About us

The Gwydir Press/Gwasg Gwydyr was set up at Gwydir Castle in 2012 to produce fine, limited edition books using traditional letterpress techniques. They are printed on a nineteenth-century Franklin treadle press, before being bound by hand using traditional, fine-binding methods.

In addition to our letterpress work, the Gwydir Press also produces books using modern publishing techniques. This more commercial arm of the press aims to broaden the reach of our publications.

The castle itself has associations with early printing, literature and the bardic tradition. Bishop William Morgan, who was the first to translate the bible into Welsh, was schooled here under the patronage of the Wynns of Gwydir. Here too, Sir John Wynn wrote his famous History of the Gwydir Family at the end of the sixteenth century. It is our hope that the Gwydir Press will continue in this tradition of excellence and literary association.

FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION

I Bought a Mountain by Thomas Firbank

Written on the eve of the Second World War, I Bought a Mountain is Thomas Firbank’s classic, best-selling account of life on a Welsh hill-farm. Exciting and fast-paced, it is a human tale of tragedy and triumph set amidst the rugged grandeur of Snowdonia. This new, illustrated edition, published by the Gwydir Press, celebrates the book’s 80th anniversary.

Foreword by Judy Corbett. Cover illustrations by Peter Welford. Design by Ken Burnley. This edition (conventionally printed, not letterpress) is limited to 350 copies.

Price: £25.00 (plus £3.50 p&p)