The removal of the signage for 1st Class Restorations above the alleyway at 674 Pollockshaws Road has revealed another glimpse into the history of the village in revealing the name of JOHN MCNICOL & SONS JOINERS & VAT & TUN BUILDERS.
Although we haven't been able to discover anything more about the company at this site we did find them in Grace's Guide to British Industrial History which states that that the company was established in 1904 and in 1914 were located at 202 - 204 Rutherglen Road, Glasgow, employing 12 people and listed as 'Joiners and vat and tun builders. Specialities: vats, wooden tanks of all sizes and shapes and erected at home and abroad/ chemical tanks; refrigerators; wooden shives and plugs: general turners'.
When the Birmingham based Kynoch company closed their ammunitions factory in Ireland which had employed almost 5,000 workers during World War 1 and moved production to Umlazi in South Africa in order to supply explosives to the gold mining operations on the Witwatersrand,
John McNicol & Sons erected all the Vat Plant for the South African Factory which initially employed workers who had transferred from the Irish plant and the town of Umbogintwini or "Mbokodweni" in Zulu was established to house these Irish immigrant workers. John Udal who was the general manager of both the Irish and South African sites aggressively pursued the recruitment of local Zulu workers with 15 years old boys being offered five-year apprenticeship with the factory with Kynoch providing being accommodation food and payment 12/- a month, rising to 16/- following completion of their apprenticeships.
The South African Kynoch company diversified into the production of fertilizer and grew from strength to strength.
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