Museum of… The Devil’s Porridge Museum, Dumfries and Galloway

What 

The “devil’s porridge” was the nickname given to the rather dangerous concoction – a mixture including guncotton, acid and ether – that became cordite, the substance that propelled bullets and bombs during the first world war. 

The museum tells the story of how devil’s porridge was made at HM Factory Gretna, an enormous purpose-built site that was constructed in 1915 as the government responded to a shortage of ammunition on the frontlines. 

The then minister of munitions, David Lloyd George, scoured Britain for a site that had a plentiful supply of cheap land and good access to railway routes in a location remote enough to cope with accidents and explosions, and that was out of range for German zeppelin raids. In just eight months, two enormous factories were built on this Scottish border site, which was nine miles long and two miles wide, and attracted a female workforce from all over the UK.

Opened 

The museum began life as a display on the wall of a local church 20 years ago when the museum trust’s chairman, Richard Brodie, realised the story of the area needed telling. “The townships of Eastriggs and nearby Gretna existed purely because they were originally constructed as places for factory workers to live,” says the museum’s manager, Judith Hewitt. “From that initial display, the community has developed a modern, interactive building that attracts 10,000 visitors a year, has recently been Accredited and has won tourism awards.”

Collection 

Objects include “porridge pots”, the badges the girls wore and the medals won for saving lives along with a huge photographic archive and written accounts by correspondents, including the suffragette and novelist Rebecca West and the writer Arthur Conan Doyle. “Films reveal what the work was like and touchscreens allow visitors to flick through the women’s autograph books, which are full of witticisms about what was actually a very serious place,” says Hewitt. “Youngsters can also have a go at mixing devil’s porridge virtually.”

History 

“One of the main issues the 12,000 women workers faced was TNT jaundice, when exposure to acid made their skin turn yellow, earning them the nickname ‘canary girls’,” says Hewitt. “Despite the precautions taken, there were still accidents and we know of 12 people who died and many more were injured.”

The museum is volunteer-led, but has three paid members of staff. “Many of the volunteers have family connections with the old site: the parents of one volunteer, who is now in his 80s, met in the factory where his mother was his father’s supervisor,” says Hewitt.

Challenges 

“Geography,” says Hewitt. “The site was chosen for its remoteness so the museum is off the beaten track and people tend to drive past on their way to the more famous bits of Scotland.”