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Edinburgh at Work Photography Project 1990s |
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1. Companies Visited |
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Please scroll down this page to see links to some of the photos that I took on my 'Edinburgh at Work' project in the 1990s OR click on this link to see the some photos of 'Scotland at Work' covering other parts of Scotland. |
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YEAR PHOTOS TAKEN |
COMPANY VISITED | COMMENTS |
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A |
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1992 and 1993 |
Anderson's Cooperage opened in Leith Docks in 1991. It was a small company employing coopers who had previously worked for Kinnairds. The company survived for a few years. |
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B |
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©1992 |
In the early 1990, there were only two hot metal printers left in Edinburgh: - Speedspools (who used monotype equipment) - Baker & Clairmount (who used linotype equipment. Both have since closed. |
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©1992 |
I took photos of both Bank of Scotland (now HBoS) and the Royal Bank of Scotland burning their old banknotes, withdrawn from circulation in the early 1990s. Here are the Bank of Scotland photos. |
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1992 |
Brodie Hamilton Melrose was, an old-established Leith company that was based at 130 Constitution Street, Leith. Around 1994, they moved to new premises at Dock Street, Leith, trading as 'Brodies' |
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1994 |
The workforce of Drysdale and Brodie, Hamilton, Melrose came together in 1991 following a takeover. The company moved to new premises in Dock Street, Leith, around 1994 and traded 'Brodies'. |
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1992 |
Burton's Biscuits have a modern factory at Sighthill. They are the largest manufacturer of Rich Tea Biscuits in Europe. |
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1990 to 1993 |
In the early 1990s, Bruce Lindsay Waldie had an old coal yard immediately to the west of Haymarket station. They then moved to larger premises with more modern equipment beside the railway, off Sir Harry Lauder road at Portobello. |
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C |
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 ©1993 |
Inside the main bar of the Café Royal there are some attractive murals of industries, made from tiles. I believe that these were created for one of the early exhibitions in Edinburgh, possibly 1886. |
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 ©1993 |
Caledonian is a prize-winning brewery making traditional ale beside the railway at Slateford. |
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1996 |
Based at Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, but frequently found in Edinburgh. |
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1991 |
Chapman Inveresk works in McDonald Road produced envelopes until the works closed on December 18, 1991. At the time of my visit in November 1991, some of the machinery had already been moved to new premises in Lanarkshire. |
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1993 to 1994 |
Chancelot Mill was once a prominent landmark at Bonnington with a tower and large clock faces. Around 1970, the mill moved to Western Harbour, Leith, now part of the Edinburgh Waterfront development area. |
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1991 to 1996 |
When Clarks Stonemasons moved from Canonmills to West Shore Road in 1991, this left the premises vacant for the next four years. They were used each December until 1995 to sell Christmas trees. In 1996, the building was demolished and Christmas trees were sold from the yard. |
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1991 to 1996 |
George Christie's, in 1991, had a large yard of building supplies and two floors of metal workshops and storage. The premises had been used previously by Cowans as a transport yard and stables. The area has now been redeveloped as housing. |
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1991 |
Clarks Stonemasons were based at Canonmills until 1991, when they moved to West Shore Road, Granton, leaving their Canonmills premises to be used for selling Christmas trees for the next couple of years, before being demolished. |
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1995 |
After leaving Canonmills, Clark stonemasons moved to West Shore Road at Granton - now part of the Edinburgh Waterfront. David Lindsay Formerly with Clark stonemasons ( I believe) set up his own stonemasons business beside Clarke at Granton. |
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1992 and 1993 |
Crabbies Green Ginger wine was made at Great Junction Street, Leith for many decades until it closed in the 1990s. I believe that the Crabbies building has now been converted to housing. |
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1991 and 1992 |
Craig & Rose had a factory making paint, on the west side of Leith Walk, between Leith and Pilrig. Their greatest claim to fame was that they manufactured the paint used for the Forth Bridge for over 100 years. In the mid-1990s, the company moved to Fife. |
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1991 to 2001 |
Robert Cresser, brush makers, were established in 1873 The company had a brush shop in Victoria Street. The shop closed in the early years of C21. |
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1991 to 1994 |
Croan & Sons had a large low kipper factory, close to Newhaven Fishmarket, where they smoked kippers over a fire of oak sawdust. The factory moved in the mid-1990s, further west along the coast to West Shore Road, Granton. |
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D |
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1991 |
Duncan's chocolate factory moved from Edinburgh to Bellshill, Lanarkshire, around 1994. I believe that Duncans is now owned by a company based somewhere around Cumbria. Jeanette Campbell tells me that she won a competition in her local newspaper to open the Duncan's factory at Bellshill, by pressing a button to start the machinery. She is now looking for a photo of the occasion. If you know such a photo, please email me, then I'll pass on the news to Jeanette. |
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1991 |
Drysdale was founded in 1878. When I took these photos in 1991, the company was based at Grove Street, Fountainbridge - but not for much longer! |
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E |
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1991 |
Eastern Scottish bus depot was at New Street, near Waverley Station, until the 1990s. After Eastern Scottish moved out, the building has been used as a car park. The site is now [2004] due to be redeveloped. |
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1992 |
A travelling farrier, here seen working on a farm near South Queensferry. |
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F |
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1992 and 1993 |
Some of these photos were taken in 1992 and 1993 when the bridge was being painted and the track re-laid. Following major changes in responsibilities for maintenance of the bridge, I returned to take more photos in 2005. The 'health and safety' requirements had been considerably tightened, so I could not repeat the top photo (opposite). The Forth Rail Bridge is now (in 2005) in the middle of a 7-year repainting programme. When complete, around 2009, the paint is expected to last for a further 20 years. |
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2005 |
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H |
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1993 |
Newhaven Fishmarket, beside the harbour was converted in the early 1990s to become: - a smaller fishmarket. - a Newhaven heritage museum - a Harry Ramsden restaurant The restaurant closed after a few years, and has now become a Loch Fyne restaurant. |
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1992 and 2006 |
J Hewit & Sons tannery is at Currie, about 5 miles SW of the centre of Edinburgh. I believe that Hewit's tannery may have previously been the premises of Balerno Paper Mill which started in the 1770s. Before moving to their premises at Currie originated at the City Tan Works around 1850 on North Greys and Morrison Closes between John Knox's house and North Bridge. The company was still in business in 2006, but had gone, and the whole site had been flattened by 2013 This web page gives a potted history of the company. |
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J |
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1991 + 2013 |
George does his taxidermy work from a workshop beside his his home at Cramond Tower, Cramond, Edinburgh |
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L |
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2015 |
Lady Haig's Poppy Factory opened in Edinburgh in 1926 at Canongate Poppy Factory, the grounds of Whitefoord House, 53 Canongate. It moved to Warriston, Edinburgh, beside the Water of Leith where it produced over 5 million poppies and 15,000 wreaths in 2014. |
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1991 to 2006 |
This Foundry is one of the few remaining small industries still operating in the Powderhall district of Edinburgh. The company, a family owned business, was founded in the 1920s. It got into financial difficulties and went into liquidation, but the owner, Andrew Laing, soon re-established the business around 2011 as Laing's Foundry Ltd. Much of the company's work, street furniture and railings, can be found in the streets of Edinburgh. |
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1991 to 1993 and 2002-03 |
Robert Lamb ghad a flour mill at Dunedin Street, Warriston. Most of their output went to the linoleum manufacturers in Kirkcaldy, Fife. The company closed around the late 1990s and new housing was built on the site. |
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1989 to 1992 |
There is now less commercial shipping activity in Leith Docks than there was a century ago. Recent increased security measures have made photography more difficult. Now, several major new housing developments are underway around Leith's Western Harbour. |
