ARDEER - In the Shadow of the World's Largest Explosives Factory
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- Опубліковано 1 бер 2023
- The lost village of Ardeer. Rows of miners' cottages laid out in a rectangle around a huge reservoir; Ardeer Square, as it was called. It was a village in its own right, created in the mid-19th century to provide a workforce for an iron works and coal mines, and totally isolated from nearby Saltcoats and Stevenston. Today, there is absolutely nothing left of it.
Like many miners' rows, Ardeer Square was thrown up with little thought to longevity. The houses didn't even have a slate roof, and had no roof gutter to catch rain water; the result was a mud-bath in and around the houses.
By the 1920s the houses were more than a little tatty around the edges. They had not lasted - and were not expected to last - and were now slums where men and women did their best in impossible conditions, and in housing that did not even have running water.
When the coal mines closed in the 1920s, so too did the iron works they supplied, and the owners of the iron mine, the coal pits and the village went into liquidation. Ardeer iron works was demolished in the 1930s. The village was demolished in the next decade,
Did Nobel's explosives factory, later to become ICI - the first dynamite factory in the UK and the largest explosives factory in the world which occupied most of the Ardeer Peninsula - have an impact on the demise of Ardeer village and all the surrounding industries? I think the answer is probably yes. It couldn't have been fun living beside such a large explosives works that witnessed any number of accidental explosions that resulted in deaths and injuries among the workforce.
But the real reason Ardeer village was demolished was probably down to the economic slump that hit the UK between the two World Wars. There was great activity and industrial manufacturing during the Great War, and when it ended there followed an industrial slump that eventually saw many coal mines and other businesses go bust.
Ardeer village was a casualty of this economic slump, but also a casualty of the men who owned many coal mines in Scotland and who didn't really care enough for the welfare of their workers to provide them with proper housing.
This video is dedicated to the men, women and children who lived in Ardeer Square, and whose back-breaking life and work ultimately allowed us all to exist.
CORRECTION - The 1884 explosion at the Ardeer Explosives Factory killed 10 women, not 6 as mentioned in the video. Some of these young women were just teenagers. This link has information about the explosion, as taken from the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald of 9th May 1884:
www.threetowners.com/ardeer-factory/1884-explosion/
Thank you. Ed. Sure enjoyed the Ardeer. Video. My husband William Is from Stevenston, and he remembers it very well , explosions at the Nobel ICI, would rattle the windows at his school(Hayocks Primary). He also remembers his dad climbing up the towers that was added on in later years to do work on them, all the busses, came from everywhere to bring and pick up the staff, who was employed there, not much remains now, . In fact not much remains of anything , . Unfortunately Councils and Governments are not interested in the past, and the History of our Towns And Villages, Shame on them. The future Generations are going to be left with no History of their towns and Villages . Ed. Thank you very much for what you do, in bringing back great memories. Congratulations and please keep doing what you do.❤
Many thanks Sarah.
Excellent video Ed. One of the reasons that there is no sign of the canal at the old pump house is because that area was the town cowp for a good while. It was landscaped in the late 70's or early 80's.
Also @13:25, the gent sitting at the vat is mixing nitroglycerine. The flow of the ingredients was critical and had to be monitored continuously. In order to stop him nodding off, he is sitting on the infamous one-legged stool.
That's interesting. I hadn't noticed the one-legged stool; didn't even know such a thing existed. Many thanks.
What a great idea, the one legged stool ! Fascinating stuff all this, I love it ❤
"A blast while it lasted"....👀 Very punny indeed!
Really enjoy this type of local historical forensics. Great job.
Many thanks.
Thanks for this my great grandparents - Gibson lived at 13 Chemical Row. It has been difficult to find details even from the census records. They had 11 children but I don't think they were all there at the same time! By the time there were young ones some of the older ones would have been married and left home. Other side of my family Hamilton worked in the ironworks and black powder where they met.
I'm probably watching at least one video of yours per day Eddy! Addictive stuff. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor residents of Ardeer Square, because unlike most of the other houses around the area, they didn't have a patch of garden to grow vegetables, etc, in. Seeing these short films always reminds me of my own ancestors, and what their lives might have been like, compared to my own. My maternal grandmother, ( who was born in 1898 ), worked in a munitions factory during WW2, whilst bringing up her four remaining children, one of them my mother of course. My grandmother had sadly lost her first four children to accidents and diseases like Scarlet Fever etc. Her husband served in the Merchant Navy. I remember her telling us that she'd come home from the factory every day with 'gunpowder under her fingernails'. I dont know if this was dangerous or not, but she reckoned it was and I took her word for it!
Meanwhile, on the paternal side of my ancestry, my great grandfather was a miner, and his family lived in a row of miners cottages at Anniesland, near where Lock 27 is now. The family had recently come over from Ireland, since it was a short while after the 1850 wave of migrants.
Loving your films. And your poignant and stirring music!
I grew up in Ayrshire in the 70,s and passed by Ardeer many times on my way to visit family on Bute.I knew it produced explosives but now having seen your clip and with google maps has now made everything slot into place. Thank you
Thanks Ed. It's always great to get a taste of Scotlands' forgotten history.
