Nosher Leaves Soman-Wherry Press, Norwich - 3rd August 1988

Nosher finishes up the placement year at Soman-Wherry Press on Heigham Street in Norwich with a wander around the factory, including a visit to the Albert A101 four-colour mini web-offset press which, legend had it, had a 2CV propshaft stuck in it as a spare part. This is followed by a trip to the Dolphin pub, which was a regular Soman-Wherry haunt just down the road at the end of Heigham Street. Then there's a retirement presentation where Soman's long-serving typesetter Leslie is presented with a TV and a couple of table lamps by company MD William "Bill" Butler, after an impressive 50 years' service. Finally, as it seems an appropriate place to put it, there's a photo sent in by Mel Waller - a Soman-Wherry employee during the time of Nosher's placement - who had spotted these photos and as a result arranged a reunion of old staff on the last day of May in 2009. Meanwhile, the factory site has long since gone: Soman-Wherry Press - a company formed in 1931 from the merger of A. E. Soman and The Wherry Press - was closed when production moved to BPCC Business Magazines in Colchester sometime around 1992. The buildings were then used by Aspen Windows for a while before being demolished to make way for parking space for the Renault car showroom next door.

next album: Mother and Mike's Wedding Reception, Bransgore, Dorset - 20th August 1988
previous album: Soman-Wherry and a Drumkit, Norwich and Red House, Norfolk - 22nd July 1988