1955

Amidst strong growth came the night of 11 December 1955, when disaster struck the mill. Arthur Moffatt, the firm’s caretaker, noticed a red glow in the low side weaving shed. He raised the alarm and ran to move his horse from the adjoining stable. Within minutes the fire had spread to the two storey spinning block and in total it was estimated that three quarters of the entire mill had been destroyed. The life’s work of three generations and a fourth just starting, came crashing to the ground in just three hours.

Through disaster came the opportunity to rebuild and renew, and the company decided to move away from steam to electric power. The rebuild included a new two-storey main mill, a single-storey spinning mill, the scribbling department re-roofed and a new raw materials shed was erected.