John Neave: much loved master printer of All Saints, dies aged 87

A master printer from the Black Country has died.

John Neave at his printing press in All Saints, Wolverhampton in July, 2020. Photo: Derek Mills

John Neave, from All Saints, Wolverhampton was 87.

He was one of 100 people named Black Country Masters for being among the most talented and skilled in the area by Creative Black Country in 2017.

John was inspired to join the printing trade when, as a schoolboy, he was given a roulette wheel and board at his father’s works Christmas party. He needed paper money to play and asked a print shop in the same street as his home if they could help. They agreed and invited him to watch after school.

John Neave at work

His fascination with the process saw his father buy him a small Adma press in 1949 when he was aged 12. He enrolled on a three-year full-time printing course at Wolverhampton College of Art where one of his teachers was nationally acclaimed cartoonist Norman Thelwell. In 1971 he was able to rent the old print shop premises he visited as a boy before buying the property in 1973.

Using one machine made in 1895 and others from the 1950s and 1960s as well as type dating back to the nineteenth century, he was happy to accept both small and large orders up to hundreds of thousands. John printed for a number of local businesses and organisations including the Metal Spinning Company, Reade Brothers, Chance Brothers of Birmingham and Wombourne Players, an amateur theatre group.

John lived in the All Saints neighbourhood of the city throughout his life and was loved and respected by everyone in the community. His funeral took place on Tuesday, 15 October at All Saints Church. John’s memories of life in and around All Saints going back to the early 1940s were included in the local history book, All Saints: Its History, People, Places by Clive Holes and Derek Mills published by Amazon in 2023.

This article was originally published on the 18th of October 2024 by the Express and Star and the authors of the article have kindly given permission for further publication on this website.

You can find the book mentioned in the article “All Saints: The History, People, Places” on amazon below: