PUPILS from St Ronan’s Primary have played a pivotal part in a new exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of Robert Smail’s Printing Works. 

Titled Future/Past, the free exhibition will go on show to the public this week - from April 9 - within St Ronan’s Wells Visitor Centre, in Innerleithen.

The exhibition gives a unique insight into the history of the Printing Works over the past 150 years as told through an extensive archive of printed materials, personal records, belongings and old shop goods. 

The primary six pupils have also contributed to an impressive photography element - “Images of Old and New Innerleithen."

The display contrasts views of the town taken over a century ago by Robert Cowan Smail (the middle son of Robert Smail) and local photographer Thomas Hughes Milner Colledge, with modern day equivalents photographed by the school children.

Robert Smail’s Printing Works has been operating on the same site in Innerleithen for all those years and was run by three generations of the Smail family, before being taken over by the National Trust for Scotland in 1986. 

Relentless hoarding by the Smail family throughout their tenure led to the accumulation of a vast and unique archive of material.

This includes copies of every single item printed at Smail’s being retained in special bound volumes called Guardbooks - resulting in an exceptional catalogue of printed work from the 1870s to the present day.

The Printing Works now operates as a combined visitor attraction and is the longest continually operational commercial letterpress printers in Scotland. 

The Future/Past exhibition, curated by Rachel Mays, Senior Assistant at Robert Smail’s, brings together never before seen items from the Printing Works’ archives and collections.

Themed displays include personal family records and belongings, photographs, items sold in the original shop, and a section devoted to ephemera (the minor transient documents from everyday life) produced for the local community.

Amongst some of the rarest items on display will be Smail’s Peeblesshire Almanac, a publication from 1880 that was only discovered during a recent inventory project and books and photographs produced by Thomas Smail of Jedburgh, Robert’s older brother.

Rachel Mays said: “Through three generations, two world wars, the rise and fall of the textile industry and all the many changes in communication, Smail’s has survived. 

"When the property was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland in 1986, the conservation charity was astounded not only by the working Victorian equipment and presses, but by this vast and diverse archive piled on every shelf. 

"The exhibition shows some of our really special and interesting pieces."

The free exhibition runs from April 9 to October 31, Monday - Friday 10am-1pm and then 2pm-5pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm-5pm.

It is accompanied by a series of talks, workshops and outreach events. 

For more information on visit www.nts.org.uk/property/Robert-Smails-Printing-Works/Events.

The team also encourages visitors to view the Future/Past exhibition in conjunction with a tour of the Printing Works itself.

Robert Smail’s Printing Works and Gift Shop is open until 31 October, Monday, Friday and Saturday 11am-5pm and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Admission charges apply.