Robert Smail’s Printing Works accessibility guide

Visitor experience

Visiting with young children

• The tour is suitable for most ages, but very young children will need supervision by a responsible adult.
• If a 90-minute tour is too long for them, we can usually add families on to the tour a little later, with a focus on the hands-on element and the moving machinery. Please let us know in advance if you would like this and we will do our best to help you.
• Buggies cannot be taken around the printworks but we can store them for you in the shop or the vestibule.

Visiting with dogs

• The printing works is a historical industrial environment and is therefore not suitable for dogs, except trained assistance dogs.
• All well-behaved dogs are welcome in the gift shop.
• If you have a dog allergy, please advise a member of staff as soon as possible.

Visual

• All parts of the tour have good lighting.
• If you wear glasses, remember to bring them with you for the hands-on part of the tour.
• Some special events (eg concerts and performances) may use lower levels of lighting and simulated candlelight for dramatic effect. We can provide torches to anyone who requires higher light levels in order to move about safely.
• There are no mannequins, actors or costumed people on the tour. All the people you will meet are real.

Sensory

• There is no other activity in the printworks except printing jobs on the Heidelberg or guillotine work, which can cause moderate background noise in the Caseroom and paper store when the tour is in progress.
• We may run two tours in tandem when visitor demand is high. We stagger these so that the groups do not disturb each other.
• For safety reasons, visitors need to stay within the fenced areas in the Caseroom and machine room, but there are safe exits for anyone who needs to go back outside.
• The printing presses are loud, with electric motors, hydraulics and mechanical parts. They are each demonstrated for a few minutes at a time, and won’t be switched on suddenly or without warning.
• The water wheel in the paper store is also operated by a loud electric motor, run for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time.
• We use various inks to print, oils to lubricate the printing presses, and a minimal amount of solvents to clean the type. Most people like this smell as part of the visitor experience, but some find it overwhelming. Please let your guide know if you need help or would like to leave the space.
• The Caseroom can reach over 20C on sunny days.

Getting around the printing works

Stairs and steps

• There is level access to the gift shop (both the retail space and main till/ticket desk). The doorway is 92cm wide, and the tiled surface can be slippery – please take care in wet weather.
• There is 1 step up into the printworks building of about 5cm in height. Double doors (140cm clear width) lead into the building. We have a removable ramp for wheelchair or mobility vehicle users. Please give us as much prior notice and detail as possible so we may best help you. The courtyard is cobbled, with paved areas – please take care in wet weather.
• The Caseroom is reached by a modern staircase with a linoleum floor, of 17 steps total over 2.5 flights. There is no alternative access to the Caseroom. With some advance notice, we can usually bring down some type to the paper store (the first room of the printworks) and help people with mobility issues to get the experience of hand-setting their own name there.
• There are 2 steps down leaving the office/shop building. These can be avoided via an alleyway to the right of the shop front. Staff will be able to direct you. The paved area is 60cm wide, and the overall width of the vennel is approx 1m. Cobbles and paving slabs can get very slippery when wet – we clean these regularly but please take care.

The tour

The tour presents the history of Robert Smail’s Printing Works from its foundation in 1866, through the 3 generations of Smails who owned and ran it, until 1986 when it passed into the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Visitors are guided by a member of the printworks staff, who will be happy to provide assistance and to answer questions. Please just ask!

The tour is in 3 distinct parts and lasts approx 90 minutes.

Welcome (Smail’s Stationer’s Shop) and Robert Smail’s office

The tour starts with a welcome and introduction in the original Smail’s Stationer’s, which is also the ticket office and checking-in till. A member of the Smail’s team will then lead the tour into Robert Smail’s office.
The doorway is 75cm wide; the floor surface is linoleum.
Here, visitors can see the working office environment as it would have been around 1900 and will hear about the amazing social history archive left behind by a family that never threw anything away.

The mill lade & water wheel, paper store and Caseroom

Visitors cross the paved and cobbled courtyard where you will see the mill lade that once powered all the industry in Innerleithen. You will then enter the paper store and see the water wheel in action, before climbing the modern staircase to the Caseroom on the upper floor.
The Compositor will explain about the process of hand-setting type, and visitors will get a chance to try it for themselves.

The machine room

You will then head to the machine room. The door between the machine room and paper store is 120cm wide. The gently sloping floor surface is wooden planks.
Visitors will stay in the designated safe area while one of our printers will talk about the history and work of each printing press, and then start it up to demonstrate it in action.
This is a very exciting finale to the tour.

Please exit through the gift shop at the end.

We sell cards, posters, letter-writing sets, invitations, certificates and signs – all printed here at Smail’s. We also take commissions for bespoke printing jobs from anyone who loves letterpress like we do. We are proud to still be a jobbing printers!

Please email us at smails@nts.org.uk or speak to someone in the shop if you would like to know more.

Guide updated: July 2024