As paper sacks had replaced hessian in many sectors, most notably Animal Feed we purchased a small paper sack company called Meadows Multiwall Sacks Ltd in 1968. This was located in Thetford, Norfolk. As Thetford was over 5 hours drive away – there were very few motorways then – and we had an empty factory and an unemployed workforce in Bootle, we moved our new acquisition lock, stock and barrel to Canal Street.
The original gate posts (1861) were retained. All else was removed from the site prior to the rebuilding of Dundee Works. Today only the left hand gate post as you view the image is still erected the other being dismantled to increase the width of access.
1952 see’s the completion of the Dundee Works rebuild which was destroyed in the blitz of May 1941. The image shows the extent of the overall building works which took place at that time.
The photograph shows Dundee Works after the site had been cleared of rubble and other debris.
In 1913 whilst on their tour of Lancashire, King George V and Queen Mary visited Liverpool and Bootle. The above photograph shows our royal visitors standing outside St Georges Hall which is in the heart of the City of Liverpool. During their visit they came to Peter Marsh and Sons but sadly there is no photograph recording this event.
The picture was taken from an old engraving and shows what Dundee Works looked like during this period of our operation. Dundee Works was completely destroyed during the blitz in May 1941 and was closed for several years. The manufacture of new hessian sacks and the rework of used sacks continued to take place at our other factories in London and in Manchester.
The construction of it’s replacement began in the early years of the 1950’s
Production of hessian sacks made from skin of the jute plant grown in India and treated with whale oil for finer spinning in Dundee Scotland starts. The Dundee City crest above the date (1861) which is where the name of our factory derives it’s name from, stands to this day on the gate post as one enters the site.