National Trust for Scotland

Members' Section

Talk  -  November 27, 2014

Edinburgh's Industrial Past

Please click on one of the twelve pages below

OR

 scroll down this page to read the brief background notes about 'Edinburgh's Industrial Past'.

 

1

Stone

2

Metal

3

Wood

4

Printing

5

Food

6

Drink

7

Transp.

8

Clocks

9

U'ground

10

Fire

11

Manuf.

12

Finance

13

Teaching

 Background Notes

(Printed copies of these notes were handed out at the Meeting)

Talk to National Trust for Scotland (Members' Centre)

27 November 2014

Edinburgh’s Industrial Past

Peter Stubbs      web site:  www.edinphoto.org.uk      email:  peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

1840 to 1940

The ‘Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directories' were published annually from the early 19th century until 1973  They include a wealth of detail about Edinburgh in earlier times, including Edinburgh’s industries.

They show the wide range of work carried out in Edinburgh, much of it for small family-run businesses.  The tables below show how the number of businesses in Edinburgh grew or shrank over the decades.

1.  Some trades gradually declined, then vanished, over the century:

 

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

Candlemakers

15

10

7

5

5

6

6

5

2

1

0

Miniature Painters

12

9

8

3

4

2

4

6

4

1

1

Straw & Leghorn Hat Makers

30

25

19

19

14

10

9

8

4

0

0

2.  Some trades changed, reflecting the changes in modes of transport:

 

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

Horse Dealers

9

3

7

12

19

19

14

18

11

3

0

Saddlers & Harness Makers

20

18

19

29

32

34

31

31

24

14

10

Van & Lorry Builders

0

0

0

0

0

26

19

16

10

6

4

3.  Some trades grew then declined over the century (and have declined further since 1940):

 

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

Artists

12

8

33

44

78

131

128

139

100

81

38

Boot & Shoe Makers

178

158

167

278

310

314

268

218

148

115

72

Clock and Watch Makers

33

40

44

80

111

136

132

131

81

49

31

Engravers & Lithograph Printers

49

70

74

83

113

119

116

103

69

36

25

Golf Club & Ball Manufacturers

1

0

0

3

4

4

21

30

29

15

7

Photographers

0

2

27

41

43

52

57

63

56

27

22


 

Mills on the Water of Leith

1961

Around 1961, The Geographical Association published ‘An Atlas of Edinburgh’.  It has maps showing the locations of some of the major businesses in Edinburgh.  It shows:

-    a fairly extensive railway network, including freight  lines to Granton Harbour, Leith Docks, Canonmills, Warriston and Gilmerton, and passenger lines to Balerno and South Suburban stations.

-    Edinburgh still had 2 flour mills, 9 biscuit works, 3 bakeries and 8 breweries, 28 printing works and 10 binderies, each employing over 12 people, several of them employing over 100.

-   In 1961, twenty mills and works were still in business along the course of the Water of Leith between Balerno and Leith Docks.  They were:

  Mill

  Location

  Activity at the mill in 1961

Balerno Bank

Balerno

Paper mill, using esparto grass from North Africa.

Kinauld

Currie

Tan Works, using pigskins from Scotland and Japan.

Kinleith

Currie

Paper mill, established at least 150 years ago.

Woodhall Paper Co.

Jun. Green

There has probably been a mill here since 1618.

Woodhall Grain Mills

Jun. Green

Animal feedingstuffs

Mossy Mill

Colinton

Paper mill, formerly a flax mill

West Mills

Colinton

Oatmeal mills for Porage Oats and infant feeds 

Redhall Mill

Colinton

Producing wood flour.

Saughton Leather Works

Saughton

Established mid-18th century, tans sheepskins

Coltbridge Mills

Roseburn

Paper processing works, formerly a flour mill

Bell’s Mills

Dean

Still powered by water wheels (and also by electricity in 1961). Milling had been continuous here since the 12th century.

