8 October

The first time we opened the doors, it was raining inside the hall. The roof leaked in forty places, and under the largest hole stood a press from 1912, covered with a tarpaulin someone had tied down carefully thirty years before.

The roof first

Members and neighbours raised the money for the roof, three years running. The trusses stayed; we replaced only what could no longer be mended.

What we learned

• Old windows can be mended; it takes a patient joiner.
• A press without oil for years still runs once the oil goes back in.
• Retired printers remember everything: where each case stood, and why.

The press runs again

The first print in thirty years was a single line: the name of the street. Today the press prints our exhibition invitations and membership cards.