United Wire Works
One of the long-standing industries in Granton is United Wire Works at Granton Park Avenue, just off West Granton Road.
The business moved to Granton in 1925, and manufactures wirecloth. The company took over the former Madelvic car factory offices, adjacent to their present premises. There is a detailed history of the company᾿s origins in the United Wire Works booklet.
Wirecloth is a woven metal wire mesh with a range of uses, mainly in manufacturing processes. One of the main ones was in paper manufacture, a major business in the Edinburgh area in years gone by. Have a look at Part 3 of the Granton Harbour Handbook on our website for information about Esparto grass, a raw material for making paper.
Other users include biscuit manufacturers – if you want to see the imprint of wirecloth, turn a Digestive biscuit upside down! The wirecloth carries the biscuits through a continuous oven and – as with paper – allows any excess moisture to evaporate from below as well as above. The link to the United Wire company website gives detailed specifications of the product.
The first link below will take you to a booklet about the company, published in the late 1940s. The second link is to the company website.
Another page shows the contents of a booklet about the company, published in the late 1940s.
United Wire Ltd continue to manufacture wirecloth at its site at Granton.
