Frequent visitors

A shipping correspondent emails to say the founder of the Rix Shipping group, which is about to embark on a major development in Montrose, also had an early Perth connection. “Robert Rix entered the shipbuilding industry in a modest way by constructing small craft at Stockton,” he says. “Like many similar enterprises, the exact site has gone unrecorded.

“His first venture into ship owning followed – a small wooden-hulled vessel was named R and M, the initials of his and his wife’s names, Robert and Margaret. R and M carried out her trading along the east coast, with the distance limited by insurance cover. This cover was extended southwards to Rochester in 1884.

“According to company records, the R and M arrived in Perth in May 1884, and outside her insurance cover. The vessel was threatened with repossession by the ship’s mortgagees but the policy was renegotiated to include Dundee.

“In 1908, an associate company, Humber Steam Coasters, was formed and acquired the 26-year-old steamship Owain Tudur from owners in Liverpool. A steam coaster of that name grounded on the promontory at Scurdie Ness with a cargo of potatoes and grain in 1913.

“The local lifeboat Sarah Jane Turner stood by while she eventually refloated and drifted over on to the Annat Bank. The rising tide allowed her to float off with little damage sustained and steam up the South Esk.

“Later, Rix coasters were regular callers at Montrose with cargoes of oilcake from Hull. A few years after the end of the Second World War, the company was restructured and known as Rix Shipping Company Ltd. Shortly after, further coasters were acquired as the firm expanded.

“In 1958, Rix began shipping crushed agricultural limestone from Whitby to Scottish ports including Montrose and Perth, with Rix Limes formed in 1959. Rix went on to purchase the local firm of stevedores J. M. Piggins, with the new name Piggins & Rix soon becoming established on the Montrose waterfront.”

“Can any reader help identify this photograph?” asks Eva Scott. “It has been sent from relatives in Canada. There are still connections in Forfar. Names that have been suggested are Balfour, Bowman and Christie.”