Stop Press – Southern and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft join together to delight passengers

Passengers on Southern services between London Victoria and Brighton were delighted recently by volunteers from the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, who travelled up and down coaches with an antique on-board printing press. Passengers were invited to get involved and print their own cards, as they travelled between stations on the Brighton Mainline.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of Johnston Sans a sans-serif typeface created for the London Underground by Edward Johnston which he designed when he lived in Ditchling. Alongside this the Gill Sans typeface (designed by Eric Gill who also lived in Ditchling for a time), was also used extensively by the railways.

Southern donated £500 towards the cost of the project and a small antique Adana printing press from the museum was mounted on an old catering trolley for the journeys.

Lucy Jenner, Learning & Outreach Manager, said: “Letterpress on board was a huge success! We talked to thousands of Southern passengers who were very pleasantly surprised to see us on their journey. People enjoyed seeing the Adana Press in action and were chuffed to receive a freshly printed limited edition post card designed by SORT Letterpress. It was a very fitting celebration of Johnston Sans centenary. People enjoyed hearing about this anniversary and the history of the typeface too. ”

Southern’s Community Investment and CSR Manager, Andy Harrowell, added: “At Southern, we are always looking at ways we can be at the heart of the community we serve. This seemed a great way to go one step further and delight our passengers with a truly unique on-board experience, which means so much to the community near one of our stations. It was great to see that our passengers, and everyone involved, had such a wonderful time.”