“Old Paper Making”
A talk by Paul Burford - January 2016
A talk by Paul Burford - January 2016
At the January meeting, a presentation was given by Mr. Paul Burford, the Business Service Manager of Frogmore Paper Mill – a self-funding charitable Trust established 15 years ago to conserve and preserve our paper –making heritage.
Mr. Burford explained that paper-making was first developed in China in 105 AD but did not arrive in Europe until the 15th century where the process remained unchanged until the French Revolution. He cited examples of the way in which paper has been used throughout the ages for the production of books, maps, religious tracts, architectural drawings, communication in war and, of course, for newspapers and personal use.
The simple process of paper-making by the extraction of water from a slurry of cellulose fibres - by means of a flat-bed press and subsequent drying of the individual sheets - was transformed by the introduction of the rotary drum and the mechanisation of the entire process. There are now only 28 paper mills in the UK, reduced from 500 in 1800, producing some 3.4 million tons of paper per annum.
The Trust now maintains the oldest mechanised paper mill in the world at its site in Hemel Hempstead where there is a Centre for Education and Training (both children and adults), a Recycling and Sustainability area, a Research and Development section, a Visitor Experience Centre (offering boat trips, conference facilities and working paper-making machines) and a Business Centre. The Trust welcomes the many thousands of visitors every year to its premises.
Mr. Burford explained that paper-making was first developed in China in 105 AD but did not arrive in Europe until the 15th century where the process remained unchanged until the French Revolution. He cited examples of the way in which paper has been used throughout the ages for the production of books, maps, religious tracts, architectural drawings, communication in war and, of course, for newspapers and personal use.
The simple process of paper-making by the extraction of water from a slurry of cellulose fibres - by means of a flat-bed press and subsequent drying of the individual sheets - was transformed by the introduction of the rotary drum and the mechanisation of the entire process. There are now only 28 paper mills in the UK, reduced from 500 in 1800, producing some 3.4 million tons of paper per annum.
The Trust now maintains the oldest mechanised paper mill in the world at its site in Hemel Hempstead where there is a Centre for Education and Training (both children and adults), a Recycling and Sustainability area, a Research and Development section, a Visitor Experience Centre (offering boat trips, conference facilities and working paper-making machines) and a Business Centre. The Trust welcomes the many thousands of visitors every year to its premises.