Cheers Bryce.
I sure enjoy touring and learning with you Eddy. Trying to catch up on past videos as I go. Cheers from Southern Alberta.
Many thanks. All the best to everyone in Southern Alberta.
Fascinating video about Ardeer Square. My husband was born in Eastriggs along the Solway coast where the First World War munitions were kept but made further down the Solway at the Gretna Factory. The girls who made the cordite (devils porridge) were called the Canary Girls as their skin turned yellow working with the chemicals. You are not allowed to fly over the remaining buildings or Chapelcross where my Dad worked as Turbine hall Foreman after having left Braehead Power Station. 🏴
Thanks Margaret. 👍
Well done Ed. I had no idea of the history in that area. Went by there on my bike in the early '50's.
Thank you ..... Peter
Cheers Peter. I had no idea either. It was only the unusual shape of Ardeer village or Square on an old map that sparked my interest.
great vid again 😁, we're in this area a few times a year but never knew the industrial history , shame its all gone 😪
Cheers. I didn't know either until I started researching. Fascinating area.
My gran worked here during the war . Fascinating. Thanks for sharing this
I worked in Ardeer in 1980, Ed, on a shutdown in the ICI Nylon Plant. Some great views from up on the old towers that used to be there. Not as far back in time as your story here, but a while ago nonetheless. Thanks again.
Cheers John. 👍
it was a blast living through that time from 50s and 60s it was the best place to work and they really looked after their workers
Good video Eddie - thanks
I still live in the memories , thank you ,brilliant view of then and now.
Many thanks.
Great Video Ed, can you get one done about the Carnbooth Anti Aircraft Gun Battery. Hidden Gem!
Many thanks. I'll check that out.
Absolutely brilliant video số much history and research i absolutely relish videos like this thank you so much indeed
Many thanks. It's an interesting area.
Fascinating history. My grandad worked at ICI Nobel division. My dad says ICI used the material from coal bings around Ayrshire to build the jetty at Stevenston to bring in Venezuelan crude oil to feed their own refinery.
Excellent video, that area is steeped in such a wealth of history, well done as usual
Cheers John. Pretty fascinating part of the country that I knew very little about.
Another great video Eddy. Really been enjoying touring round Mother Scotland virtually from across the pond in my adopted home of Tennessee. I’d love to see a video about the old shell oil refinery and shipbuilding industry in Ardrossan if you wind up back in the Three Towns. Keep up the good work. Cheers.
Thanks Gary. I'll check Ardrossan out.
Another fantastic video Ed. Keep up the good work 🙂
Thanks 👍
I currently live in the old Ardeer Square been her 25 years Thank you for this fantastic history lesson
Cheers Sharon.
Another great video and history lesson Ed 👍
Thanks Robert.
Absolutely fascinating Ed. I’m always amazed how things change. There is history around us everywhere and most of us are oblivious to most of it. Great video and music
Cheers Alan.
"It must have been 'a blast' while it lasted"! Very good" I like your presentation style.
At 13.26 in the video you see a man working at a machine/ mixer possibly making nitro glycerine. Note the stool he is sitting on. The stools only had one leg. This was to stop the workers from falling asleep. When the plant was owned by Chemring, there were a lot of interesting photos hung on walls, which should have gone to local museums.
Fantastic Video Ed! I enjoyed it. Some info I didnt know about Ardeer Square. My Papa worked at ICI as an Indistrial chemist and one of my friends was an accountant and remembers a couple of accidents that happend at the factory. Some of the workers who died in accidents I discovered are also buried in Ardrossan cemetry when I go walks to visit my great grand parents grave and generations further back too. I have been trying to hunt down images of Ardrossan Harbour as my great-grandfather worked as a Marine Engineer there, I have a photo of him and his workmate, this is my current ongoing investigation! There was a Coal Yard and also the Former Shell Site, Shell site was operational from 1897 with a beautiful railway station close
Many thanks. I frequently use the website Canmore. You can search for Ardrossan Harbour in that website, and 4 pages of images will appear, mostly aerial shots. This image, for example, shows Ardrossan Harbour in 1966:
canmore.org.uk/collection/676178
If you click on 'Full Screen' you can then enlarge the image either with the '+' symbol or the mouse wheel. Good luck.
Great wee educational video Ed. Well done, had no idea about that part of Ayrshire, and my mum is from Saltcoats lol. Well done
Thanks 👍
Great video Eddy. I enjoyed it. I love the way you put these together, telling a wonderful and sometimes sad story. The ending at the reservoir with the swans was perfect. Thanks Lynn in Naples FL. 😎
Thanks Lynn.
Great reflection on this very large industrial area with so many hidden dangers. It was a small town even in ICI days and stood out on the coast. My older relatives worked there, I have went to do jobs there many years after and it still seems history in action. This is one place a historian could spend a lives work on and still have a many a chapter. The site is still active in areas, but I would caution anyone apart from visiting historical buildings and known local routes there are hidden dangers, its an area of sand, holes, water and unknown chemicals
Dangerous indeed. Many thanks.
