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A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Aberdeen and Northern Counties Printing
Industry
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Northern Counties - Elgin
The introduction of the latest technology was next felt in the pressroom
when, at a cost of £750, a new Cossar flat-bed newspaper press
was installed in August 1904 to replace the ageing Wharfedale. This
new printing machine was the invention of Tom Cossar of Clydebank
and is described in some detail in an earlier booklet in this series,
A History of the Glasgow Printing Industry. The machine made it
possible to print from continuous reels of paper instead of using
the former, more laborious, and slower method of hand-fed sheets.
The arrival of the Cossar press coincided with the departure of
William MacKenzie, who was succeeded by R.G. Miller.
Miller’s reign as editor was a relatively short one as he resigned
in 1916 to take up a similar post with The John O’Groat Journal
in his native Wick.
He was immediately followed in Elgin by Victor Mitchell, who served
the newspaper during the First World War and until 1919 when W.
Sellar Hay, a native of Elgin, was appointed editor and manager.
Sellar Hay contributed to the newspaper’s continu-ing success,
and one of his major decisions was the installation of a replacement
Cossar in 1930, on that occasion costing £2784. In 1936 when
he decided to move to the south of England his appointment was taken
over by R. George Grant who served as editorial manager for four
years. During that period he oversaw the purchase of The Strathspey
Herald and Forres Gazette weekly newspapers.
The departure of Grant marked the beginning of The Northern Scot’s
longest serving editor and manager, Stephen Young. In 1940 he had
to contend immediately with shortages of newsprint, depleted staff,
and the many restrictions of war-time publishing. In February 1941
the printing of The Strathspey Herald and Forres Gazette was transferred
to Elgin, the move being dictated by the call-up of the Forres staff.
Post-war developments included the large extension to the Elgin
works, the purchase of a further Cossar press, and the acquisition
of The Badenoch Record from Messrs Johnston of Kingussie. The last
mentioned enabled The Strathspey Herald and The Badenoch Record
to amalgamate as The Strathspey and Badenoch Herald to cater for
the developing Spey Valley area. The Banffshire Journal, the local
paper for the Banff area, was added to the group in 1982.
By the 1970s the growth of The Northern Scot brought about production
problems which were first tackled by the system known as tele-typesetting.
Four years later it was decided to switch away from ‘hot-metal’
typesetting using Linotype and Intertype machines in favour of computerised
photosetting. This was made possible by the introduction of photo-polymer
printing plates which enabled photo-set material to be printed on
the existing Cossar machines. The early 1980s saw the installation
of a Lino News web offset press which is still in use today.
Stephen Young was succeeded in 1977 by his son, also Stephen, who
has played an important role in introducing the latest technological
changes in the company. Today, The Northern Scot, with its enlarged
capacity from three linked Cossar presses, is publishing a 30- 34-page
newspaper - a far cry from its early issues of 4 pages, and is using
the very latest in computer software and hardware technology.
In 1990 the company was taken over and became part of Scottish Provincial
Press, based in Inverness.
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Volume 3 published 1996
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