At the Wayzgoose Fair held at Stroud Brewery

When Woodpeckers returned from her musical adventure in Cheltenham she got me out  of the house to visit the occasional Wayzgoose Printers' Fair, being held at Stroud Brewery’s premises up the valley on the canal-side near Brimscombe. The brewery, built only a couple of years ago on an industrial site, has two upper floors available for events in addition to their ground floor bar and restaurant. It is a busy and vibrant place especially for families at weekends.

Traditionally (with thanks to wiki, and other sources) a Wayzgoose (or wayz-goose, waygoose or wayzegoose) was at one time an entertainment given by a master printer to his workerrs each year on or about St Bartholomew's Day (24 August), because he was the patron saint of leather workers. It marked the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight. Later, the word came to refer to an annual outing and dinner for the staff of a printing works or the printers on a newspaper.

A keepsake was often printed to commemorate the occasion. It could be printed ahead of time, or the printing could form part of the evening's activities. It was no coincidence that on 24 August 1456 the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed, perhaps triggering the very first wayzgoose party at Fust–Schöffer shop in Mainz.

I’ve now been to three Wayzgoose Fairs here in Stroud, but this year there seemed to be more exhibitors, some from quite far away in Bristol, Hereford and even the north of England. There was a good atmosphere and a couple of friends who were exhibiting their own letterpress printing work said they loved being able to meet other specialists in their fields. One of the foremost letterpress printers in Britain, Stanley Lane, aged 83, had a stall with his recent acquired collaborator. This is a fine outcome from his quest to find someone to take over his business and learn some of his skills, as recounted in this Print Week article from 2019. Apparently Stanley has been producing printed output for The Folio Society, such as their complete letterpress Shakespeare. They describe his technical expertise as ‘incomparable’.

There were too many wonderful examples to show all of the beautiful designs and printing, from large artwork, cards, flyers, books, posters and just fun ideas on beautiful quality paper.

On the first floor balcony outside the exhibition space, were a small local company ‘Beyond letterpress’, who source, maintain and sell equipment for the printers, much of it used, as they are often irreplaceable. The trays of printing blocks I’ve shown here were for sale, but individual blocks were available for cheap prices. I find them exquisite examples of tools of the trade. I've also added an 'Extra' of a used portable wooden printing box which looked wonderful.

My blip is of a group chatting to the owner of the company who had kindly spent time explaining to me about what they sell.  Having taken this picture, part of me thinks my blip should be of the two delightful children playing together in the background overlooking the canal.

My extra is of the wonderful Michelle Gordon, whom I’d previously met at an earlier Wayzgoose. I could relate to her stall as she both designs, originates/creates and sells everything and often has an outdoor stall at Hereford Market. Her latest idea is selling the printed pants which are very popular! She even writes the novels she is selling on the stall and through online outlets. I wish her well.