Mark Binnie, the founder of the firm that was later to bear his name, was born in Haddington (?) in 1849. From about the year 1869, he commenced training as a pupil brewer at the Commercial Brewery of Morison & Thomson, situated on Edinburgh's Canongate, under the instruction of William Thomson, the Head Brewer of that firm. When the partnership of Morison & Thomson broke up in 1878, Mark Binnie moved on to become a junior brewer at the brewery of Forster and Co., situated at Bishop Middleham in County Durham. Here he remained for several years until he returned north to Scotland in 1881, where he commenced on the construction of an entirely new brewery under his own account in the market town of Haddington.
Haddington, situated as it was in the middle of the fertile barley-rich area of East Lothian, known as "the Granary of Scotland" had a long tradition of brewing and malting going back to the Middle Ages. The site purchased by Mark Binnie in 1881 was at Westgate end, on the east bank of the River Tyne adjacent to the Nungate Bridge. The brewery, which commenced in business at the outset of 1882, was known initially as the New Nungate Brewery. (This was to differentiate it from the other Nungate Brewery of the late James Richardson, which had been purchased a short while previously by Thos. Bernard & Co., Maltsters of Seafield by Leith, who were in the process of converting it into maltings.) Mark Binnie's brewery was equipped with some of the most modern equipment of that time, including Morton's patent refrigerators: a well was sunk on the site, the water being pumped by a 5 h.p. Otto gas-engine which was situated on the ground floor of the three-storey brewhouse, and which also drove much of the other machinery connected with the working of the brewery. The capacity of the Nungate Brewery was some two hundred barrels per week.
At an early stage in the brewery's existence, an aerated-water manufactory was also added. Towards the end of the century Mark Binnie was joined in business by his two sons William Binnie and John Binnie. William Binnie, having served some time at the Hereford Brewery of J.T. Jenkins & Co., re- joined his father at the Nungate Brewery in April 1899, where his brother John had been undergoing his pupillage. He found the Nungate Brewery prospering, demand in the peak summer months of that year being such that extra beer had to he bought in from outside suppliers. In November of that year, however, Haddington's only other surviving brewery, the Sidegate Brewery of the Haddington Brewery Co. Ltd., went into liquidation: in the event, this firm was rescued and staggered on for another four years before finally succumbing.
Fortunately a picture can he built up of the Nungate Brewery at the turn of the century from two surviving had-written personal brewing books kept by William Binnie and John Binnie respectively. These can he found in the holdings of the Scottish Brewing Archive at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, where they were lodged for safekeeping by the late Mr. Neil Binnie, a direct descendant of Mark Binnie. These books show the range of beers brewed, and in some cases their gravities, as well as the raw materials used. The beers brewed included 36/- Table Beer at 1038°, 54/- India Pale Ale at 1048°, 60/- Bitter Beer, 80/- Ale at 1058°, Double Brown Stout, 100/- Ale, and 140/- Strong Ale at 1084°. Both bulk and bottled beers were produced. As could be expected, a high proportion of home grown 'Scotch' barley was used in the brewing process, but imported barley was also used in the mash-tun, from as far away as California, Libya, and Romania, while adjuncts such as flaked maize and rice were also utilised. Hops came from Kent, Sussex, Belgium and Bavaria. The trade was overwhelmingly local, although until the early 1900's there was a trade with the West of Scotland.
In November 1903 William Binnie left the Nungate Brewery for the Everton Brewery Company in Yorkshire, but returned to Haddington and resumed work at the Nungate Brewery in May 1906. The following year, in 1907, John Binnie left the Nungate Brewery to take up the position of Assistant Brewer at the Bell's Brewery of Edinburgh United Breweries Ltd., situated on Edinburgh Pleasance. Here he stayed until October 1911, when he moved on again, this time to Bents' Brewery at Sone in Staffordshire. A nephew of Mark Binnie, James Binnie, also trained at the Nungate Brewery, before establishing a small brewery of his own at Stranraer: he later brewed at Morisons in Edinburgh. The Binnie family home at this time was Tyne Park at Haddington: this house was sold during 1911.
During the First World War John Binnie served with the Army in the Dardanelles campaign, where he was wounded in August 1915. After the war he resumed his duties with Bents' Brewery in Staffordshire, and never returned to the Nungate Brewery. Mark Binnie died in March 1924, and was succeeded by his son William T. Binnie, who ran the Nungate Brewery until 1937; it was decided to relinquish the business. The trade, goodwill, and tied properties were acquired by William Younger & Co. Ltd. Of Edinburgh. The Nungate Brewery buildings themselves were acquired by Burns, Coulston & Co., Tanners and Wire Manufacturers.
William Binnie subsequently worked as a brewer at Arkinsons of Birmingham, Allsopps of Burton, Hepworths of Ripon and Okell's of Douglas (I.O.M) amongst others, John Binnie remained with the Bents until he retired in 1954. Neil Binnie was a brewer with Dryborough & Co. Ltd. The reason for the demise of the Nungate Brewery is unclear, but it is believed to be connected with William Binnie's predilection for golf. The brewery buildings themselves were demolished in the 1970's to build a new housing estate. The brewery's trade mark was a goat and a tree.
David J Motherwell