The ICI factory at Ardeer has been a huge part of the history of North Ayrshire and we shared the stories of the people who worked there.

Alfred Nobel had been manufacturing explosives since 1862 when he had a factory producing nitroglycerine in Sweden. This product, which Nobel manufactured as Nobel’s Blasting Oil, was very sensitive to shock or blow and very dangerous to handle. There were many accidents using nitro-glycerine and a lot of countries prohibited its use. To make it safer, Nobel mixed the nitro-glycerine with a substance named kielselghur, which made it into a paste rather than a liquid, and made it safer to handle and use.

He called his new product Dynamite.

He established factories in Stockholm and Hamburg, then considered starting up in England. He was met with strict safety regulations there and decided to try Scotland instead. He began a publicity campaign to convince authorities of the safety of Dynamite. Eventually he found a receptive group of businessmen in Scotland who were willing to help and he set up The British Dynamite Company with its factory site at Ardeer and the first 336 kilo charge of nitro-glycerine was produced at Ardeer on 13th January 1873.

At its foundation in 1871, the British Dynamite Company began with a plot of
400,000 square metres, but rapid expansion meant that by 1907, Nobel’s Ardeer factory was reputed to be the largest explosives in the world.

Ardeer was the perfect site for the factory due to its remote location and sandy surroundings.
Nobel himself was rather harsh when describing the possible site for his factory:

“At its foundation in 1871, the British Dynamite Company began with a plot of land 400,000
square metres and started production on 13th January 1873. Rapid expansion meant that,
by 1907, Nobel’s Ardeer factory was reputed to be the largest explosives factory in the world.
Such was the success of the business that the site had its own jetty and there were two trains
a day to transport workers to a station within the factory.”

1926 saw a great fusion of chemical companies in the UK. Nobel Industries merged with all the other major chemical industries in the UK to form Imperial Chemical Industries.