A Hacklemaker’s Tale

Thursday 15 February 2024, 7.00 pm

Talk by Roderick Stewart

“The Hecklie”, as Wm R Stewart & Sons (Hacklemakers) Ltd was known, was an unorthodox Dundee company founded in 1874 which expanded from making hackles for jute machinery to become the world leader in supplying pinned products to a wide range of industries with its own subsidiary, Stewarts of America Inc., in the USA.  The story covers the company’s transition from traditional wooden staves to high-tech aluminium pinned tubes and also includes the stories of the ‘Nutshell’ folding caravan, ‘HMS Hackleworks’ and the company’s role in the saving of HMS Unicorn and the return of RRS Discovery to Dundee.

The talk will take place as usual in Dundee Art Society’s Roseangle Gallery, starting at 7.00pm (19:00). Guests are welcome and there will be the opportunity to chat over a glass of wine afterwards.