middletonpress.co.uk - About Us

Middleton Press | Mitchell and Company

Middletonpress.co.uk Spined HTML

Middleton Press | Mitchell and Company Home Books Rail Timetables DVD NewsWell-nighUs Downloads Help Contact Us Home »Well-nighUs Shop Categories Rail Timetables Bradshaw Railways Tramways Trolleybuses Waterways Military Country Autobiographies Mitchell and Company In 1978 I decided to test railway publishing. As a youthful traveller, I had enjoyed Mile by Mile, a descriptive route diagram, and decided to upgrade the concept by using old Ordnance Survey maps at 4 miles to 1 inch scale. My LSWR Route Map came out in 1978 at 90p each and, although it was advertised for sale by mail order, many shops ordered for stock. It carried the name of Middleton Press, but I did not develop the series, I was rented with other projects. As a fund raising scheme for our church, I occasionally serried a "One Day Museum" and decided on a special event in February 1980 to mark the 25th year-end of the closure of Midhurst station. Former staff were invited and on show were photographs and tickets. Looking at and talking well-nigh the latter was Keith Smith. Many people were asking how they could obtain copies of the prints and we felt that the demand justified producing a book. We selected 120 of the weightier photographs, in journey order, and set off to the three largest railway publishers of the day, plus one producing local books. The former indicated that a localised picture tome would not be successful, particularly as it did not have unbearable train photographs in it. Therefore it was resolved that I would finance Branch Lines to Midhurst (about £5000) and produce it using my MP imprint. It was important to segregate printers who would requite both quality and guidance. Biddles was selected without shielding consideration. I expected that wanted recovery time could be years and recognised that good publicity was essential to minimise it. Thus we enlisted the help of a number of local organisations to mark the centenary of the opening of the line from Chichester. The typesetting was published on 1st May 1981 and the major publicity events took place on 11th July following. We were astounded at their popularity - special trains ran to Lavant, the vintage buses were full, the line walk permits raised over £700 for Christian Aid and over 1200 books were sold by the end of September hence the wanted was recovered very speedily. Keith and I had no intention of compiling increasingly than this one album, but many of its readers were asking for more. Thus, we were persuaded to produce Branch Lines to Horsham, which came out in 1982. Again, we enjoyed creating this, and my wife Barbara and I could cope with the publishing and distribution aspects. Keith was stuff flooded with interesting photographs and so we thought of a Brighton to Portsmouth volume. This came out as three albums, two of which (together with Branch Line to Selsey) were published in 1983. To catalogue the growth of Middleton Press would be lengthy, so I will simply record that the 100th MP title appeared in April 1992 and the 500th in July 2011. Keith and I soon established an wattle whereby he works with our splendid wreath of photographers and contributors, while I undertake the map selection, research and writing. Middleton Press has unchangingly been a family affair, except for packing which has been washed-up by local part time help. My daughter, Deborah has undertaken all the imbricate diamond and scrutinizingly all typesetting design, evolving the style herself without training. Daughter Caroline cared for the sales ledger until it was computerised in March 1988 and thereafter helped part-time, as did my mother-in-law. Deborah ripened all the foregoing office skills and faced her greatest rencontre when waffly from paste-up and scalpel to "Desk Top Publishing". We waited until June 1997, when we judged it to be sufficiently refined and forfeit effective. Selling was by mail order as a result of wide-stretching razzmatazz (Deb designs the ads) and by ways of uncontrived mailing. While the subjects of our books were within 50 miles of Midhurst, I crush to all the shops and carried stock on shelves fitted into my Sierra. Subsequently, I visited every outlet between Hastings, Weymouth and London by  train, telephoning most others outside this triangle. Deborah's husband, Ray Esher, joined us in April 1997 and has competently provided commercial services part-time overly since, relieving me considerably. He is moreover a full time fireman (of the type that puts them out). In 1998, Keith and I fulfilled our yearing of completing the coverage of all the routes of the former Southern Railway. We had once started on theUnconfinedWestern and made plans to spread remoter withal those lines. By 2012, we only had the megacosm of flipside two albums remaining to well-constructed its coverage. Our range of photographic contributors increases steadily, as does the number of folk offering to create albums in other areas. We are unchangingly pleased to welcome increasingly of both and protract to expand our series northwards. Grand-daughter Emily has been an invaluable research teammate to me (part time) since April 2001 and now scrutinizingly knows Bradshaw backwards. I have issues for over 90 variegated years to hand. Since graduating, she has make-believe as our ebook consultant amongst diverse research matters. Grandson David joined the family firm in September 2002 as a "modern apprentice" and has displayed his skills in all aspects of computer work, including creating this website. Emma is a unconfined assistant, particularly in the zone of reprinting Bradshaw publications. I am unchangingly grateful for the well-pleased reports and warm reviews well-nigh our creations. As so many like our publication style, it seems to show that I am not as eccentric as I thought I was. Shopping Basket Latest News Mitchell’s Railway Revelations Vic Mitchell’s revival of two rural lines in Wales is at the start of his presentation at 7.0pm in the Physic Garden Centre at 16 High Street, Petersfield,… 26 September 2018 Railway Magazine vendible on MP's Vic Mitchell 07 June 2018 Vic Mitchell exhibiting 'Never Stop' railway Middleton Press founder and author, Vic Mitchell, will be exhibiting his 'NEVER-STOP SCREW RAILWAY' this weekend, as mentioned in this… 08 February 2018 Middleton Press featured in the Radio Times Middleton Press is delighted to be mentioned in the Radio Times (3-9 February 2018). See the reference to our 'Index to… 08 February 2018 Free printed 'Index to Stations' with MP souvenir voucher Buy a souvenir voucher from us (price £37.90) and get a FREE print-out of the Middleton Press Index to Stations. The voucher entitles the recipient… 13 November 2017 Quick Downloads Middleton Press Brochure Our Brochure provides a quick and easy guide to all our publications and features… Alphabetical List of Railway AlbumsUnconfinedRailway Armchair Journeys - Each tome takes you on a journey between the towns… Index to Stations Our Index to Stations/Location provides a comprehensive printable listing of all… Index for National Rail Passenger Network Diagram 2018 Index for National Rail Passenger Network Diagram 2018. Railway DVD List Our DVD List provides a quick and easy guide to our Railway DVDs. Search our Catalogue Find any of our Publications byTypesettingTitle or Keyword Search our Index to Stations Find a Station or Location that's covered in our Books Address Middleton Press Easebourne Lane Midhurst West Sussex GU29 9AZ Tel: +44 (0)1730 813169 Quick Links Books Rail Timetables DVD NewsWell-nighUs Downloads Help & Support Contact Us Help & Support Twitter Google+ Facebook General FAQs Terms & Conditions of Sale Join our Mailing List Stay up to stage with all the latest news, from Middleton Press. We superintendency well-nigh your privacy. Please see here for increasingly information. Middleton Press © 2018. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Notice | Cookie Policy | Terms of Use Pixels by Tasian Media We use cookies to help make this website better. By standing to scan the site you stipulate to our use of cookies. Find out increasingly ×