The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Oat firm’s web of interests
Family connections to Dundee’s former John Grant and Sons Ltd oatmeal factory continue to come to light.
Correspondence on the subject of the old premises that once straddled the Bridgefoot and Strathmartine areas in the north of the city was sparked by the original Mr Grant’s great-great-granddaughter Bella Campbell, who hoped to hear Craigie readers’ own stories about the Old John oats purveyors.
The latest contributor to the discussion is Douglas Neilson, of Argyle Street in Dundee, who writes: “I was interested in the recent letter relating to Craig Mills and oatmeal with the familiar packet design.
“Grants were not just millers of oats but another part of the company acted as general grain merchants who employed my late father David Neilson as a salesman and finally as a company director.
“I believe their first office was in the iconic building used as General Monk’s headquarters during the siege of Dundee.
“It had a round tower and stood on the High Street around where the east end of the Overgate shopping centre now stands but my main memory is of an office near the top of the west side of Crichton Street.
“They also used the large dockside warehouse directly opposite the foot of that street and later took over the use of the adjacent smaller warehouse and its potato business.
“In addition there were storage facilities and a small office in Arbroath and those, rather than Dundee, were used for shipping cargoes of grain to Ireland – much of it used as fodder for racehorses – as Arbroath did not come under the Dock Labour Scheme so overheads were much lower.
“Arbroath, however, in those days had one disadvantage. Rocks since removed at the entrance to the harbour could cause a ship to be ‘neaped’ – forced to stay in port due to lack of water depth. Not a good idea with a perishable food cargo!”
Addressing Ms Campbell directly in response to her request for information about her own family history as it relates to Craig Mills, Mr Neilson ends: “It would appear that the one Grant brother – your great-great-grandfather – ran the mill, while
the other oversaw the Dundee office side of the business.”