History

Curtis has been around for quite some time! In fact, we’ve been making great papers for over 160 years now. It all started back in 1835 when William Sommerville bought Dalmore Mill. The mill had originally been a meal mill pre 1610, changing hands many times before it was acquired by an enterprising ex-publisher and umbrella factory owner, Sommerville. It wasn’t until a couple of years later, in October 1837, that Dalmore, in the village of Auchendinny, began operating as a paper mill.

Forty or so years later, in 1873, William Haig and two of his sons formed the Guardbridge Paper Company to find a more profitable use for their Seggie whisky distillery. As literacy and business correspondence increased, paper was in hot demand! The mill went into production in 1874 making a range of papers defined as “fine printings”. These included fine printings, drawing, music, plate and chart papers, ES writings, envelope papers, tinted paper and tinted pulp boards. Esparto grass and woodpulp were the two main raw materials, with varying proportions of rag according to supply and quality requirements.

The mill went from strength to strength as did the village of Guardbridge which grew with new housing and roads to attract and accommodate workers. Before the first world war the labour force reached over 400, reaching a peak of 620 in the late 1950’s.

In the first twenty-five years, Guardbridge Paper Mill grew from a single machine operation to being one of the largest in Scotland. The first machine was installed in 1873/4, with second, third and fourth machines added before the end of the 19th century. Machine number five was built in 1923 and number six added in 1952. The company was already exporting by the beginning of the 20th century.

Currently, machines number four, five and six remain at Guardbridge, in addition to a “new” paper machine number three - the former PM2 at Dalmore Mill.