16 Aug 2023

Caring for industrial collections, part 1: minding your Ps & Qs

Written by Alice Law, Bute Intern in Collections Care and Historic Interiors

Some letterpress type blocks, spelling out Ps & Qs with a right-pointing arrow beneath, are displayed against pale wooden boards.

Examples of type at Robert Smail’s Printing Works

The Trust looks after historical objects in a number of industrial properties that are still in use. In the first of this four-part series, we explore the challenges, opportunities and best practice involved in caring for these dynamic collections.

What do you think of when you think about industrial heritage? It’s probably slightly different for everyone: perhaps a scientific instrument, or a clock, or a whole factory? The industrial properties in the Trust’s care were places of work and still retain many pieces of the original functioning equipment, using the same skills and techniques to continue the legacy of the building. But this raises the question of how can we care for these collections while they are still in use?

When it comes to industrial heritage – the remains of technology and machinery – the traditional line of preventive conservation (measures that prevent, or reduce the risk of, damage) blurs, as the significance of an object may well lie with its function and associated machine processes. However, being in use will slowly erode the original component parts, so what do we preserve and how do we conserve it?

As the Bute Intern and a newly qualified conservator, I am privileged to be involved in caring for the Trust’s places and collections. One of my current projects is managing the preventive conservation measures at Robert Smail’s Printing Works. This work allows me to see the challenges that arise at places such as these, still actively running as intended in the past.

Items used for inking up typeset letters are arranged on a wooden table top. There are several metal formes and a large cloth-wrapped damper tool.

Rows of wooden/metal letters, used in letterpress printing, are neatly stacked across wooden trays and shelves.

Conservation is about managing change. Change in the condition of collections is inevitable, but the rate of change can be reduced with preventive conservation measures. Conservators at the Trust monitor and oversee preventive practices to reduce degradation to objects. Physical damage is also a constant risk across all collections. Many items in the Trust’s care are partly protected from damage by no longer being used – beds are no longer slept in, chairs no longer sat on, crockery and cutlery no longer eaten from – but they are still enjoyed in context as part of a decorative scheme. At Robert Smail’s Printing Works, this form of protection through limited handling is not possible: five mechanical printing presses, three manual presses and all their associated tools are still used for public tours and to create the products sold in the gift shop.

A man and a woman stand at a work bench in a workshop, operating an old manual printing press. The press has a large metal eagle sculpture on top of it for weight.

Piles of colourful printed paper with letterpress designs or type, formed from offcuts in the printing process.

Robert Smail’s Printing Works is the oldest working letterpress printers in the UK. Opening its doors in 1866, it was in operation for 120 years, producing newspapers, stationery and many other commissions, before it came into the Trust’s care in 1986. Today, it remains a working letterpress printers, with a resident printer, compositor and printing apprentice. They produce commissions using the presses and type that are part of the collection, some of which date back to the 19th century. Visitors can also take away a printed souvenir that they have set themselves or can attend day-courses to create pieces using the heritage equipment.

Quote

“How amazing it is to see the machines working, not static, and be able to use the original type set.”

Visitor to a Smail’s workshop

The Wharfedale printing press in action

There are many different aspects of conservation practice to consider. In my university training, my experience has been more lab-focused, and the elements of preventive conservation have been considered more individually. Outside of the university lab at Trust properties, and specifically at Robert Smail’s, these factors are more interconnected – they are also made more complex by the addition of working machines.

The usual dusting carried out at properties, as well as the more passive cleaning methods, have additional significance at industrial properties where the equipment is in regular use. At Smail’s, the inking-up of collection items like rollers and type with oil-based inks means that they need to be regularly cleaned with solvents. The levels of dust produced by additional actions, like the cutting of paper, also accumulates on objects at a higher rate here than in a static collection, where dust builds up through general movement through the room.

A small white data logging monitor stands on an old wooden table in an old office. An old metal till is next to it. The shelves above are filled with grey archive storage boxes. Boxes are stacked on the floor beneath the desk.

A letterpress typeset tray with letters inserted into a metal frame.

Many materials, both modern and historical, are sensitive to light exposure, which causes fading, discolouration and embrittlement over time. Heritage objects do suffer from light damage, but properties often control this as much as possible by maintaining lower light levels in rooms. At Smail’s, the staff need to work with bright task lighting when operating the machines and setting type. Although this may not affect the metal machines, the more sensitive paper items are at greater risk.

As with any modern machinery, the printing presses require regular maintenance. They are robust objects, but they have parts that will wear naturally with use. Eventually, some parts will need replacing, meaning that something will need to be sacrificed: either the original object in its physical entirety, or the experience of it working. This is why we monitor and record any changes we make to the machines. At Robert Smail’s we rely heavily on the knowledge and experience of the skilled printers, whose understanding of the sound and feel of the presses allows them to make adjustments and repairs.

Rows of plan chests run along the edge of a studio workshop, with large slanted skylight windows above.

Detail of machine parts and cogs in a mechanical printing press. The cogs are covered in a thick layer of grease.

Close-up of the Wharfedale mechanism

Robert Smail’s Printing Works offers a unique glimpse into the practice of letterpress printing, largely by keeping the traditional skill alive in a way that would not be possible without the working machinery. While places like this offer challenges to conservators, they also offer a tantalising peek into a way of life that seems unfamiliar in our modern world. Keeping these practices going offers education and enjoyment to the visitors and staff who pass through Smail’s doors. The printing presses, as well as the skills and craftsmanship of the compositor and the printers, are important elements of Scotland’s industrial heritage. Together, they keep each other alive in this busy and unique place.