Photographs by Peter Stubbs - Londsale & Dutch - Tinsmith

Lonsdale & Dutch

Tinsmiths - Lantern Makers

Howe Street, Edinburgh New Town

The Workshop

The small tinsmiths' workshop of Lonsdale & Dutch can be found in the heart of the New Town of Edinburgh, in a cellar off Howe Street, just round the corner from Great King Street, the home of Edinburgh Photographic Society (EPS)

When I first visited the Lonsdale & Dutch workshop in 1991, the only occupants were Arthur Dutch, tinsmith and also a keen bagpiper, and his large black dog.

The workshop looked to me like a scene from the 1920s, rather than the 1990s. Arthur had worked there for 40 years. He thought he might retire in about five years' time. (I last met him at his workshop in 1994. His workshop was still operating now [2004] but Arthur had retired.)

The premises had character. Many years ago the walls had been whitewashed and his daughters had fixed old tools around the walls.

History

Arthur Dutch is now the only worker on the premises. In the 1960s, he employed twelve men, much of their work being metalwork repairs for motor cars.

Arthur's father had worked for Moir & Baxter's garage, about a mile away at Comely Bank. His grandfather had first worked for a large tinsmith nearby, then moved to the present workshop at Howe Street.

Arthur explained that there was no shortage of lantern work to be tackled. He was making lanterns to order, then selling for about £95 each, and had no time to make any for stock. He told me that he only took on work that he enjoyed doing, and that he liked people who knew what they wanted.