“Papermaking – Oakenholt Mill – Hood on drying cylinders”

£24.00

High resolution digital image from our catalogue

In 1870 McCorquodale, the well-established paper-making firm of Liverpool, founded the North Wales Paper Company Ltd in a new mill built on the site of Oakenholt Corn Mill. There was a plentiful supply of water, the Chester and Holyhead Railway was adjacent and Smith & Mawdsley’s Alkali Works was nearby. Production started in 1871 using straw and esparto as raw materials, but these were soon replaced by chemical wood pulp. In 1880 a second papermaking machine was installed and in 1891 the Company installed their own caustic soda plant as the market price was considered too high.