Skip to content

Bid to save one of Scotland's last print shops

Elizabeth Quigley
BBC Scotland News
BBC Ron Stephen, a man with a grey beard and hair, leans on some of the shop's printing equipment. He wears a a navy jumper and burgundy checked shirt.BBC
Ron Stephen worked as a printer from the age of 15 and wants to bring the print shop back to life

The printing press revolutionised society.

And that's why local campaigners are so keen to save a little piece of history tucked away on a street in Blairgowrie.

The Perthshire town is home to one of the last print shops in Scotland, but you could easily walk past it without realising what is hidden inside.

Since 1880, the B-listed print shop produced everything from leaflets and letterheads to pamphlets and newspapers.

A close-up of the printing press shows a ream of cream paper with closely-packed text in the process of being printed onto it
A shot of a large metal name plate on a printing machine with the manufacturers name - Heidelberg
The printer has produced a range of printed materials since 1880
The print shop contains historic pieces of machinery, including pieces made by 175-year-old German company Heidelberg

Formerly Blairgowrie Printers, it stopped printing commercially when the then owner retired in 2007 but the building has been left just as it was, complete with all the original cases and fittings.

Now there are plans for a new lease of life in the 21st century.

Ron Stephen started work as a printer in nearby Coupar Angus when he was just 15.

He's now 79 and is keen to help bring this print shop in Blairgowrie back to life again.

"It's a worthwhile thing to do," he said.

"I started in 1960 in Coupar Angus as an apprentice and I ended up being machine room foreman when I left the trade in 1984."

Laura Gardiner, a blonde lady, stands in front of a shelving unit containing letter rods used in the setting of the printing press. She wears a striped top and navy gilet.
Laura Gardiner aims to get the press up and running again to teach people about the history of printing

The individual letters are all stacked up around the room as if the original workers had just stepped outside. The printing machines all stand silent.

Laura Gardiner now owns the building and is a trustee of the Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust.

"The hope is to get it up and running again, to offer it to the public to come and have a go and to learn about the history of printing and the building itself," she explains as she looks around.

"We hope to provide art space on the walls, have a multifunctional area, and maybe a bit of music so people can come in and have a look."

Graeme Berry stands in front of a printing press - he has light red hair and beard and wears an olive green t-shirt.
Graeme Berry says a lot of the language we use today is rooted in traditional printing methods

This kind of working might be long gone, but printing is still very much part of the language we use today.

Graeme Berry is the chair of Our Heritage Blairgowrie and Rattray.

"We're a local history body looking to rebuild the printworks and give it a new lease of life at the heart of the community where it's been for hundreds of years."

He points to the fittings, explaining: "A lot of the terms we still use today like uppercase and lowercase have their roots in this and many of the terms we use in digital media now have their roots in all this.

"We want to give people a way of exploring that and relating that to what they use in their daily life now."