Jim reveals the fate of missing factory camel

A 65-YEAR-OLD mystery over what became of a historic city statue may finally have been solved.

Former police officer Jim Edmonds, from Carnoustie, said he can put to rest decades of conjecture surrounding the fate of the Bowbridge Works iconic camel and its nine-foot high rider.

The statue was dismantled from the top of the gates of the Dundee jute works in 1955 – and Jim claims he watched the sculpture being dumped unceremoniously in a hole dug out for a new weighbridge.

“The camel was in one piece when it went in unlike the rider,” said Jim.

“I cannot guarantee that after all the rest of the stuff was dumped on top of it that it remained in one piece – it was not some reverence of a burial, it was just a way to get rid of the rubble, including the camel.”

Different stories over the years started to emerge about what had happened to the statue.

There was a suggestion it had actually been buried in the pool behind the joinery shop adjacent to Isla Street.

And it was variously reported to have been taken to Balgersho, near Coupar Angus, or to an estate in Inverness-shire, or even shipped to a jute mill in India.

There was even a poem written about the camel’s removal which suggested it had been buried under the pitch at Tannadice Park.

Jute Industries Ltd wanted to keep the camel but were advised it was very doubtful whether it would be possible to dismantle it sufficiently for re-erection.

Jim said: “My grandfather, Jimmy Sword, used to be the general manager of the Bowbridge and the gates were needing to be removed so a new weighbridge could be fitted just as you went into the mill road.

“This necessitated the removal of the old gates and the camel.

“I remember quite clearly being there when it was all pulled down and the camel – which was still intact – was later buried in the hole that had been dug out for the new weighbridge and the remainder of the stone from the gate posts was used as backfill.

“The rider was broken into numerous pieces when it was getting removed and was also put in the weighbridge base.

“To the best of my knowledge, the camel and its rider were not removed from there.”

Bowbridge Works was built by Joseph Grimond and his younger brother Alexander Dick Grimond.

Construction started in 1857 and the factory began to supplement the Maxwelltown Carpet Factory works in James Street in the 1860s.

The statue of the camel and its 9ft high rider sat atop the gates at the Bowbridge Works.