JERICHO ECHO ARTICLE

From printing press to ornamental pool

The end of a life-long hobby

March 2001

The retirement of 81-year-old Bill Crowther in February, and the sale of his letterpress printing workshop in Worcester Place, sees the closure of another of Jericho's long-established businesses - as well as a controversy over what happens next. Bill was a well-known printer of stationery and other items to local businesses and university departments. Born in Canal Street in 1920 he went to St Barnabas School. Originally apprenticed as a bookbinder, he only started printing as a hobby. He began in a shed at 35 Canal Street in 1948 with a small hand press to print match cards for his table tennis club. After he was married in 1953 he bought a house in 62 Great Clarendon Street, using the machine in his garage until a neighbour complained. By 1966, however, printing had become a full-time business, with a larger press above four lock-up garages at the bottom of Great Clarendon Street (now two houses). Finally in 1972 he moved into the building in Worcester Place. The building has an interesting shape with archways that suggest it was originally a stable. It seems strange that Worcester, which already owns the now-closed garage premises across the street did not buy it to extend their residential block. Bill says he always assumed they would outbid anybody, but they didn't. Instead the building has been bought by an architect who plans to raise it by an extra storey to build a three-bedroom house with multiple bathrooms and an ornamental indoor pool. This has drawn objections from neighbours worried, among other things, about parking and the loss of light in their gardens, and his first planning application has been refused.

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