This is like right next to my house and had been bugging me for ages so it was finally time to pop it
Fountainbridge used to be a thriving industrial centre in Edinburgh with a rubber works and a Dairy Co-Op that Sean Connery used to work in.
It's all being turned into flats now but there are parts of the fountain brewery still standing and it appears that demolition has stoped because of the whole apocoleconomy thing.
This site is mega huge and we only did a small fraction of it.
Brief History:
The Fountain Brewery was built in 1856 by William McEwan (1827 - 1913), and by the turn of the century, his business had a commanding share of the beer market in Scotland and the north east of England, together with a valuable export trade to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India. McEwan's nephew William Younger (1857 - 1925), brother of politician and brewer George Younger (1859 - 1921), ran the company from 1886, when McEwan entered parliament. The brewery grew to occupy a site of 4.9 ha (12 acres) was valued at £1 million when it became a public company in 1889.
In 1931, the company formally merged with William Younger's Abbey Brewery (not the family of Youngers related to McEwan) to form Scottish Brewers Ltd and, in 1960, merged again to form Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd.
The Fountain Brewery was one of seven in the UK and Ireland operated by S&N. It had a capacity of two million barrels per annum, employed 390 people and produced well-known brands such as McEwans Export, 70/-, 80/- and Lager, Tartan Special, Kestrel Lager, Gillespies Stout and Youngers. Production of the Scottish ales has transferred to the Caledonian brewery and lager brands to elsewhere in the UK.
S&N opened a new Fountain Brewery at Fountainbridge, on a 22 acre site beside the Union Canal in 1973. The company also retained their older premises on the opposite side of the main road, Fountainbridge.
In 2004 S&N sold the site to developers. The older portion of the site has already been demolished and construction is continuing apace on new flats.
pics
1. Exterior
2. Nice 70s window shapes
3. Control Room
4. Top of the Tower
5. Roof View
6. Purple monster
7. After climbing down this ladder in the steam tunnels
8. We found the death tunnel, there was some fire damage apparent aboveground that we thought was kids but turned out to be this electrical?? fire, shall return with wellies and P3 mask (sorry for the non focusing)
9. Hole where tanks used to be
10. The stairs down
There are two other whole sections the size of city blocks left to explore, really glad the economy saved this one
Fountainbridge used to be a thriving industrial centre in Edinburgh with a rubber works and a Dairy Co-Op that Sean Connery used to work in.
It's all being turned into flats now but there are parts of the fountain brewery still standing and it appears that demolition has stoped because of the whole apocoleconomy thing.
This site is mega huge and we only did a small fraction of it.
Brief History:
The Fountain Brewery was built in 1856 by William McEwan (1827 - 1913), and by the turn of the century, his business had a commanding share of the beer market in Scotland and the north east of England, together with a valuable export trade to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India. McEwan's nephew William Younger (1857 - 1925), brother of politician and brewer George Younger (1859 - 1921), ran the company from 1886, when McEwan entered parliament. The brewery grew to occupy a site of 4.9 ha (12 acres) was valued at £1 million when it became a public company in 1889.
In 1931, the company formally merged with William Younger's Abbey Brewery (not the family of Youngers related to McEwan) to form Scottish Brewers Ltd and, in 1960, merged again to form Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd.
The Fountain Brewery was one of seven in the UK and Ireland operated by S&N. It had a capacity of two million barrels per annum, employed 390 people and produced well-known brands such as McEwans Export, 70/-, 80/- and Lager, Tartan Special, Kestrel Lager, Gillespies Stout and Youngers. Production of the Scottish ales has transferred to the Caledonian brewery and lager brands to elsewhere in the UK.
S&N opened a new Fountain Brewery at Fountainbridge, on a 22 acre site beside the Union Canal in 1973. The company also retained their older premises on the opposite side of the main road, Fountainbridge.
In 2004 S&N sold the site to developers. The older portion of the site has already been demolished and construction is continuing apace on new flats.
pics
1. Exterior
2. Nice 70s window shapes
3. Control Room
4. Top of the Tower
5. Roof View
6. Purple monster
7. After climbing down this ladder in the steam tunnels
8. We found the death tunnel, there was some fire damage apparent aboveground that we thought was kids but turned out to be this electrical?? fire, shall return with wellies and P3 mask (sorry for the non focusing)
9. Hole where tanks used to be
10. The stairs down
There are two other whole sections the size of city blocks left to explore, really glad the economy saved this one
