Hanging On By A Thread...

We had an urban walk today, through Johnstone and Kilbarchan via the Cycle Track.

Johnstone doesn't score very highly on the tourist destination stakes.  It's a modern burgh, the origins of which are industrial.  It was established by a wealthy local family, a cadet branch of the Houstons of Houston, who bought an estate (complete with castle) which just so happened to sit upon a rather rich coal seam.  The burgh grew prosperous on the backs of the coal-mining and cotton-spinning industries, but like so many towns in the west of Scotland, it became increasingly run-down over the latter half of the 20th century.  Its town centre has suffered due to poor investment and lousy planning decisions, with a number of horrible modern structures jostling for space with its few remaining 19th century buildings.


Why dedicate a blog-post to Johnstone? the cynics would ask.  Well, if there's one thing Johnstone possessed in abundance, it was industrial archaeology.  There were some rather imposing buildings.  I won't call them beautiful, but they were certainly handsome.  Please note the use of the past tense.  It's important...


Here's my guide to the industrial archaeology of Johnstone.  I'll start with the good news.  I've posted a photograph of the Cartside Mill, a 'B' Listed office block dated to 1870 which remains in use as the headquarters of Smith & McLaurin, paper manufacturers.  Hats off to its owners for keeping their historic building in such good repair.  It's a credit to them!

Apologies for the lousy composition of the shot.  It's a working factory, and as such its yard is busy and cluttered.  

Over the last few years, I've grown increasingly aware of industrial buildings, and increasingly fond of them, too.  I particularly like the polychrome brick buildings of the late 19th century.  There used to be lots of them about, but sadly they're getting like hens' teeth now.  A vast number of redundant mills were demolished in the 1960s and 70s, until eventually it was realised that spruced up and reinvented, these structures could in fact look rather nice.

Which brings me back to Johnstone.  It was once approached from the adjacent A737 through a marvellous industrial landscape.  At one side of the road was the Johnstone Mill, an 'A' Listed building which had a late 18th century element to the build.  On the other side was the sprawling 'B' Listed complex of the Barbush Linen Thread Mills.  These consisted of a row of single-storey late 18th century weaving sheds located next to the road, with a set of massive polychrome brick structures lying to the rear. 

Here's a photo of the Barbush Linen Thread Mill complex as it was in its heyday.  The photograph was taken by the renowned industrial archaeologist John Hume, and can be seen with others at the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland website (http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/79561/details/johnstone+high+street+barbush+mill+linen+thread+works/)

Sadly, these buildings are no longer with us.  After thirty years of neglect, they were not considered viable for restoration.  They were demolished a couple of years ago, and replaced by a supermarket and a modern build of flats which my husband dryly describes as 'a bunch of concrete shoeboxes stuck together'.

Some traces of the old complex still survive.  Here's a small brick structure which is still in use today:

But the important elements, those parts which merited their 'B' Listing and helped give the town its unique character have now been erased completely from the townscape.

All is not yet lost.  The 'A' Listed Johnstone Mill is still there.  But history is in danger of repeating itself here, too.  The building was sold to a developer a few years ago.  There was much public excitement because it was all set to be restored at last.  But work has still not started on the site, and its condition is deteriorating all the time.  It's already been subject to an arson attack, and as you can see from these photographs, it is suffering badly from neglect.

 

The picture above shows the later part of the building, while the photograph below clearly shows both elements of the structure.

 

And this last photograph shows another view of the 'Old End', the late 18th century portion of the building:
 

Having witnessed its decline over the last few years, I don't hold out much hope that the poor old Johnstone Mill will survive to see its successful rennovation.  I really hope I'm wrong, because with its demise, the eradication of Johnstone's industrial past will be almost total.

In the words of the inimitable Joni Mitchell song, 'Big Yellow Taxi' , 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.'
 

Hanging On By A Thread...

We had an urban walk today, through Johnstone and Kilbarchan via the Cycle Track.

Johnstone doesn't score very highly on the tourist destination stakes.  It's a modern burgh, the origins of which are industrial.  It was established by a wealthy local family, a cadet branch of the Houstons of Houston, who bought an estate (complete with castle) which just so happened to sit upon a rather rich coal seam.  The burgh grew prosperous on the backs of the coal-mining and cotton-spinning industries, but like so many towns in the west of Scotland, it became increasingly run-down over the latter half of the 20th century.  Its town centre has suffered due to poor investment and lousy planning decisions, with a number of horrible modern structures jostling for space with its few remaining 19th century buildings.


Why dedicate a blog-post to Johnstone? the cynics would ask.  Well, if there's one thing Johnstone possessed in abundance, it was industrial archaeology.  There were some rather imposing buildings.  I won't call them beautiful, but they were certainly handsome.  Please note the use of the past tense.  It's important...


Here's my guide to the industrial archaeology of Johnstone.  I'll start with the good news.  I've posted a photograph of the Cartside Mill, a 'B' Listed office block dated to 1870 which remains in use as the headquarters of Smith & McLaurin, paper manufacturers.  Hats off to its owners for keeping their historic building in such good repair.  It's a credit to them!

Apologies for the lousy composition of the shot.  It's a working factory, and as such its yard is busy and cluttered.  

Over the last few years, I've grown increasingly aware of industrial buildings, and increasingly fond of them, too.  I particularly like the polychrome brick buildings of the late 19th century.  There used to be lots of them about, but sadly they're getting like hens' teeth now.  A vast number of redundant mills were demolished in the 1960s and 70s, until eventually it was realised that spruced up and reinvented, these structures could in fact look rather nice.

Which brings me back to Johnstone.  It was once approached from the adjacent A737 through a marvellous industrial landscape.  At one side of the road was the Johnstone Mill, an 'A' Listed building which had a late 18th century element to the build.  On the other side was the sprawling 'B' Listed complex of the Barbush Linen Thread Mills.  These consisted of a row of single-storey late 18th century weaving sheds located next to the road, with a set of massive polychrome brick structures lying to the rear. 

Here's a photo of the Barbush Linen Thread Mill complex as it was in its heyday.  The photograph was taken by the renowned industrial archaeologist John Hume, and can be seen with others at the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland website (http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/79561/details/johnstone+high+street+barbush+mill+linen+thread+works/)

Sadly, these buildings are no longer with us.  After thirty years of neglect, they were not considered viable for restoration.  They were demolished a couple of years ago, and replaced by a supermarket and a modern build of flats which my husband dryly describes as 'a bunch of concrete shoeboxes stuck together'.

Some traces of the old complex still survive.  Here's a small brick structure which is still in use today:

But the important elements, those parts which merited their 'B' Listing and helped give the town its unique character have now been erased completely from the townscape.

All is not yet lost.  The 'A' Listed Johnstone Mill is still there.  But history is in danger of repeating itself here, too.  The building was sold to a developer a few years ago.  There was much public excitement because it was all set to be restored at last.  But work has still not started on the site, and its condition is deteriorating all the time.  It's already been subject to an arson attack, and as you can see from these photographs, it is suffering badly from neglect.

 

The picture above shows the later part of the building, while the photograph below clearly shows both elements of the structure.

 

And this last photograph shows another view of the 'Old End', the late 18th century portion of the building:
 

Having witnessed its decline over the last few years, I don't hold out much hope that the poor old Johnstone Mill will survive to see its successful rennovation.  I really hope I'm wrong, because with its demise, the eradication of Johnstone's industrial past will be almost total.

In the words of the inimitable Joni Mitchell song, 'Big Yellow Taxi' , 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.'