AN old-established Bury printing company, which can trace its roots back to 1760, has posted its own obituary notice.

W. H. Winterburn, which fiercely guarded the old but traditional methods of printing, has finally closed its doors.

But it leaves behind an industrial legacy probably unequalled anywhere else in the town.

For the company's premises in South Back Rock are a veritable treasure trove and a throwback to a long-forgotten but cherished era when letterpress printing was king.

Old booklets, posters, printing inks, typefaces and machines chronicle the history of the business which steadfastly refused to embrace the offset or computer technology so much in vogue today.

The Winterburn name survived almost to the new millennium, although its connection with the business was virtually severed in the 1940s.

For many years, the firm has been run by Mr Harold Harrison (88), and his 53-year-old son David.

It was David who persuaded a customer to research the history of the printing business.

"He found it went back to 1760 when it was known as Thomas Crompton and Company," disclosed David.

"They had a printing business which used to print the Bury Guardian and the East Lancashire Echo." More than a century later the two brothers, who were then running Crompton's, apparently had a fall-out.

And their business, which was based near Bury Parish Church, ultimately folded. The newspaper printing was eventually taken over by the Bury Times.

The remainder of Crompton's work went to another local printer, Mr William Winterburn who originally traded from premises at Bolton Street-Cooper Street, Bury.

David Harrison added: "Later, he took out a 100-year lease on our present building, which ran out five years ago.

"My father joined Winterburn's in the 1920s and worked as office manager. William died in the 1930s and the company was then kept on by his wife."

However, when she gave up the business in the 1940s, David's father then took over the running of W. H. Winterburn which became a limited company 17 years ago.

"The bulk of our work in years gone by was the manufacture of ledgers and we also used to sell nibs, ink, pen holders and copying ink," added David.

"We also had a pen ruling machine which actually ruled blue and red lines on the ledgers, many of which were bound in leather."

In its heyday, Winterburn's made and supplied ledgers to many Bury accountants, solicitors and other book keeping outlets.

The company has always been involved in letterpress printing, harnessing 300 metal type cases of all fonts and sizes which were hand set.

David is proud that the business stayed true to the traditional methods of printing while other companies subsequently embraced more up-to-date technology.

"We haven't had a computer in this place," he said. "The nearest thing to one is my calculator.

"When someone heard we were closing, he said to me 'oh, you still print by that old-fashioned offset litho'. "But I told him we hadn't even progressed to that and that we were still involved with the very ancient letterpress."

David went on: "I've always been a letterpress printer and compositor. It's been my one and only job since I joined here at 15 on the Monday after leaving school the previous Friday."

The premises themselves have a distinct Dickensian feel and flavour, embracing wooden floors and stairs which have changed little, if at all, during the past century.

In the book binding section is a "wall of fame" where workers used to paste newspaper cuttings and photographs against a wooden frame.

Many of these date back to the 1920s as do fascinating samples of Winterburn's work, including booklets and posters.

Although printing techniques remained unchanged, the company's products did move with the times.

Ledgers eventually gave way to business letter heads and cards and latterly Christmas cards and wedding stationery.

Prior to the closure, the four-strong staff had been whittled down to just David and his dad.

"Even although he's 88, my dad still came in to work to do the wages book."

Commenting on the sad closure, David explained: "This is still a sound business. But the main reason is because of a downturn in letterpress printing.

"A lot of the larger companies we used to have big accounts with amalgamated with other firms and they took over our business."

Mr Harold Harrison, who will finally take a well-earned retirement after more than 70 years in the printing trade, lamented: "It's a pity to see the business go, but it had to happen.

"Coming here was like going home. I enjoyed it so much."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.