Haunted: unexplained noises spook staff at working museum.
A ghost in the works.
Accident victim’s spirit returns to the mill.
Exclusive by Brian McCarthey.
Staff at a former jute mill claim the ghost of a worker who died almost 150 years ago has returned to haunt them. When Dundee’s Verdant Works closes for the day and the award-winning museum is deserted, noises echo from within its thick stone walls. Switches turned off for the night are mysteriously turned back on and the sound of the mill machinery has been heard in the still of the night.
Museum caretaker John McKenna, 58, a self-confessed sceptic, firmly believes he’s working beside a ghost. A mechanical engineer, John spent all his working days in jute mills and he now supervises and maintains the museum machinery, at any time of the day or night. He said: “Trust me, when you’re wandering round the pitch black corners of a deserted mill atmidnight, you really don’t need to believe in ghosts. When the workshop suddennly became chillingly cold, I would look for an open window or some other explanation, but could never find one. The most fearful experience is the workshop door. Several moments after it closes and without the door moving, you hear the sound of it closing again. I’ve not yet witnessed it, but I’ve heard stories from others of machines starting up apparently by themselves.”
In 1852, a young mill girl was hoisted to her death from the factory floor to the rafters. In those days, mill machinery was operated by ceiling drive-shafts that were connected to individual machines by massive roof-to-floor belts. The girl was killed when she was caught up in a speeding belt. A year later, a man was killed in a similar accident.
So far, the Verdant intruder has been heard but not seen. Mr McKenna said: “We can’t be sur ewhose ghost it is, but luckily it’s more mischievous than threatening. It moves things that you’ve laid down behind you, but at least it doesn’t throw them around the place. I used to blame the forgetfulness of old age when I couldn’t find things I’d laid down but it happens to other people too. When anything goes wrong, everyone blames the ghost. The girls who work here don’t go round the place in the dark. Despite my previous doubts about the existence of ghosts, I have to admit I get a srong feeling someone else is there. We had a faulty alarm and I was called out regularly at night by the police. Often, the noises were so loud that the police were convinced that several youths had broken in.”
The High Mill of Verdant Works was built in 1833 and, at the height of its production, the workforce was 500 strong. Dundee became famous for its jute, which was used around the world. But before the turn of the century, Verdant Works was one of the city’s 61 jute mills whose use as a textile works had come to an end. It changed ownership several times and more recently was used to re-cycle large amounts of jute waste, to cure rabbit skins for the fashion trade, and to deal in scrap metal. Dundee Heritage Trust rescued the derelict buildin gin 1991 and began to restore it as a working museum. The trust was formed in 1985 to preserve and present Dundee’s industrial past. Verdant Works was first opened to the public in 1996 and now attracts 35,000 visitors annually. This year, it beat more than 60 entries from 20 countries to lift the title of Europe’s top industrial museum.
Change of mind: Museum caretaker John McKenna is now a firm believer in ghosts following a number of strang eincidents at the former textiles mill.
Daily Record, 27th December 1999.