Dingwall Sawmill

Attribution: unknown (Greenhill street  in Dingwall looking North)

J G D Munro and Partners (Dingwall Sawmill)

In 1946, just after the end of the war, Duncan Munro of Alness took over the remnants of his father’s sawmilling business using horse extraction and mobile steam engines operating in the woods. The produce was taken by cart to the railway station or harbour for onward shipment to the mines or railway.

In the 1950s the availability of road transport, in the form of four wheel drive ex army lorries enabled him to establish a static sawmill in Dochcarty, but frequent flooding of the Peffery led to this site being abandoned and in 1956 the mill was moved to the site of a wartime mule camp on Old Evanton Road.

In these years the mill cut mostly beech and other hardwoods for the furniture trade in Glasgow, the logs coming from local estates. This changed to softwoods cut for the mines and the railways, the staple markets of the old steam mills. As these markets declined in the eighties the emphasis turned to housebuilding timbers, and again in the nineties to treated fencing materials.

Today the mill employs 42 people full time producing treated fencing. A new high production line cuts thin double waney edge slats for fencing panels. 90% of the mill’s output is “exported” to England, converting local materials and labour into a valuable source of income for Dingwall and the surrounding area.

In recent years the firm has developed WoodBlocx, an innovative kit for building raised beds and planters for gardens. Sales throughout the UK have soared over the years and large-scale installations include Westfield, London, and the Olympic Park, Stratford.

The success of this invention has led to online sales and even the appointment of a distribution partner in Europe.

Another feather in the cap of the firm is the award of a scholarship from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to enable partner Henry Blake attend a 10-day course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s entrepreneurship development programme in January 2016.

For further information visit www.WoodBlocX.co.uk or telephone 0800 389 1420.

In October 2016 the company received planning permission for a £2million upgrade.

The proposal includes replacing one of two mills on the site, to enable the firm to diversify into new fencing products. The mill in question dates back to the 1980s and the new build will include modern soundproofing measures.

01 Dingwall Work

Attribution: unknown

Dingwall Work

Duncan Munro's Memories

Ross and Cromarty Heritage Society is grateful to Duncan Munro’s daughter, Mrs Edith Blake, for permission to reproduce Wood in his Blood, the account of his working life in the timber trade. All photographs are the property of the Munro and Blake families.

RCHS has taken the liberty of including in the text photographs supplied by Mr and Mrs Blake which are relevant to the history, although not originally included in the book.

