1920 Caledonian FC



I've said previously that one of the advantage of Glen Mhor for research, is that landmarks such as the Caledonian Canal were neighbours. Another is the football ground of Caledonian FC which would go onto suffer a similar fate of the distillery. Their presence ensures that random finds are possible and unexpected.

In June 1920, the football ground made an application for a new stand that you can see in the above plan on the southern edge of the football pitch. By chance, the planner decided to detail the surrounding area, mostly focusing on Glen Mhor distillery. This was a time of change at the distillery. Glen Albyn was being acquired by Mackinlay & Birnie, and the much promised ramping up of production (first mentioned in an article from 1898), was finally set to arrive in 1925.

The drawing gives us a perspective in time of the 1920s layout, with the warehousing (or other buildings) not completely enclosing that side of the stadium. How this shapes up with the changes that we have yet to publish remains to be seen, however in this image, which is from 1938, we can see the stand itself and backdrop of Glen Mhor:


So, things do come together if the sense of scale isn't quite there with the above image suggesting a more sizeable distillery presence - was there further building between June 1920 and 1938? Our Timeline as it currently stands reports only internal changes and whisky books lack any clarity around this era. But we do have records to publish that detail further changes in greater detail that until now have not been seen before.

In time, we'll come back to this find and compare it with what lies ahead.


This 1920 planning application comes from the Highland Archives Centre (R65 Telford Street - Dean of Guild Plans) and is watermarked for its protection. As with any images on this website, please ask first before using and always give credit. My thanks to the Centre for being able to use this chance planning find, for a football stadium, which randomly shows a distillery. 

  


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