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1991 to 2005 |
David Lindsay was based at West Shore Road, from 1991 but moved out of the area, probably in the late 1990s, to make way for the Edinburgh Waterfront developments. He still works in the stone industry, in Livingston (2006) but is no longer carving stone. |
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1991 to 2007 |
tinsmiths |
Lonsdale & Dutch is a small tinsmith in a basement in Edinburgh's New Town. The company has worked for the National Trust and has produced a wide range of lanterns. |
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1991 |
Here, Lothian Region Water & Drainage Dept was installing new drainage deep underground close to where the Edinburgh International Conference Centre now stands in Morrison Street. The tunnels were being blasted, drilled then dug out. They extended for 300 meters underground. |
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1990 to 1996 |
Edinburgh Corporation became LRT (Lothian Region Transport). It is now 'Lothian Buses PLC'. Several of these 1990s photos were taken at the LRT workshops at Shrubhill, now closed. The site is soon to be used for housing. |
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1993 to 2002 |
Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade now has new fire stations at Tollcross and Newcraighall in Edinburgh, a far cry from the very small stations in the Edinburgh suburbs of the early-1900s |
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M |
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1991 to 2006 |
George Mackay's workshop is at the foot of Blackfriars Street, near the Cowgate, in the Old Town of Edinburgh. It is now run as a 'one-man' business by Ronnie, who has worked for the company for many years. So far as I know, it is the only surviving old workshop in the area. It is one of the few remaining bowls makers in the world. |
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2004 |
Alexander McLennan is still in business in 2004, at Powderhall. Most of the other industries have now left the area. |
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1992 to 1996 |
Miller's Foundry established their foundry in London Road in 1867. It lay about a 1/4 mile to the west of where Meadowbank Stadium was built. The foundry closed in 1991 and was demolished. Meadowbank Retail Park was built on the site in 1996. |
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1993 |
My first tour of the mine was in the 1960s, soon after the mine opened, employing almost 2,000 workers. In June 1992, operation of the mine passed to Monktonhall Mineworkers Ltd. I returned to the mine in 1993 to take some photos. There were 187 workers. The mine had a 100,000 contract with SSEB that year, but the mine later encountered problems underground and had to close permanently. |
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N |
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1991 to 1992 |
Newhaven Fishmarket, beside Newhaven Harbour, is still open but only a third the size it was in the early 1990s. |
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1991 |
The NB Distillery is near Hearts' football ground at Gorgie. Their maltings are at Slateford Road Their cooperage and bonded warehouses are at Muirhall, West Calder, West Lothian. |
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1991 to 2001 |
Northern Lighthouse Board occupied premises in West Harbour Road, Granton, with a lighthouse frontage, until around 2002. At the back of the site were workshops and a yard. |
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R |
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1991 |
Caledonia Mill (owned by Rank Hovis) was an old mill situated immediately to the north of Chancelot Mill at Leith Western Harbour. Caledonia Mill closed on February 8, 1991. The mill has now been demolished. |
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1991 to 1996 |
In Edinburgh, James Ritchie & Son had a shop and watch repair operation at Broughton Street. This has now moved to Howe Street. The company also held the contract for winding and repairing Edinburgh's public clocks. Repairs of large public clocks were carried out at the company's works in Livingston, now moved Broxburn, West Lothian. |
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2002 |
Workers seen in the streets of Edinburgh. |
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1991 to 1993 |
Burning £1 million of used banknotes in the furnace at the St Andrew Square Office, Edinburgh. This practice has now ended! |
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S |
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©1991 |
Scottish Agricultural Industries (SAI) is a subsidiary of ICI. In the 1990s, it had a chemical plant at Leith Docks, along the northern edge of the docks beside the Firth of Forth, to the east of the harbour entrance, manufacturing fertilisers. The plant has now closed and the site has been cleared. |
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Read more: |
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©1991 |
