TJ International has produced presentation versions of The Illustrated Story of the Port Isaac Lifeboat Station for the crew of the RNLI station, with one handed to the Duke of Cornwall, HRH Prince Charles during a recent visit.
The concept of the book had been to mark the 150th anniversary of the RNLI in the Cornish port and to raise £6,000 for the RNLI to help with the running costs of the lifeboat service. At the proofing stage, says TJ International business leader Peter Leach, the decision was taken to produce a cloth bound edition for the crew of the boat.
The 120pp book block was glued on the PUR binder having been printed digitally, says Leach, who then hand bound the 54 presentation copies in the same material that the crew’s shirts are made from. “It was a little challenging,” he says. “Every member of the crew now had a personalised copy with the name of that crew member embroidered on the cover.
“The plan originally had been to produce just a couple of hand bound copies to sell at a higher rate, perhaps by auction. However, by combining the old craft binding technology and the new printing technology, it is relatively simple to run on a few more. All the crew asked for a copy with their name on, which led to the 50 special copies.
“We have great experience at TJ, amounting to hundreds of years experience in the bindery teams.”
The book was produced in collaboration with Bob Bulgin, chair of Port Isaac RNLI, who made the presentation of the Prince of Wales, with his own named crew shirt covering. “It was great honour that the Prince came to see us at the station. It is 28 years since we had our last royal visitor. It was great pleasure to present the book to him.
“It is the culmination of a year’s work and a great way to thank the community and everyone who helped fund the book. All the money raised from sales will go to the Port Isaac RNLI.”
The station is in the heart of the village, used as the setting for TV’s Doc Martin. The first lifeboat was launched in 1869. Books are being sold in the village shops and its pubs. “Bob wanted 2,000 when we started,” says Leach, “and rather than print them all at once, we suggested batches of 250 copies. He knew about litho printing though was a little sceptical about the new technology, but was very impressed when we showed him. It is now part of an automatic stock replacement system, triggering a new batch as the ones already printed are sold.”
Leach joined the Padstow printer earlier this year along with fulfilment leader David Poxon. Poxon joined from Kawasaki Precision Machinery, while Leach moved west from Polestar Wheatons. The next lifeboat station along the coast from Port Isaac is at Padstow, currently with no plans for their own history.
TJ International has used its high end digital capacity to print a history of the Port Isaac lifeboat station to commemorate its 150th anniversary, with hand bound editions for members of the crew and a special edition produced for HRH Prince of Wales.
