The tannery was known as the ‘skinyard’ and the tanners as ‘skinners’. The skinyard is in front of the taller of the two chimneys below, with part of the Reid & Taylor woollen mill in the background and the suspension footbridge in the foreground.
Tanning involves the treatment of raw animal hides to turn them into leather. The two main processes are vegetable tanning and chrome tanning, with the latter now greatly exceeding the volume of the former original method.
Langholm’s tannery was owned and run by Charles Paisley and two of his sons.
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