Sax Shaw studied art in Edinburgh. He exhibited his paintings in Paris in 1948. He was probably in his 70s when we met, as he worked at his home and studio at Howe Street in 1991, shortly before he died. He told me that he has done some drawing or painting every day since he was aged 15. |
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©1985 |
St Cuthbert's Co-op (later Scotmid, from 1981, following a merger) delivered milk around Edinburgh by horse-drawn milk float for 125 years until 1985. Their dairy was at Fountainbridge and stables were in Grove Street. When the horse-drawn deliveries came to an end, the co-op had 12 Irish gelding horses. 8 went to good homes and 4 were kept for weddings and other events. |
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©1991 to 1994 |
Scotmid maintained their own coaches, coaches for a few individuals, and also the Queen's coaches, the work being done at the rate of one coach per year, until the work was completed around 1990. The coachworks closed in the mid-1990s |
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©1992 to 1993 |
Scottish & Newcastle's Edinburgh brewery was at Fountainbridge, beside the canal. First, the plant for filling kegs closed around the late 1990s. Then, the brewery and plant for filling cans on the south side of Fountainbridge closed in 2005. |
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©1991 to 1994 |
In the early 1990, there were only two hot metal printers left in Edinburgh: - Speedspools (who used monotype equipment) - Baker & Claremont (who used linotype equipment. Both have since closed. |
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2002 |
Workers seen around the streets of Edinburgh. |
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1993 |
Window cleaners cleaning one of the three domes on the roof of Tanfield House, a new administrative office for Standard Life Assurance Company Tanfield House is close to the Water of Leith at Canonmills. It was built in 1991. |
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©2013 |
Stark Building Services Joinery |
This was a joinery business at Spylaw Street, Colinton - one of the few remaining industries still in business in Colinton when I visited the area in early-2013. |
 ©1992 to 1993 |
I visited Stevenson & Cheyne in the winters of 1991-92 and 1992-93. The company was then based in an old engineering works at Bonnington, Edinburgh, close to the Water of Leith. It was the last remaining large industrial company in an area that was once a hive of industry. Soon after my visit, Stevenson & Cheyne left Bonnington and moved to to Butlerfield Industrial Estate, Bonnyrigg, close to the Newtongrange Mining Museum, in Midlothian. |
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Read more: |
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T |
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1991 |
This quarry at Ravelrig, between Balerno and Ratho was still in business and busy when I visited it in 1991. The quarry at Ratho, nearby had closed down the previous year, following a breakdown of equipment there |
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U |
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1991 and 1992 |
United Wire Works claims to have origins dating back to 1825. It opened its factory at Granton Park Avenue, off West Granton Road, close to Granton Harbour, in 1925, using the former Madelvic Car Factory. It then built more factories in the surrounding area. The company is still at the same location (in 2008), and is still manufacturing wirecloth. |
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W |
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Waddell's Garage |
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1994 to 1996 |
George Waterston started to manufacture sealing wax in the Old Town of Edinburgh in 1752. The business later moved to Warriston, and continued with a small workforce in the 1990s. The business was de-merged in Jun 2003 and was sold outside the family in December 2003 |
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1991 to 1995 |
Whytock & Reid had large premises close to the Water of Leith near Dean Village, Edinburgh. They held a Royal Warrant for many generations. The cabinet making side of the business ran down gradually in the 2oth century. The company closed in 2004. |
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2006 |
For many years, William Waugh's scrap yard has occupied land between West Harbour Road and West Granton Road, close to Granton Square. This land is now part of 'Edinburgh Waterfront', a large area earmarked for development over the next fifteen years. So Waugh's Scrap Yard is likely to move out at some stage. |
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2. Background |
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Project began in 1991 My project to photograph people at work in Edinburgh began in 1991. I later extended it to include people at work in other parts of Scotland. When I began the Edinburgh project, I realised that I had already been taking a few photos of people at work around Britain, but not as part of any project. Here are some of them, taken on holiday in Somerset in 1985. |
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All Companies |
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