GLASGOW’S famous Templeton’s factory dominates the east end skyline.

The building is now home to a business and residential centre and the West Brewery, but its unusual exterior (said to be modelled on Doge’s palace in Venice) remains a local landmark.

The company was set up by James Templeton, who started life as a draper before perfecting his craft for carpets.

Collaborating with an Irish weaver named William Quiglay, Templeton adapted chenille (a material more commonly used for shawls and curtains) into a base for soft yet strong carpets.

Templeton’s was famous all over the world - even Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of US president Abraham Lincoln, was said to have a Templeton carpet in her home.

But the city was home to another carpet manufacturer, almost as well-known as its famous neighbour in Bridgeton, and just as respected.

John Lyle and Co’s Bloomvale Carpet Factory opened in 1853.

John, who was born in Kilbarchan, was a foreman at Templeton’s but he decided to leave to establish his own company.

John Lyle & Co began manufacturing on Crownpoint Road, before moving to the Bloomvale factory on Fordneuk Street in 1868.

One of our readers, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote to tell us of his happy memories working inside John Lyle & Co.

“As a long time reader of the older generation, I have enjoyed reading and seeing the Times Past and Thanks for the Memories articles in the Evening Times,” he told us.

“You have on a number of occasions featured the Templeton factory.

“However, another carpet company was in Bridgeton for more than 100 years – John Lyle & Co.”

He adds: “They had weaving at Fordneuk Street, a dye house at Rogart Street, a warehouse on Rimsdale Street and spinning at Brook Street, as well as a factory in Cumbernauld and offices in London, Manchester and Leeds.

“I started as office junior and progressed to export sales – the company sent goods all over Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and North America.

“They also made a lot of broadloom carpetry with famous names such as Ashton, Super Duke and Legend.”

“I remember that for the thirsty workforce, there were two pubs across from the Fordneuk factory on Crownpoint Road – Big Jack’s and the appropriately named Weavers’ Rest.”

Old brochures show the range of products manufactured by Lyle & Co, including its Scanrya Range of Axminster rugs made from “luxurious pure wool blended with nylon to give extra wear”.

Following the death of its founder in 1888, the company continued to trade and by the outbreak of the Second World War, it had a shop in London and sales staff in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Australia and New Zealand.

Business began to decline in the 1970s, and the factory closed in the 1980s.

Our writer adds: “After the closure of John Lyle & Co, I continued to work in the carpet trade – with a member of the Lyle family I had worked with since the 60s - until my retirement in 2008.”

Part of the Art Deco-style industrial building built around 1929-30 for John Lyle & Co still survives. The architect of the building was Colin Menzies, who had to create a kink in the centre of the building to allow it to follow the line of the roadway and provide large glazed panels for better lighting for workers in the factory.

This is the surviving part of Lyle’s Bloomvale Carpet factory which originally occupied half of this huge street block.

This area was at the heart of the weaving industry in the 1860s with cotton mills, thread mills, carpet weaving factories and dye works all around.

Did you work at John Lyle & Co or Templeton’s? Tell us your stories and send us your photographs to the address below.

We would love to hear more of your Glasgow memories – where did you grow up? Where did you work? What are your favourite memories of your old neighbourhood? Can you remember the old theatres, dance halls and shops? Which ones stick in your mind?

Through our regular library drop-in events, which have now taken place all over the city, and our letters page and email banks, we are compiling a fantastic archive of stories and pictures, all dedicated to the city we love.

Please write to Ann Fotheringham, Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB or email ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk with your stories and photos. Don’t forget to include a contact email address or telephone number.