Robert Smail's Printing Works facts for kids
Robert Smail's Printing Works is a special place in Innerleithen, a small town in the Scottish Borders. It's a real, working printing shop from the Victorian era. Today, it's a museum run by The National Trust for Scotland.
Visitors can see how a local printer worked around the year 1900. Even though it's a museum, it still takes orders for printing and stationery! It's like stepping back in time to see old printing machines in action.
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A Look Back in Time: History of Smail's
The Smail family started their printing business in 1866. They did all sorts of printing jobs for the local people. They also ran a shop that sold stationery, like paper and pens. For many years, from 1893 to 1916, they even printed a weekly newspaper!
The Smail family owned the business for a long time. They didn't change much, so the printing works stayed very old-fashioned. In 1986, the National Trust for Scotland took over. They opened it to the public as a museum in 1990.
Today, you can take a one-hour tour. You'll see how printing was done step-by-step. You might even get to try setting type by hand! Sometimes, you can even print your own work. The building itself is very old and important, so it's protected as a special historic site.
Inside the Printing Works
The printing works is in a two-story building on the main street. Downstairs, there's a shop and an office. The shop is now where visitors enter and can buy gifts.
The office connects to the shop. It also has its own door to the street. Inside, you'll see a big desk by the window. It looks just like it did in the early 1900s! Drawers are full of old stationery. You might find writing slates, pencils, sealing wax, pen nibs, and ink bottles. Shelves hold old job dockets, invoices, and books showing wages. Photos on the wall show how little the office has changed. There's even a certificate that let them sell tickets for steamships to America!
Paper and Type: The Caseroom
Behind the office is the paper store. This big room holds copies of almost every printing job done for 100 years! At one end, you can see a rebuilt water wheel. This wheel used to power the printing machines.
Upstairs is the caseroom. This is where typesetting happened. Along the walls are racks with many drawers. These drawers hold letter cases, which are full of metal letters called movable type.
The workers, called compositors, would pick out letters. They used a metal tool called a composing stick. They would arrange the letters by hand to spell out words and sentences. This was how they created the text for printing!
Visitors can watch a compositor show how to set type. Sometimes, you can even try it yourself! After the type is set, it's put into a galley. Then, if there's time, it's printed on a hand-operated printing press. This makes a "galley proof" for visitors to keep. The room also has many old galleys saved for future use. One even says, "Closing Down Sale from Today," which was the last job set by the last Smail family owner.
Machines That Print: The Machineroom
The machineroom is also upstairs. Here you'll find the big printing presses. One is a hand-fed, pedal-operated platen press. There's also a large Wharfedale Reliance machine from the 1870s. This one was powered by a belt from the water wheel. The newest machine is an automated Heidelberg Platen, bought in 1952. A printer will show you how these amazing machines work.
Fun Events at Smail's
Robert Smail's Printing Works holds special printing workshops in the winter. They also take part in local events. For example, they join the Innerleithen Honey Festival. In 2007, they offered "living history tours." This was to celebrate 500 years of printing in Scotland!
More to Explore in the Scottish Borders
The National Trust for Scotland has other cool places nearby:
- Priorwood Garden
- Harmony Garden
- St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve
- List of places in the Scottish Borders
- Damside