View a photographic history of the dingwall sawmill

Click on photo album to view thumbnails and then click thumbnail to see the full size images 
Dingwall » Dingwall History » Dingwall Of Old
26 Dingwall of old
26 Dingwall of old
Still at the end of High Street, where the road continues to Strathpeffer, and now adjacent to the Highland Council offices, stood "the boys' hostel" where generations of boys from the west coast of the county lived while continuing their secondary education in Dingwall Academy. This originally was the home of Provost Robertson whose daughter married Prime Minister William Gladstone.
09 Dingwall of old
09 Dingwall of old
Dingwall seen from Ferry Road leading to bridge over railway.
05 Dingwall of old. [Photo DMT]
05 Dingwall of old. [Photo DMT]
Burgh Court House c.1890.
25 Dingwall of old
25 Dingwall of old
The opposite end of Dingwall High Street in the 19th century, looking east.
34 Dingwall of old
34 Dingwall of old
Across from the Cromartie memorial was Dingwall Academy - staff and pupils c.1880.
26 Dingwall of old
26 Dingwall of old
And the same view c.1956.
10 Dingwall of old
10 Dingwall of old
Cambrai Cross of WW1 outside railway station.
11 Dingwall of old
11 Dingwall of old
After the Free Church, the former Post Office and the Commercial Bank, c.1918. On the left of the photograph is the future site of Dingwall's war memorial in the grounds of the National Hotel.
32 Dingwall of old
32 Dingwall of old
A few yards down Tulloch Street we find the Cromartie Memorial before it was rebuilt.
33 Dingwall of old
33 Dingwall of old
And an explanation comes from this postcard courtesy of the lateMiss Anne Fraser. The postcard was in the possession of Miss Fraser's aunt, who wrote: "Leaning tower re Earls of Cromartie. Taken down 9th March 1917 because it was leaning dangerously. New shorter tower erected."
13 Dingwall of old
13 Dingwall of old
Across from the Free Church, this building was the National Bank, then headquarters of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and, currently, the Highland Theological College.
Dingwall of old
Dingwall of old
Ross Memorial Hospital, Ferry Road.
16 Dingwall of old
16 Dingwall of old
A quick trip down Castle Street finds St. Lawrence's RC Church.
01 Dingwall of old
01 Dingwall of old
Clerk's print of 1824 with main road arriving at Hill Street.
07 Dingwall of old.
07 Dingwall of old.
Dingwall harbour, August 1913, SS Jesmond.
02 Dingwall of old
02 Dingwall of old
Dingwall and Cromarty Firth from Hector Macdonald memorial.
13 Dingwall of old
13 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel, c.1920. Car registration is 1105.
14 Dingwall of old
14 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel again. By this time the war memorial is in place.
38 Dingwall of old
38 Dingwall of old
Going back to Dingwall High Street in 1932 ....... Man on left is standing outside what is now Boots, chemist. Shop on right became shoe shop (Easifit), later Pullars (drycleaners) and in 2010 is a Pizza supplier. The door on High Street became a single window during post-War alterations when the corner with Tulloch Street was replaced with a pillar and the entrance was a diagonal between the two streets. The building was refurbished in 2008-09 following the closure of Pullars and the entrance in 2010 has reverted to that of pre-War.
22 Dingwall of old
22 Dingwall of old
Gladstone Building in later years. Now the Royal Hotel with Restaurant on the ground floor.
12 Dingwall of old
12 Dingwall of old
Turning round and looking towards the Royal Hotel, the Commercial Bank is on the left, followed by ?Park House? On the right, beside the war memorial, is Archie's bus. Archie (Macrae?) was the owner of a bus which plied between Kessock and Dingwall. Photo c.1946.
36 Dingwall of old
36 Dingwall of old
Shortly afterwards we reach Craig Road, c.1918. A house would have stood at the foot of Kinnairdie Brae and on the ground which later became the extensive garden of Willie Logan's house. Next to it is "Marsule" followed by "The Gables".
15 Dingwall of old
15 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel c.1935 with Cormack, bootmaker, and Campbell's cycle shop on left.
06 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of Dingwall Museum Trust]
06 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of Dingwall Museum Trust]
Dingwall Court House pre-1905.
37 Dingwall of old
37 Dingwall of old
Finally, we leave Dingwall, heading north and looking back along Craig Road.
35 Dingwall of old
35 Dingwall of old
At the end of Tulloch Street we find Dingwall canal with Dingwall Castle on the right.
11 Dingwall of old
11 Dingwall of old
Dingwall Free Church beside the railway station.
21 Dingwall of old
21 Dingwall of old
Advert for David Macleay's shop. [Courtesy of Lou Tsiotinos.]
24 Dingwall of old
24 Dingwall of old
Fraser Brothers shop, showing staff and produce, just round the corner from the Royal Hotel entrance. The Fraser family is still serving the public in the 21st century but their produce is subject to strict rules of refridgeration!
30 Dingwall of old
30 Dingwall of old
At the junction with Tulloch Street was Lewis Fraser, saddler. [Ross and Cromarty Heritage Society is grateful to the late Miss Anne Fraser, Dingwall, daughter of Lewis M Fraser, for permission to copy the postcards which she owns.]
31 Dingwall of old
31 Dingwall of old
This would have been the view from the front of Fraser the Saddler's shop. On the right is the Bank of Scotland with the manager's house above and his garden extending to what became Mackay's Garage, with Dingwall Academy and its bell tower in the distance. Are these Dingwall Academy pupils, or is it a festive occasion? (There are girls in hats and dresses and boys in kilts.) [Photo courtesy of the late Miss Anne Fraser.]
17 Dingwall of old
17 Dingwall of old
Across the road from St. Lawrence's were the tennis courts ...... [Photo RCHS]
18 Dingwall of old
18 Dingwall of old
...... where Dingwallians of old gained exercise ..... [Photo RCHS]
03 Dingwall of old
03 Dingwall of old
HLI camp in Jubilee Park 1908.
28 Dingwall of old
28 Dingwall of old
Inside Frew's shop. [Photo RCHS]
29 Dingwall of old
29 Dingwall of old
Inside Frew's shop. [Photo RCHS]
19 Dingwall of old
19 Dingwall of old
...... beside the poplar trees lining the canal. [Photo RCHS]
04 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of F W Urquhart collection]
04 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of F W Urquhart collection]
Building of Hector Macdonald memorial.
Dingwall of old
Dingwall of old
Mackay's Garage in 1985. [Photo courtesy of Jim Macdonald.]
39 Dingwall of old
39 Dingwall of old
Munro Stewart in September 2011. [Photograph courtesy of Uisdean Menzies - uisdean@fraser-menzies.fsnet.co.uk]
20 Dingwall of old
20 Dingwall of old
Gladstone Buildings 1880s (later the Royal Hotel) and David Mcleay, silk mercer. The two policemen are standing outside what would become Dewar & Hay, chemist (later Lloyds pharmacy).
27 Dingwall of old
27 Dingwall of old
Walking back along High Street we find Frew's chemist shop, now the Museum.
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