Stead McAlpin, Print Works, Cummersdale

Stead McAlpin, Cummersdale

This week 30th January,  Ros Downing was due to visit us and give us a talk on the history of Stead McAlpin printworks in Cummersdale but unfortunately had to cancel due to illness.

Although not in as much detail as Ros could have told us, we looked at the history of Stead McAlpin who have had a factory at Cummersdale since 1835 and is the only surviving print works in Carlisle and the most versatile print maker in the UK, using rotary, flatbed and digital printmaking.

We talked about what life would have been like as a print worker in the 1800s.  The factory would have been unheated, the only light coming from candles stuck into blocks of wood hanging from the roof.  Many bleaching and dyeing processes involved harsh chemicals and unpleasant substances - lime and dung for instance.  Working conditions would have been harsh for unskilled workers and a long apprenticeship would have to be served to become a printer, who were the elite of the workforce.

Children again worked in the print works as like the Mill children, they would have been cheap to employ.

 The Carlisle Archive has a large register containing details of young children as young as eight (same as Year 4) who were medically examined to certify they were fit to work daily in the factory.

Children Employment Certificates 1862 - 1871 

A certificate read...

 'Print Works Regulations 

Certificate of Age for a child to be employed in the Print Works of Stead, McAlpin & Co. at Cummersdale Nr. Carlisle

I Elleray Armstrong duly appointed Certifying Surgeon do certify that ..........Child's name..
of .....Parents' names....residing at High Cummersdale has been personally examined by me this
........date  1862 and said child has the ordinary strength and appearance of a child of at least eight years of age and I believe the real age of said child to be at least eight years and that said child is not incapacitated by disease or bodily infirmity from working daily in the above named Print Wortks for the time allowed.

Signed..................................by this Act'




We then looked at the first printing technique of block printing and what this was.

printing with carved wooden block

Black printing in the 1950s at Stead McAlpin

We then focused on rotary printing and how printing was mechanised to meet with demand and changing technology.

We learned that individual rollers were used for different colours and each printed a colour and part of the pattern on the fabric.  Stead McAlpin's rotary printers can print up to 24 colours.  We then watched a short video of this process.

Rotary printing machine at Stead McAlpin

 Technology has now advanced and includes digital printing machines at the factory today.

Extract from The Gazette Anniversary Edition celebrating 150 years - 1835 to 1985 - giving examples of fabrics from the past.

We talked briefly about fabric design and how a designer would respond to a brief and where they may get their inspiration at the start.

We looked at how we can use line to create different outcomes...

Taking 'a line for a walk'
Using same line repeatedly
Wavy/close/apart
cross hatching
squiggles/dots
doodles

and how this can create rhythm and random design.

We spent a short time exploring this, looking at sketchbook drawings for inspiration...

....then created small designs in our sketchbook......

Using mirror for symmetry

 ..we then transferred our designs onto foam square, impressed into our pencil lines to produce
foam prints ready for printing.

Remembering to reverse letters for printing! Well done!

It was a busy few hours but we all managed to finish a foam piece reading for printing next week.

Two students had experimented with line pattern making at home and produced these fabulous designs...Well done both..