25/07/2025
When Peter Woolley completed his apprenticeship as a typesetter in the 1960’s, he went to work for several different printing firms in Manchester. However, he was a man of independent spirit, and he wanted to strike out on his own. After saving hard for a few years, he had enough saved to buy a small card shop and stationers on School Lane, Didsbury, on the corner of Winifred Road. This is now Maclure Didsbury, but as you can see, it’s not really changed too much over the years.
Business was good, and he continued to save until he had enough to put a down payment on 31 Barlow Moor Road, where the printers shop remains to this day. Just a bit of Didsbury history for you.
Incidentally, where the shop is now used to be the home of a family, and Peter’s wife, Julie used to visit 31 Barlow Moor Road when she was a child to play with the children of the house. Peter later transformed the home into a printing workshop, complete with trays and trays of old fashioned type. Now, with the advent of digital print, the building is home to more modern printing machines, though for the most part, the trays of type remain today as a reminder of where the business began.
