Author: Robert Stutely

This photo from November 1966 shows the site of the new HMSO Sovereign House in Norwich, looking northwards up St George Street towards the Odeon cinema, which stands at the junction of St George Street and the present St Botolph Street. The north-south line of the building runs roughly parallel with the upper part of…

A group of ex HMSO graphic designers at The Type Museum, Stockwell, London. From the left: Jeffrey Tabberner (later OUP), John Hughes, Vera Brice (now at Harper Collins), Clive McDonald (kneeling), Alan Stephens, Cedric Knight, Ken Arnoldi, Fred Stubbs, John Westwood, and John Saville. (Photo from Philip Marriage)

This view was taken from the (then) Layout Section on H floor of Atlantic House. (Photo from Philip Marriage)

Like Hyde Park, Lincoln’s Inn had a Speaker’s Corner where anyone could clamber up a pair of stepladders and harangue the gathering crowd. (Photo from Philip Marriage)

One of the pleasures on a Spring day was to walk the few hundred yards from Atlantic House along High Holborn to Lincoln’s Inn Fields where a lunch hour could be spent watching netball matches. (Photo from Philip Marriage)

The Victoria pub at the Charterhouse Street junction with Farringdon Road, viewed from Atlantic House. London. Reg Walker adds:  The ‘Keep Clear’ sign in the street opposite The Victoria was painted on overtime by T Taylor and R Walker at the instruction of CGH Lloyd (their all-powerful HEO) so as to reduce traffic and cut…

Reg Walker writes:  The highly-polished corridor was on two levels so that the tea trolley (‘are we early or late this afternoon?’) could not manage a complete circuit, thus frustrating the older/more feeble staff who could not run round before the wagon ran out of bread pudding. (Photo from Philip Marriage)

The rather drab interior of Atlantic House. Reg Walker adds:  The staircase had a noticeboard with First Aid and Christian Union notices, plus ‘Staff Side’ notices. Always a strange term, as just about everyone was in one CS Union or another and were all ‘staff’ even if they were ‘management.’ as well. (Photo from Philip…

The June 1962 issue of the British Printer featured an in-depth article entitled ‘The Changing Face of Government Printing’ describing the radical improvement in the quality of design and production of printing produced by HMSO. It also asked printers to take an appraising glance at government printing and ask whether their own work compares with it…

On 4 October 2004 the Eastern Evening News  published this picture in their Do you remember?  series. It was taken in Sovereign House in 1968 and shows Vic White discussing an invoice with Sue Hiestand. They worked in Inspection, Transport and Warehousing Division and had moved to Norwich in the ‘Advance Party’ in 1967 (Sue…