Skinners & Wool

Dean

Wool store.  Formerly flour mills

Canonmills Cooperage

Canonmills

Corn mills were here in 12th century

Beaverbank Skin Works

Powderhall

Tannery, using sheepskins, goatskins and calfskins from Scotland and Indonesia.

Chancelot Flour Mills

Bonnington

Over 100 years old, and using flour from Canada, Australia, Russia and home-grown.

Skinners, Tanners, Wool

Bonnington

Established 200 years earlier.

Bonnington Mills

Bonnington

Producing animal feedingstuffs.

Bonnington Bridge

Bonnington

Paper Mills.

Junction Mills

Leith

Preparing oat meal and pot barley cake mixes

Quayside Mills

Leith

Produces animal feedingstuffs, 

Recent Photos

Around 1960s, most of Scotland was given Development Status, but not Edinburgh.  This gave an incentive to industries to set up outside Edinburgh, and many did.

Edinburgh retained a few large industries until late in the 20th century, but most of these have now closed, including  Monktonhall Colliery, North British Rubber Works, Caledonian Distillery, McEwan’s and Roseburn breweries and Portobello’s pottery  Other businesses, including the two banks listed below, have changed ownership.

Now, in the 21st century, finance and tourism are major employers in Edinburgh.

In 1990, I started to photograph ‘Edinburgh at Work’.  So far, I’ve visited over 200 companies.  This evening, I’ll be showing 265 photos taken at 42 of these companies. (See table below.)  Red type and yellow shading in this table indicates that the company is no longer in business in Edinburgh’.

 

Work

Company

Industry

Photos

STONE

Clark

Stonemasons

9 photos

David Lindsay

Stonemasons

4 photos

METAL

Lonsdale & Dutch

Lantern Makers

8 photos

Stevenson & Cheyne

Engineers

16 photos

United Wire Works

Wire Works

10 photos

WOOD

Whytock & Reid

Furniture Makers

10  photos

PRINTING

Speedspools

Monotype Printers

5 photos

Baker & Claremont

Linotype Printers

1 photo

FOOD

Rank Hovis: Caledonia Mill

Flour Mill

3 photos

Chancelot Mill

Flour Mill

2 photos

Burton’s Biscuits

Biscuits

6 photos

Croan’s

Kippers

4 photos

Newhaven Fishmarket

Fishmarket

6 photos

DRINK

Scottish & Newcastle

Brewery

5 photos

Caledonian

Brewery

6 photos

Crabbie’s

Green Ginger Wine

3 photos

North British Distillery

Distillery + Cooperage

10 photos

North British Distillery

Cooperage

7 photos

Drysdale

Tea + Coffee

3 photos

Brodie Hamilton Melrose

Tea + Coffee

2 photos

Brodies

Tea + Coffee

4 photos

TRANSPORT

Bruce Lindsay Waldie

Coal deliveries

2 photos

Forth Bridges

Railway + Road

14 photos

Leith Docks

Shipping

12 photos

Lothian Region Transport

Buses

1 photo

Scotmid

Milk–horse deliveries

3 photos

Scotmid

Coachworks

4 photos

CLOCKS

James Ritchie

Clocks & Watches

4 photos

James Ritchie

Clock winding

17 photos

UNDERGROUND

Lothian Region

Drainage Dept

2 photos

Monktonhall

Colliery

4 photos

FIRE

Lothian & Borders F.Brigade

Fire Brigade

20 photos

Central Demolition

Demolition

1 photo

MANUFACTURING

Carberry Candles

Candles

4 photos

Chapham Inveresk

Envelopes

5 photos

SAI

Fertiliser

3 photos

Craig & Rose

Paint manufacturers

3 photos

J Hewitt & Sons

Tannery

8 photos

FINANCE

Standard Life

Insurance + Investment

9 photos

Bank of Scotland

Banking

2 photos

Royal Bank of Scotland

Banking

5 photos

LOCAL: CRAMOND

George Jamieson

Taxidermist

12 photos

Peter Stubbs:     email: peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk      web site: www.edinphoto.org.uk        24 April 2013

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