A family-owned printing press in Govan was ‘honoured’ by a visit from Nicola Sturgeon as they make a bid to revive the historic trade.

Glasgow Press, a traditional printworks, invited the First Minister to experience the trade by making prints with three different methods.

For many years Glasgow Press has been collecting printing presses like the Heidelberg and Vandercook presses, along with wood and metal type.

Glasgow Times:

Glasgow Times:

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Lorna Hale, who runs Glasgow Press with her family, said: “Letterpress printing is on the red list for endangered crafts and we’re quite keen to try and keep it alive.

“There aren’t any college courses for anyone that want to be a letterpress printer as far as we know, so just by opening up and trying to make things more accessible, by getting people in for courses or introducing children into this method of printing, we are trying to keep this trade going a bit longer.”

Lorna’s father, Dan Clark, started off as a message boy at the Govan Press in the 1940s before opening the family business around 1962 after completing his apprenticeship.

The family is trying to highlight Glasgow’s print heritage after noticing the art disappearing in the 1990s during the digital printing boom.

Lorna said: “We hope that [Sturgeon’s visit] means more prominence for the craft, just to make it more accessible to people, and help, especially the younger generation, just to realise how much work goes into the written word.

“It was revolutionary when type was invented, back in the 1400s, it changed the world.

“We still think it's worth exploring that, and it’s a fantastic way of getting your ideas out there or making protests.

“Knowledge is power and doing that through print is really important.”

Glasgow Times:

Glasgow Times:

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She added: “Nicola Sturgeon’s visit was an honour. It was really nice to meet Nicola.

“I hadn’t met her before, so for her to come in and just be so engaging with the craft, I think will help promote the craft and help people to appreciate the work that goes into it.

The FM responded: “It was lovely to visit Glasgow Press, a great local business I'm proud to have in my constituency.

“They’re doing such a vital job as one of the last places in Glasgow keeping this traditional skill alive and it was a real pleasure to get to try out some printing for myself.

“Traditional printing is an endangered craft, and we need to do everything possible to ensure these skills are not forgotten by future generations.”

Glasgow Press will be announcing courses soon on social media for anyone that wants to get hands-on with the classic trade at the printworks.