Skulferatu #70 - Site of Caldwell's Paper Mill, Inverkeithing, Fife

 

Sometimes when I’m out walking, I end up wandering through the desolate, post demolition sites of old factories and industrial complexes.  These places always have a sort of apocalyptical feel about them with the traces of what was once there being consumed by nature.  In a way I suppose they are like the landscapes in some sci-fi drama set after a devastating nuclear conflict or alien invasion.  There is a sort of eerie emptiness to them.  They feel slightly lawless and forgotten.  The site of Caldwell’s Paper Mill in Inverkeithing is a bit like that with the scrub growing through the remains of concrete floors that seem to stretch on for miles.  Crumbling concrete that is being swallowed back into the earth beneath it.  While wandering around the place I sometimes feel like I’ve drifted into another dimension where humanity has collapsed and society ceased, but rather than bumping into some Mad Max types or some trundling Daleks, I’m usually met by some curious dog bounding through the scrub to bark loudly at me, try to get me to throw its ball, or maybe just attempt to sniff my crotch before being called back by its apologetic owner. 

 

The site of Caldwell’s Paper Mill, Inverkeithing

 

An aerial shot from Canmore of the site as it was when the paper mill was in operation

 

Caldwell’s Paper Mill was built in 1914 for Caldwell & Co. Papermakers Ltd.  At the time it was built the mill had four paper machines.  It was bought over by Inveresk in 1928 who added a fifth paper machine.  They ran the company until 2002 when it was purchased by the Scandinavian firm Klippan. About a year after the takeover the mill was closed with the loss of 160 jobs.  The mill then lay derelict until August 2012 when it was demolished.

 

Remains of one of the paper mill buildings

 

Remains of one of the paper mill buildings

 

Remains of one of the paper mill buildings

 

Grate and bricks inside the building

 

View inside the building

 

View out over the site from the remains of the paper mill building

 

Graffiti on the wall around the site of the paper mill

 

Graffiti on the wall around the site of the paper mill

 

View over remains of concrete floors to the wall around the site of the paper mill

 

Stairs to the bridge over railway tracks at the back of the site

 

One of the many bricks scattered around the site

 

Four pipes and some metal

 

Graffiti on the remains of the concrete floor

 

After a bit of a jaunt around the site I ended up back at the partial remains of one of the buildings.  There I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk, in a pipe hole in the wall of the building. As I walked away, the glass from the thousands of smashed beer bottles covering the ground nearby, glittered and sparkled in the early afternoon sunlight.

 

Skulferatu #70

 

Skulferatu #70 in a pipe hole in the wall of the building

 

Thousands of smashed beer bottles glitter and sparkle in the afternoon sunlight

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #70

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.028555

Longitude -3.3968700

I used the following sources for information on Caldwell’s Paper Mill -

 

Canmore - Caldwell's Mill, Inverkeithing

 

Daily Record, Monday 13 August 2012

 

For anyone who is interested there is a rather good video by John Davis of the chimneys of the old mill being demolished in a controlled explosion.  I've included the link here –

Demolition of Caldwell paper mill in Inverkeithing

Skulferatu #41 - Leith Walk Railway Bridge, Leith, Edinburgh

 

Today I went for a walk to Leith Walk Railway Bridge, a place that is no more and was taken down years ago.  However, the viaduct buildings and the abutments that the bridge sat on are still there.

 

Remains of Leith Walk Railway Bridge on Jane Street

 

The bridge was built as part of Caledonian Railways, New Leith Line, that ran from Newhaven to the east of Leith Docks.  It crossed over Leith Walk from the viaduct at Jane Street over to the viaduct at Manderston Street and on to the docks.  An elevated two platform passenger station was also built at Manderston Street but was never used.  The railway never carried passengers and was instead used as a goods line.  The line was closed in 1968.  The bridge was dismantled and taken down in 1980.

 

The Leith born poet, Jock Scot, recalled that he used to live near to the bridge, and it was something he saw as being part of the fabric of Leith Walk.  One day he and his family went off on holiday and when he came back the bridge was gone.  Being upset about the disappearance of the bridge he wrote a poem for it called ‘Farewell to Ferodo.’ 

Today, on a hot summer’s day I took a stroll down Leith Walk accompanied by the noise of heavy machinery from the ongoing tram works, that take up much of the road and pavement at the moment.  I then cut round the back of the buildings that ran along the Walk to the bridge.  Most of these are now empty and will form part of a development project that is rumbling its way through the council Planning Department.  There is then a dirt path that leads up to where the railway ran.  It is fenced off, but part of the fence has been removed, so it is easy to gain access to…for just now anyway.

 

The walls that run along the viaduct buildings on the Jane Street side of Leith Walk are colourful with graffiti, while the track bed for the railway is now very overgrown.  Looking out over the walls there were some great views over Leith and up Leith Walk into Edinburgh.

 

Site of the railway that led to the bridge

 

Site of the railway that led to the bridge

 

Graffiti on wall running up to site of bridge

 

Graffiti on wall running up to site of bridge

 

Graffiti on wall running up to site of the bridge

 

Wall blocking off gap where bridge once stood

 

View across Leith Walk to the other side of viaduct on which the bridge stood

 

View from Leith Walk Bridge up to Arthur’s Seat

 

View from bridge over rooftops up to Calton Hill

View from bridge up Leith Walk to Calton Hill

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk in a gap in the wall near to some metal girders that would have once been part of the bridge over Leith Walk.  

 

Skulferatu #41

 

Skulferatu #41 in wall at remains of Leith Walk Railway Bridge

 

Skulferatu #41 in wall at remains of Leith Walk Railway Bridge

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #41

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.968975

Longitude -3.173440