself. These cover how it came about and what the social impacts of it were. Have you ever wondered why the industrial revolution started in the UK? There is even an article explaining “Why There Was No Roman Industrial Revolution”.

The power behind Lochwinnoch's industrial growth like so many towns during the industrial revolution was its river, in this case the Calder. The river is now a shadow of its former self primarily due to water being diverted to the Kaim reservoir. When I was growing up in the village the river supported fine sized trout and many other marine animals.

​ 

Lochwinnoch was industrialised during the time of the third William McDowall of Castle Semple (1776-1810). This is when the village “moved away” from the Auld Town (Kirktoun) to the New Town centred on the cross. In 1788 McDowall built a large cotton mill, Calderpark Mill, on what was the western edge of the new village to attract new tenants. Prior to this the Linthills grew flax to make linen and the first thread mill was set up in 1722. The first linen factory opened in 1740 at Factory Close (now St Winnoch Road) in the Auld Town.

​

A second cotton mill, the ‘New’ or Calderhaugh Mill, was built a year after the Calderpark Mill. Calderhaugh was established by a trio of Paisley textile merchants, including Robert Fulton, son of a pioneer of Paisley’s silk manufacture. By 1813 it had 10,000 spindles and it was later converted to spinning flax, then silk.

​

A third cotton mill was built two years later on the Cloak Burn at Boghead, on the site of an old grain and woollen mill. The owners already had a weaving mill in Factory Street. Boghead Mill was four stories high and powered by dams at Boghead and Kaim. Like most early rural cotton mills, with their timber floors and roofs, all were lost or damaged by fires. Boghead Mill was destroyed by fire in 1812. Calderpark Mill burned down in 1874, after lightning struck the roof. Four years later in 1878, part of the Calderhaugh Mill was damaged by fire, but the remainder survives, converted to flats in the 1980s.

Furniture making was the dominant industry from the late 1800’s till the mid 1900’s. Lochwinnoch had 3 factories producing high quality furniture that graced some of the most prestigious ocean-going liners. But progress seems to bring everything to an end at some time and so it was with furniture making. Other industries took its place such as the manufacture of aerated beverages, a cooperage and even an engineering fabricator. But progress saw them come to an end as well.

Despite the fact Lochwinnoch no longer has any significant employment in the village its sense of community and family remains despite the large influx of people and born and bred Lochwinnians such as myself departing the village for opportunity in other places. This is down in no small part to the very active volunteers who organise the many activities that go on in the village such as the Arts Festival, the Gala day, local newsletters such as Chatterbox and Facebook pages such as Lochwinnoch Past and Present. And I guess in some small measure this website by trying to preserve a digital record that will help people new to the village connect with its past and for those in far off lands to reconnect with what was left behind.