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The Plasmon Mill Pond Exhibition
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This exhibition
was held over July and August 2004 and attracted over 2,000
visitors. It showed the work carried out by a fifth year
class at Forres Academy with the help of many community volunteers,
to reclaim the former Plasmon Mill pond.
The overgrown
and silted up pond was in drastic need of a makeover
to make it into a beautiful garden space – an open
area for both the community and local wildlife to enjoy. |
The
‘Forres’, or ‘King’s Mill’ made
many products throughout its time, ranging from breakfast
oats to animal feed.
In 1907 the mill under the name of the Forres Mill was leased
to the late Mr William Milne whose company manufactured flour
and meal.
William Milne was born in 1859 and leased the mill until
he retired in 1921. He died in 1939 actually in St Laurence
Church, Forres whilst taking the collection.
The mill was purchased in 1919 by the Plasmon Company and
altered by Mr James Watt to allow breakfast oat production.
In the 1920s, the company employed around forty girls to
pack the breakfast oats but he introduction of an automatic
packing machine in 1925 reduced the staff to only eight men.
The mill was rebuilt and new machinery put in place after
a devastating fire occurred in 1929. In 1935 Mr A. Mitchell
took over the mill and was manager between 1935 and 1962.
The mill was sold to the Angus Milling Company in the early
1950s and were operated by their subsidiary company- the
North of Scotland Milling Company.
In 1955 production changed to animal feed made from barley,
maize and wheat. The company Hamlyn & Co. bought the
Mill in 1978, but put the property back on the market just
a year later, ending the Mill’s century of production. |
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