Wigan Album
Printers
12 Comments
Photo: Colin Harlow
Item #: 20684
i remember they printed the wigan standard in king st
never heard of that paper!
Do you mean Wigan Examiner?
The only newspaper I know of was the Wigan Examiner they were based at 62 King Street and was founded by the Renick family in 1852. The paper ran until June 1961.
That takes me back to my family. My grandfather had a printing business in Liverpool and all his sons (6 of them) worked there.
The machine on the right is a Heidelberg - they made a brilliant noise which I couldn't even try to write :)
My Dad was a "comper" (compositer) - he set the type into "frames" ready for them to be put in the Heidelberg where the machine picked up each sheet of paper, while at the same time an ink roller rolled down the frame. Everything would then close up, with the paper pressed against the inked frame. As a last stage the paper would then be lifted again by suction on a rotating arm and stacked. Each sheet took about a second to print.
You've brought it all back to me :)
Craftsmen George, a real family business.
sorry examiner,my memory not what it used to be.the examiner used to lend the observer the use of there press i am told,
Correct Seff, that was in 1959. The press was playing up on the folder an on-going problem with the machine then 90 years old and one of the oldest still running in England. Spare parts didn't come all that easy, especially on press nights, so arrangements were made with the Examiner to print that weeks edition of the Observer on their press. Both papers at that time were identical with the same format.
There was also a short lived newspaper in the 1890s - 'The Wigan Star & Advertiser'
The press at the rear is being operated by Bert Hartley and is a Heidelberg Cylinder. The machine in the foreground is a Heidelberg 12x18 Platen which was operated by myself until the commercial department was closed when we moved to Wood Street
I just came across this picture and it's my grandad!
Yes your right about both Heidelberg Machines, I repaired them in the UK now in NZ retried but do sometimes still repair them.