By: dermot kavanagh

dermot kavanagh — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:47:03 +0000

This reminds me of another trade that has vanished from the area and was carried out behind monstrous walls in a workplace where robots were co-workers with six hundred printers. Last year the printing presses at News International’s Wapping plant stopped, “Sun sets on Wapping” was a popular headline, as production moved outside of London. “Fortress Wapping” sits behind a continuous grade 1 listed wall that runs the length of Pennington Street. During the Napoleonic Wars the stores underneath the ‘fortress’ were used as a prison for captured French soldiers and a ghost is said to haunt the current plant.
Inside the great printing hall small motorised robots would ferry giant rolls of newsprint to the waiting presses, blindly blinking and beeping their way around the floor like 20th century android dockers.Once on the presses a human hand would smooth out each roll while overhead a network of copper pipes squirted out steam every few seconds to keep the air moist enough to prevent the paper from tearing or creasing.
The printers, robots and presses departed in 2008 and now the hall stands empty, but full of atmosphere, inhabited by spirits both human and mechanical.

By: maggie

maggie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:51:49 +0000

Great story, and thank you so much for the link to Pathe! I am going to have hours of enjoyment trolling through that archive!!

Comments on: Piss-up at the brewery!

By: dermot kavanagh

By: maggie