Thanks to Barry Adams for sending in these pictures of the last-ever hot-metal production run of the News of the World – the UK’s biggest circulation Sunday newspaper.
In Barry’s own words: “There was a crew of 4 for the Auto and a further 3 for the Auto shaver.
Auto crew operator – one taking the plate another the tang (the waste above the plate which had the blow holes in it and fed the plate as it cooled), and the pot hand who regulated the metal temperature and also put the blacks in (blacks were yesterday’s plates covered in black ink).
The shaver trimmed the plates for length and diameter. Crewing shaver front looked the plate over, put the page number on and pushed it into the machine.
Shaver back looked plate over and took any rough edges off the plate also used his runner to remove or disfigure a typo if need be. Plate stacker put the plates onto a trolley and wheeled them to the machine room door.
Four plates a minute and on the set page the presses were rolling by the 30th plate cast. The Sun was 46 plates of each page.”
Says Barry: “We were the late crew that night and after cleaning the foundry up, we were playing around.”