Recent Events
Oxford Wayzgoose — Saturday 2nd, November 2019
In Search of Emery Walker, a talk by Simon Loxley — Tuesday 29th, October 2019
Inside St Bride with Bob Richardson — Thursday 17th, October 2019
John Southward — Tuesday 17th, September 2019
E17 Art Trail — Saturday 3rd, June 2017
Wayzgoose 2017 - St Bride Foundation — Sunday 21st, May 2017
Archive Evening 2017—Printing and the Mind — Monday 24th, April 2017
BPS Open Day at Paekakariki Press — Sunday 27th, November 2016
Pekakariki Press held an Open Day on Sunday 27 November at its premises in Walthamstow. There were demonstrations of the Monotype Compostition Caster and the Ludlow. All were welcome and many London BPS members attended!Alan Kitching - A Life in Letterpress — Thursday 21st, April 2016
BPS Convention Print & Craft Show — Saturday 9th, April 2016
BPS Annual Convention, Bristol — Friday 8th, April 2016
Letterpress Print Fair — Saturday 13th, June 2015
Winter Open Studio — Sunday 23rd, November 2014
BPS Maidenhead - Open Day — Saturday 27th, September 2014
Frogmore Paper Mill — Sunday 21st, September 2014
On Sunday 21 September 2014, BPS London members joined with the Lincolnshire Branch for a tour of the Frogmore Paper Mill, hosted by Paul Woolley.
Frogmore Paper Mill is the world's oldest mechanised paper mill - the birthplace of paper's industrial revolution. Today it is still a working paper mill producing around 100 tonnes of specialist grade paper every year on historic paper machines.
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We had a guided tour of the paper-making facilities by Peter Balding, saw the small paper-making machine dating back to 1902 and then the larger machine made in 1895 which is currently out of use.
Jim Patterson of Two Rivers Paper gave us a demonstration of making paper by hand and described the current range of hand-made papers with decorative inclusions such as shredded banknotes! We then moved on to the exhibition of letterpress equipment with a commentary by Paul Woolley.
Hertfordshire Open Studios 2014 — Saturday 20th, September 2014
London Centre for Book Arts — Saturday 19th, July 2014
The BPS London branch met at the London Centre for Book Arts on a sweltering Saturday, for a tour and a cuppa with founder Simon Goode. Despite a small turnout (we blamed the heat, and the nearby music festival in Victoria Park) we had a good look around, being introduced to to space and facilities on offer at the Centre.
LCBA is an open-access studio, available to members of the public to join as members and have access to the range of bookbinding, letterpress and finishing equipment — including four cylinder proof presses, guillotine, foil blocking presses and a paper beater. We discussed type, the Curwen press, the Library at St Bride's, and Stephenson Blake.
Paekakariki Press — Saturday 14th, June 2014
A small group of BPS members gathered at Paekakariki Press in Walthamstow on Saturday and had a tour round the workshop.
There was much interest shown in the two newly installed Monotype casters: one Composition Caster and one Supercaster. As the meeting coincided with the E17 Art Trail open day, at times it got quite busy!
St Bride's Printing Library — Thursday 22nd, May 2014
On 22 May 2014, a group of London-based BPS members met for a tour of the St Bride’s Printing Library given by Bob Richardson, the Acting Secretary of the London Branch. There was an introduction to the history of the St Bride’s Foundation and a visit to the Passmore Edwards room (the old reading room) and the associated recreation of William Blades’ study with his collection of books — the Library’s first acquisition. Such treasures as Caxton’s Boethius and a Kelmscott Chaucer were shown followed by a visit to the main library stack where the group saw Eric Gill’s original drawings for Gill Sans and the vast collection of matrices and punches from the Caslon type foundry.
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Over tea and biscuits, the assembled members officially joined the London Branch whose membership had dwindled over recent years and William Rouse offered to take on the role of Branch Chairman and Matt McKenzie the role of Secretary.
In the small amount of time left, the newly invigorated London Branch had a quick look around the workshop and marvelled at the equipment ranging from an 18c wooden press, a Stanhope, Albion, Columbian and the inevitable Heidelberg Tiegel (which was produced from 1950 until 1985).
The good thing is that the group only saw a fraction of the collection, meaning that another visit is absolutely necessary and it is hoped that even more members will benefit from the excellent generosity and knowledge of the evening’s guide, Bob Richardson, whom we thank for giving up his evening to show the group around.