Over the past few months, something very exciting has been happening at Leeds Print Workshop…
With the help of letterpress wizard Nick Loaring (of The Print Project, Shipley), we’ve been busy transforming our growing pile of letterpress treasures into a fully functioning, beautifully organised, and slightly magical new space in the print workshop: Letterpress Alley.
So, what’s changed?
All the type now lives where it should
Wood type and metal type have been lovingly sorted, reunited with missing letters, labelled, and rehoused into proper cases. Yes! That means no more mystery letters hiding in the wrong drawers.
Several cases now proudly say “Grot & Bore”, which is both educational and amusing!)
Furniture & essential bits and bobs
Our furniture has been trimmed to accurate sizes, labelled properly, and now actually fits nicely together in a furniture rack (a minor miracle). The galley rack is now home to all the essential bits and bobs including quoins, keys, spacing gauges, ornaments, tweezers, and some very tiny metal type that exists purely to intimidate the brave.
Presses back in action
Our three Adanas have been cleaned and serviced, the Lino-O-Scribe refreshed, and the Stephenson Blake proofing press has had a full glow-up — stripped down, de-rusted, reassembled, and fitted with new locking components so it’s ready for precise, satisfying printing once again.
A space that actually works
Letterpress Alley is now spacious, logical, easy to navigate and flexible enough to double as extra workspace when needed.
It’s a space designed not just for letterpress buffs, but for curious beginners, members, tutors, and workshop participants alike.
Why does this matter?
Letterpress is officially classed as an endangered craft, and Leeds has a rich printing heritage. This project helps us protect that history, not by putting it behind glass, but by keeping it alive, inked up, and in use.
Huge thanks to Nick Loaring for his care, patience, humour, and encyclopaedic knowledge and to The Radcliffe Trust for making this transformation possible with funding.
If you haven’t explored Letterpress Alley yet, come and say hello.
