Caldwells Paper Mill
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Caldwells Paper Mill dates back to 1914 when Scottish paper manufacturing was at its height. The mill remained under the ownership of Caldwells until 1928. When Inversk took over the mill, which at that time had 4 machines adding the new No. 5 machine later the same year.
Inversk ran Caldwells over the next 70 years and pretty much dominated the British Paper Industry. Even through out the Great Depression and WWII when raw materials were hard to come by.
Caldwell’s duly expanded over the years and in 1962, a £40,000 extension to the finishing department was built.
But by the late 1960's the company found itself in financial straits. And ended up laying off 85 men in September 1971.
The money trouble continued until Inversk was taken over by the American firm Georgia Pacific in 1981 and was renamed GP Inversk.
In 1988 £11.5 Million was invested in the mill which boosted production by 60%. By the 1990s the company ran into trouble once more and became subject to a £40 Million pound buy out. This however did result in the company becoming a Scottish owned firm once more.
In 2000 bad times hit again and resulted in sections of the mill being mothballed. In 2002 the Scandanavian firm Klippan bought the site from Inversk for £2.5 Million. With hopes of streamlining the business by simplifying the product range.
Sadly a year later though Klippan announced it was closing the mill with the loss of 160 jobs. All machinery was handed back to Inversk.
Since 2003 the site has remained empty with virtually all the machinery being stripped out and sold to other companies.
The only word that springs to mind about Caldwells is awesome. The mill reminds you very much of Fletchers Paper Mill in the NW of England.
Inside is a mixture really. Some sections have been stripped bare, whilst other sections still contain machinery and huge settling tanks. The highlight has to be the offices and labs. Which despite being untidy are still fully equipped and filled to the roof with all sorts of interesting artifacts.
There are very few industrial sites in the country that are worthy of exploring but Caldwells is one that is. An awesome site with a variety of fascinating and intriguing items still in situ.
