Aberdare Printing History

Linocut mast-heads and block type

 

Alongside the actual refurbishment of some of the buildings in Aberdare town centre, the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is celebrating the culture of the town through raising awareness of its history. One such area is the rich printing heritage of Aberdare especially in the mid to late nineteenth century. This was a time of great change not only in the developing technologies of the industrial revolution but also in the areas of religion,  politics and  social structures. Aberdare newspapers played an important role in this change as their readership included much of south and mid Wales.

As part of the THI programme, Lucy is working with a class in a local primary school to develop an art led project based around printmaking promoting Aberdare's printing heritage. I am supporting her by producing a number of educational aids including copies of old newspaper mastheads (made from lino) and large block type. The idea of the type is to show how letterpress was compiled before the days of computers, although these letters are also large enough to be used as stampers.

Once the work with the childeren is completed it will form part of an exhibition at Cynon Valley Museum in half term week.