A few years ago now not that long after it closed I heard there is a lot of explosives still on site. The little railway that ran through the site would carry explosives from one part to another which often had materials fall off. And it was considered safer to just leave what had fallen where it lay rather than trying to go and recover it.
@aliorr9356 interesting point, for comparison and slightly off topic. At the end of 1945 war and for many years after servicemen wanted back to normal life and had to close units down, explosives took time to dispose off, and the easiest option was to Bury them and get demobbed. I was aware that the forces EOD teams spent many years trying to deal with these, maybe they still do, I for one would not go metal detecting on old military areas, the ardeer site gives me the shivers about what could still lurk there to the unsuspecting.
Hi Ed, a very informative video as usual, I was in and aboot the Nobel factory a few times in my driving job. I always liked going up and doon the coast road, plenty of picturesque places tae stop for your pieces.
Cheers Colin. It's a lovely area of the country, packed with history.
Great video, Ed
Thanks John.
Eddy, thank you for a fantastic video. My family lived in Ardeer Square, then moved to the "Tap End" when it was built, eventually relocating back down to Ardeer in MIsk Knowes. I was brought up from 1954 in Misk Knowes, and I can see from some of your maps exactly where it would eventually be built, and what would have been the surrounding area. Great work and again, thank you!!!
Many thanks.
I worked in the nitro-cotton, acid, toluene and hydrogen areas. I remember some girls lose fingers in the det's area and the nitro cotton building blowing up. ( I saved a guy who had a pipe sticking in him). ALL in the early 70s when it was called ICI Nobel's which was moved to England, Bellingsly I think!
Excellent 👍🏼 fascinating video.
After watching this for the first time the other day - I ended up a walk along the canal @ Bishopbriggs where a sign tells of a similar little community Mavis Valley - which also had the same kind of cottages. Closed around same time as this place & houses flattened.
I think I'll need to check that one out. Many thanks.
Excellent video, I work in ardrossan and have always been interested in the history of Ardeer. Fyi they still quietly make explosives there.
Thanks. 👍
Another interesting video Ed. Just a note of fun. No nose blowing or pies lol. Aredeer sounds like Austere by the sea. Aquaint little toon.
Fantastic video Ed! We used to hear the samples of explosives being tested, and we lived in Kilwinning. You have to do a part 2, the nylon plant. It dominated the skyline and a tragedy occurred in 1973 when a cooling tower collapsed in a high stormy wind. I was only 2 at the time but my folks heard all about it. There was also a massive explosion from a test piece of dynamite in 78, no-one was harmed thankfully, but it rattled Kilwinning.
Thanks Derek.
Great wee video. I have ancestry paperwork showing the marriage in 1899 of my great grandfather to a Mary McCulloch from Ardeer Square.
Cheers Tommy.
Hi Eddie, part of the canal still exists in Ardeer Quarry Park. The Portland stone taken from here was used in the facades of public buildings in Belfast and Dublin.
Many thanks for that.
I just found your channel by accident, this was an interesting video so i have subscribed. P.S. there is just one thing i noticed all of the channels you are subbed to is public in your channels tab just a minor thing if you hadn't noticed.
Although it is funny to see which channels we have both subscribed.
Excellent work Mr Burns! I wonder if they just bulldozed the houses into the reservoir to fill it in. Imagine what a nightmare the reservoir must have been for all the mothers with young children just across the road from it. Do you know what the reservoir was used for?
You're absolutely right about the reservoir. I think it was used to supply water to furnaces in the iron works. You can see how large it was in that aerial photo. In the 1937 OS map of the village, after the iron works had closed, you can see that the village rows are still there but the reservoir has gone. It must indeed have been dangerous for children living in the village.
Good video Ed. Wee factoid. For a number of years after opening, an employee stood at the entrance of the Magnum Centre 'clicking' everyone in and out. The reason being that it was in the blast zone of the explosives loading pier across the estuary and there was a limit on occupation of the centre.
That's interesting. Thanks Cameron.
How things change the main explosive factory now resembles something out of a post apocalyptic movie apart from the old ici building .
I live near Paulilles in the South of France where a dynamite factory owned by Nobel was demolished in the sixties. The beaches nearby are still so contaminated by detritus from the factory that people have been arrested at airports because the electronic sniffers detect the residue of explosives on their clothes or backpacks after a day at the beach.
Fascinating. Sad the absolute poverty people lived in. Sadly, we are heading back this way.
Any idea what the football ground was? It looks substantial.
I don't. It was often the case in villages created for an industry, whether coal mining or whatever, that in addition to rows of houses you could also see some facilities, like a school, a reading room and a football ground. You can still see some of these, and they are often just a rectangle of ground with goal-posts.
Saltcoats Victoria Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Saltcoats, North Ayrshire. Nicknamed the Seasiders, the club were originally formed in 1889 and play at Campbell Park.
My Mum worked here in the 50s.
Tap end Vs Bottom end
Affy guid.
Thoroughly enjoyed that Ed. I grew in Stevenston and remember the factory well. Almost everyone worked there. I do know my great grandfather lived in Ardeer square when he came here from Tyrone.