Long-held records

“Long before mobile ‘phones, ipads and other electronic gadgetry, we had to do with exercise books or as we sometimes described them – jotters,” emails a regular reader.

“When the summer holidays came along any blank pages were put to other uses. As far as my personal interest was concerned, I made the most of the remaining unwritten sections to note the daily shipping movements from the business pages of The Courier.

“Prior to leaving secondary school, I would use part of my pocket money to acquire additional exercise books, some of which I still have, and consult them from time to time should there be the need for local shipping information.

“Such an occasion arose recently with the announcement that an Eden Projectstyle development is on the cards for Dundee – out came the exercise books containing the shipping movements for the early 1950s.

“Sure enough, among the faded entries were listed imports of china clay presumably for the production process at the paper mill which was located at Bullionfield (Invergowrie).

“These cargoes were mainly carried by the motor coasters of F. T. Everard of Greenhithe on the Thames. At the peak of their business, Everards had owned more than 120 vessels making them among the largest short sea shipowners in the UK.

“In addition to family names such as Ethel Everard, Fred Everard etc. most of their ships carried names ending with the suffix ‘-ity’ such as Alacrity, Atomicity, Scarcity, Serenity etc. When it came to their 100th coaster they named it Centurity!

“Much of the china clay was loaded at the Cornish ports of Par and Fowey with the former handling smaller shipments coastwise while the latter was engaged in loading larger cargoes. By the mid1950s, this commodity was shipped only in the form of part cargoes to Dundee, usually arriving via Aberdeen.

“It would be a coincidence if some of the china clay coming to Dundee back then had been extracted from the pit where the famous Eden Project is located. More research is required!”

In January, 1990, with the help of a crane from RM Condor, the pump was hauled out of the Border Quarry between Friockheim and Leysmill. Read more about it in the top left-hand column.

“The sunset on the summer solstice was lovely around the chimney pots on Clepington Road, Dundee,” says Eric Niven, who took the photograph.