That time before email

We recently visited Robert Smail's Printing Works.  It was a Victorian era letter printing press that has been preserved and is still in operation today (by the National Trust). 

The firm was established in 1866, carrying out print jobs for the local community as well as operating a stationer's shop, and between 1893 and 1916 published a weekly newspaper.   The Smail’s were not big on throwing anything away, so they still have a print or two of nearly everything they printed – wedding announcements, market flyers, newspapers, even and advertisement to buy a telephone for your own home (what a luxury!).

The press and shop remained in the ownership of the Smail family, who made little effort to keep up with twentieth-century advances in technology, but was faithfully run by the third-generation owner Cowan Smail until he retired in1986.  It was sold to the National Trust on the condition that it remains a working press.  The Trust opened it to the public in 1990 and does tours between printing brochures, flyers, and posters for National Trust functions (and the gift shop).

We were allowed as part of our tour to set a line of text and run a printer to make a bookmark.  The guide asked us to fill the composing stick with our name, backwards & upside down so it would print properly.  You would think that two reasonably well educated people could do this in a flash, but man did we struggle!   I would not have made it in the 1900’s.  Movable type is hard.

Yes the 10 year old on the tour finished before we did – in fairness he had been there before…we’ll get him next time!  After we got that sorted, the guide inked up our text and pulled the lever to apply the pressure and print up our bookmarks.

Once we had mastered typesetting, we move to the machine room with the presses.  The presses still in operation include a hand-fed pedal-operated platen press, a large belt-driven Wharfedale Reliance print machine bought in the 1870s which was originally powered by belt drive from the water wheel to the side of the plant, and an automated Heidelberg Platen bought in 1952.

A printer demonstrated the operation of the machines.  I decided I wouldn’t have any fingers left if I worked there.  Just about everything takes split second timing to feed the paper properly and get you back out of the way before the machine closes up again.

We thought a lot about Grandpa Powell while we were touring the factory – being near newspapers always makes us think of you!