Struthers,

Lemonade at its Best

Struthers was another company with a long history in Lochwinnoch. William Struthers came from an East Kilbride farming family. He was born on 17th November 1863 and died 22nd January 1937 (73). Curiously, his mothers name was Susan Semple, the name of another famous family with strong links to Lochwinnoch. He went to Australia in the 1880’s and returned in 1905 with his wife and family. They had four sons, James, William, John (usually referred to as Jack) and Ian.

His return to Scotland was due to spotting the advert above. Castle Semple had been advertising this farm for over a year and it was last advertised on 3rd September 1904. What the drivers were behind the decision to return are unknown. Perhaps it was disillusionment with his chosen career or just life generally in Australia or simply a desire to return to his farming roots when he saw the above advert. What is certain is his return in 1905 was planned around the above opportunity. By the time he returned the Calderbank Bleachfield had closed and ever an eye for an opportunity he added Loups farm which included Calderbank House and Calderbank Bleachworks. He rented the lot from Castle Semple Estate for £100 per annum. 

Struthers first started to make lemonade in one of the buildings at the Calderbank bleachfields in 1908 (see advert below). Willie Cochrane worked for Struthers when they were at this location. He can be seen delivering lemonade in the photograph below. Willie is at the wheel and Jim Struthers is standing on the step of the lorry. Thanks to Cathie Cockburn (Willie’s daughter) for identifying that they are delivering to the Royal Hotel on New Street in Dalry. By 1915 they had taken over the old school house near the Wee Church. The business operated successfully right through the 20th century.

It was sold in 1999 to an Italian company, Cibiro Ltd owned by the Alfano family. Struthers Lemonade finally closed its doors in 2006. The short video below shows 98 years of Struthers in 15 seconds.

They made a whole range of flavours. The photograph below shows just how diverse the range was. And of course we all had our own favourite.

In a classic David and Goliath battle Coca Cola tried to stop Struthers marketing their dark cola as Koala Cola. Like David they won. The story I heard was the judge accepted the argument that Struthers Australian links meant the use of Koala was not an attempt to ride on the back of Coca Cola's brand. The story in the press puts forward a different argument.

Prefer the story I heard, the newspaper one is like a split decision, could have gone either way, their Australian connection makes a much better argument. The advert below from 23rd May 1980 confirms they started making lemonade in 1908 and outlines some expansion plans. Drinking bottled water and energy drinks were becoming the new fad but they didn't change the fortunes of Struthers.

There is no record that Struthers actually farmed the land they rented. It stands to reason they did at least during the period 1905 - 1908, to provide an income while other projects were brought to fruition, namely making lemonade. Mineral waters began to be drunk, rather than just bathed in, during the 1700’s for their supposed medical benefits. In 1772 Joseph Priestly developed an apparatus that could add carbon dioxide to water. So began the production of artificial mineral waters. Aerated waters as they were known during the 1800’s were becoming very popular in Australia. They were originally sold through pharmacy’s claiming their health benefits. Soda water, lemonade, ginger ale and ginger beer were early products. By the end of the 19th century many towns in Australia had a business producing aeriated waters and cordial.

William had worked in engineering while in Australia so although his original intention had been to farm on returning to Scotland he probably recognised the opportunity aerated waters represented, plus he had the engineering skills to establish the plant necessary for their manufacture. The rest is history as they say and sadly so is the Struthers factory that gave employment to so many over the years. The video below is the demolition of the factory.

At its peak there were 10 delivery lorries and around 50 staff. I even worked there myself during summer holidays from university. My aunt Anna (front row, 3rd from right) also worked there and so many more Lochwinnoch families will have had a similar link to the factory.

When Bill Struthers was interviewed for the radio programme “Down Your Way” he said the factory produced around 40,000 bottles per day. 60% of the production line was for lemonade as a mixer for whisky. That is a significant reliance on one part of the market and perhaps was fundamental to the eventual closure of the company. You can listen to that interview below. The gallery in this section also contains a selection of photographs of staff, the equipment and of the factory.

In the early 1920’s William and his son James started a garage business which shared the Church Street premises. As the business grew it became obvious by the 1950’s that it required a site of its own. A location was selected at Newton of Barr at the junction with Main Street and it became operational in 1956. A montage of these two locations is shown below.

In keeping with a lot of previous Lochwinnoch businesses the garage went on fire on 6th February 1969! Well, truth to tell it actually exploded. Still remember the bang. Photograph below of the destruction to the building.

It was rebuilt within a year and continued in operation till 1988. The Company made a claim against the Scottish Gas Board which was reported as settled 3 years later in an Oct 1972 article (see below). It is now home to a number of sporting pursuits.

While preparing this article I came across the drawing below which has a date range of 1939 to 1948. It is a drawing of a proposed aerated water factory at Newton of Barr. There are two points to take away from this, firstly, consideration of splitting the "Old School Site" had been on the cards for some time prior to the actual move in 1956 and secondly it is clear initial thoughts were to move the drinks factory to Newton of Barr. At some point that thinking changed and the garage moved. The ultimate layout of the garage business was not dissimilar to that which had been put forward for the aerated water factory below. This did make me wonder if leaving the aerated water factory in the "Old School House" was a strategic mistake. The site was quite constrained, they did manage to take a bit of the park. The Newton of Barr site would have allowed much greater expansion, perhaps reaching a critical mass where the company could have survived.

James and Ian ran the garage operation and William (died 1974 aged 73) and Jack (died 1983 aged 79) ran the lemonade factory. Ian died in 1952 (47) and James 1953 (53), this required Jack to take over the Commercial & Private vehicle business. In the 1960’s Jack’s son-in-law, David Fernie, took over the operation of the lemonade factory. Bill Struthers the son of James died in 2015 aged 86. He was married to Anna Love, the daughter of William Love one of the sons of James Love the founder of Love's Joinery firm.

The family have a memorial in the Lochwinnoch cemetery shown below.

You can see more photographs of Struthers in the Employment Gallery section. There were too many to fit in this article, click HERE to see them.