In 2003, several machines connected to Brora’s rich industrial past had been rescued from the world-famous Hunters Of Brora Woollen Mill prior to the building being finally demolished.
The Mill had played a huge part in both Brora’s history and the lives of local people for generations. Since its rescue by a team of volunteers in 2003, what little remained of the machinery had been stored partly at Clynelish distillery and partly at a council yard shed at Ardachu. In 2015 however, when space was required by the building owner, all the machines found themselves outside at the mercy of the elements.
Now, in 2024 four men, myself included, had located the machines, but they were in a sorry state. Nature had literally embraced them. Trees and bushes were growing up through them and in them. We were there to free them.
Despite being a sad sight, the machines, in the main, were standing. They came from good stock and were made at a time when British engineering and industry was the envy of the world. George Burns and Sons of Galashiels and James Bailey of Slaithwaite were two machine-making engineering masters of that era, being represented by some of their creations here.
I understand, to most people, these look like absolute useless pieces of junk. I don’t see that. Yes there is rust, broken elements, rot and decomposition but, as a craftsman myself, when I look at the cogs, wheels, levers, belts, pulleys, blades, tiny teeth, and woodwork that is still intact after however many years it might be (100? 75? 50?), I see something different. I see precision, genius, incredible skill. I see the master craftsmen we used to have. Perhaps the throwaway cheap stuff we buy now from China is the junk and this is something to be cherished, to be showcased in some way.
Now that we have woken these machines from their slumber, I have questions. What did they each do? What did they sound like? Which end did the wool go in and what came out? What were they like to use? Who operated them?
But perhaps, most importantly, we should be asking what can we do with these machines and their components now to enable them, and what they represent, to be celebrated? And how can they play a part in the success of their home, Brora, for generations to come?
