A Visit to Gomer Press
The Lord's Incarnation is central to our faith as Orthodox Christians. This cosmic event penetrates every aspect of our lives and even our work as a press. It is therefore natural that we would seek out ways to experience the "incarnation" of our ideas in the physical reality of the printed page. Having established a new and promising relationship with Gomer Press over the course of several emails and file exchanges, I was anxious to meet the people behind those emails and to see in the flesh the machines that transformed those digital files into such beautiful incarnations as books. Thus, at the end of August, I boarded a plane bound for London.
Gomer Press is situated in a remote part of West Wales. Therefore, it was no easy matter to make my way from Heathrow Airport to the little village of Llandysul. Yet, for me, there is no more exciting adventure than travel; the joy is in the journey. For this reason, I have made it a rule to use public transportation. Aside from the fact that it is generally much cheaper, I enjoy taking public transit because it is an opportunity to be "incarnational" with the people of a particular place. In a car, the traveler is largely isolated from others. In a train or a bus, there is opportunity to meet others, to listen to their conversations, and occasionally to share frustrations as a collective body. There is a certain mystery, just short of sacramental, in making a journey with a large group of people in which all are in the "same boat," so to speak.
Mostly, I made my way to Gomer Press by train: the Elizabeth Line to Paddington, then a three hour trip on the Great Western Railway to Swansea on the southern coast of Wales, then a transfer to Transport for Wales along the coast to Carmarthen with its 12th century castle. Finally, I boarded the 460 bus line to Cardigan, my destination for the night. After traveling for nearly 24 hours, it is needless to say that I was relieved to check into the Angel Inn, a block away from this lovely, 11th century church:
Saint Mary's, once a monastery abbey, now an active parish.
Cardigan. Up the street from the Angel Inn.
Waking quite rested, I took the 460 bus to Newcastle, then transferred to the BB3. The bus driver was kind enough to drop me off directly across from Gomer Press, whose modern facility lies a mile or so outside the quaint, medieval village of Llandysul. I was greeted at the door by our customer representative, Gareth, and we spent a pleasant morning together going over material options, current and future projects, and the general vision of STM Press for high quality books. This conversation occurred in Gomer's conference room whose parameter was completely lined, floor to ceiling, with samples of Gomer's work. Thumbing through the hundreds of large art museum and photography books, the edge printed and slipcased fantasy novels, and the leatherbound, limited editions of rare texts, I knew that we had found a unique partner in Gomer Press for achieving our vision.
Gareth next led me on a tour of their modern, state-of-the-art facility. I met the person in charge of pre-press who receives my digital files and prepares the printing plates. I watched the smyth-sewing machine binding sheets of paper into durable signatures to be bound, and met several press operators. I was introduced to Mr Lewis, who was working at a machine, but who I later learned was the owner and the great-great grandson of the original Mr Lewis who printed Gomerian's first book in 1894.
One of the original Gomer printing presses
As we walked through the shop, I expressed to Gareth my satisfaction with the quality of the foil stamping on our Great Vespers. He responded, "Oh, that's because Tony is a real craftman. Behind all these machines are people, and the machine is only as good as the operator." Gareth then introduced me to Tony, whose hands were a bit greasy. Tony show me the brass stamp that had been custom molded for the book on which he was working. Tony commented that he used brass as it could stand up to more pressure than the typical magnesium, thus creating a deeper imprint on the book's cover. Thoroughly pleased with this "incarnational" moment, we passed through the rest of the shop, saw where the exterior casings were being assembled and bound to the interior signatures, and watched as books were boxed up for shipping.
The Church of Saint Tysul (a 5th century Welsh saint) in Llandysul
The morning had flown by and it was already time to head back to Cardigan. However, I took a few moments to survey the little village, stopping at its beautiful and ancient church of St Tysul. Nearby, the River Teifi rushed along, whose stream bounds over small waterfalls and rapids, past castles, through fields and forests, until it finally meets the estuary in Cardigan where the tide stems its flow and gently leads it out into the sea.
The River Teifi from Cardigan Bridge.
The Sea at Poppit Sands. A medieval fish trap lies submerged here, built by monks of the nearby Abbey of Saint Dogmael.
In our next update from the press, I am happy to share with you some exciting news for our European customers. From Cardigan, I made my way to Chester to meet with a potential distributor, who we hope will make our books available in the UK and Europe for much lower shipping prices. More will follow.
Best regards,
In Christ,
Priest Mikel Hill, managing editor