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The Stop
‘Devil’s Porridge’ was the name given by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the explosive paste mixed at HM Factory Gretna, which during the First World War was the ‘largest munitions factory in the world.’ Visiting the site as a war correspondent, Doyle recorded how he watched as the ‘nitro-glycerine on the one side and the gun-cotton on the other’ was kneaded by hand into a ‘sort of a devil's porridge’ in its way to become cordite.1 It was an exceedingly dangerous process as even a small change in composition might find ‘those smiling khaki-clad girls who are swirling the stuff round in their hands … blown to atoms in an instant.’2
Construction on what would become a nine mile site that stretched from Longtown in England to Dornock in Scotland, began in Autumn 1916 with the arrival of over 10,000 mostly Irish navvies.3 By April 1916, munitions production had begun, with hundreds of ‘chemists, explosive experts and engineers’ brought in from across the Commonwealth to meet the demand of the troops on the Western Front. At its height almost 30,000 people worked at Gretna, including nearly 12,000 young women who travelled from across Britain to ‘do their bit’ for the war effort. Predominately, this was to ‘manage the process from mixing the highly volatile ‘devil’s porridge’ paste through to producing the finished cordite propellant’ which was then sent off to fill shells at other factories.
Producing cordite was a time-consuming, dangerous process begun by ‘charring cotton waste with nitric and sulphuric acid’ in stoneware pans to create ‘nitro-cotton, or gun cotton.’ An ‘extremely hazardous’ process due to the emission of toxic fumes and an ever-present danger of acid burns, the next step was to rinse the gun-cotton in boiling water before immersing it in cold water and rubbing it with chalk to neutralise the acid. Afterwards, the gun-cotton had to be mixed with ‘highly unstable nitro-glycerine,’ which was where the young women came into play. As the chemicals were so unstable that no machinery could be used at this point, the only option was to mix the compound by hand in lead containers to allow the nitro-glycerine to ‘float up and be skimmed off’ before allowing it to move around the site in lead channels via the power of gravity alone.
By any measure HM Factory Gretna was enormous, including two townships which housed the workers composed of ‘hastily erected wooden accommodation huts and brick-built manufacturing and storage sheds, all serviced by 125 miles of military narrow gauge railway line.’ There were also schools, cinemas, hospitals, dance halls, dentist offices, a fire station, a dairy and everything else required for its success. Though the factory was closed and sold at auction at the end of the War, the young women’s contribution to the war effort would ‘influence every sphere of life, setting standards in what women could do, how much they could earn and what they could wear.’ For many women after the War work at places like Gretna showed it was ‘no longer true that woman’s place was in the home,’ and many fundamental changes - including the nationwide push for women’s suffrage - would find renewed encouragement as a result.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to ‘The God of Loss’ - a short (3:55) music video by Darlingside4 in which old-fashioned paper cutting techniques are used to produce what appears to be a moving woodcut. It’s a lovely, haunting video that perfectly fits the song. You should definitely check this out.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). One of the most famous detective novels ever written, the story takes place in 1889 on Dartmoor and concerns a series of deaths seemingly connected to the legend of a terrifying, diabolical hound. Sherlock Holmes (in his first appearance since Doyle had killed him off eight years previously in The Final Problem) and his assistant Watson investigate the case, discovering that things are far from expected. An atmospheric and gripping story, the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led Doyle to revive Holmes for further stories and another novel.
Look for The Hound of the Baskervilles at an independent new or used bookstore (or, hey, the library) near you!
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is devil-themed: ‘Up Jumped the Devil’ (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, 1988), ‘Devils Haircut’ (Beck, 1996), ‘Shout at the Devil’ (Mötley Crüe, 1983), ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ (The Charlie Daniels Band, 1979) and ‘Friend of the Devil’ (The Grateful Dead, 1970).5 Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from The Hound of the Baskervilles:
‘The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Created in 1889 to replace black powder in explosive ordnance, cordite is a ‘smokeless powder composed of nitro-glycerin, guncotton, and a petroleum substance usually gelatinized by addition of acetone and pressed into cords resembling brown twine.’ (Merriam-Webster).
Sources for today’s Stop include Devil's Porridge, Devil's Porridge (BBC), Devil's Porridge (Historic UK) and Devil's Porridge (IWM). I had never heard of this until Tuesday when we drove up to Gretna Green as part of our visit to Cumbria and happened to pass the museum. A quick search to determine what this was revealed an interesting topic I thought was worth a look.
Navvies were labourers who worked on building roads, railroads and canals. They took their name from the early Industrial Revolution ‘navigators’ who built the first navigation canals in the 18th century.
Nope, I’ve never heard of them before - and I’m surprised and disappointed as this is really good.
I do love a good devil-related song, and these are five great ones. The Nick Cave one in particular is excellent, as is the Grateful Dead track (and though this studio release is not as good as some live versions, it seems to fit today’s list well) - and as it’s always good to include a good 1980s conservative-parent-baiting track on a list now and then, the ludicrous Mötley Crüe fits this bill perfectly.
Fascinating read, Bryan! It’s always amazing to me how a war can change the very foundations of society. We focus so much on what was won/lost that the reweaving of the social fabric is often overlooked.
Great Detour selection. You are so right in that the graphic arts fit the song nicely.