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A load from Bruce Peebles Engineering Works 1960s |
A load from Bruce Peebles Engineering Works at Granton Middle Pier for shipping
© Copyright: For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
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Load from Bruce Peebles Engineering Works |
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This scene from the 1960s was once a familiar sight at Granton Harbour. A large load for a power station has been transported by Pickfords to be shipped from Middle Pier. The load comes from Bruce Peebles engineering works at East Pilton, just under a mile to the south of the harbour. |
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The Route to Granton Harbour |
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Thank you to Steven Oliver for telling me about the route that the low loaders took to transport the large transformers from Bruce Peebles' works at East Pilton to Granton Harbour. Steven wrote: Low Loaders "From memory, the route was down Pilton Drive, across Boswall Parkway, down Pilton Drive North, then West Granton Road, Granton Square and along MIddle Pier. MY grandad tells me: - The traffic islands at the junction of Pilton Drive North and West Granton Road were not conventional ones, but were illuminated bollards on concrete bases which were fastened to the road. Whenever a transformer was due to pass through, these 'islands' were lifted to enable easy egress, and were replaced after the load had passed by. - When traffic-calming measures were introduced in that area around 1995, Pilton Drive and Pilton Drive North were left out as the pinch points would have made the roads too narrow for the low-loaders, while the speed humps would have caused them to ground. After the factory burnt down, low-loaders were of course no longer an issue and the speed humps and pinch points were quickly installed!" Steven Oliver, Duns, Borders, Scotland: February 12, 2008 |
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The Ship |
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Thank you to Walter Lyle Hume for telling me: "The name of the ship is 'Kingsnorth Fisher'." Walter Lyle Hume, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England: February 17, 2008 |
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This ship was built by Hall, Russell & Co, Aberdeen in 1966. It was sold for scrap in 2001. Here is a brief description of the ship: "This ship was specially designed to be able to reach shallow parts of river systems. The M.V. 'Kingsnorth Fisher' was one of two such vessels, the other being the M.V. 'Aberthaw Fisher', able to carry three items weighing up to 300 tons each. These two ships had been designed in order to pick up electrical generating equipment from inland factories and then take them to coastal power stations, both environments having shallow waters. The two vessels were on charter to the then Central Electricity Generating Board from the owners James Fisher & Sons Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness." |