Historic Robert Davies and Company premises

Nearly two centuries of printing heritage

The Glenside Story

For generations, our family has recorded the stories of others. This is part of our own.

A living archive

One photograph. One document. One story at a time.

This page brings together surviving photographs, printed matter, machinery and family history. Together, these surviving photographs, documents and films reveal how the business evolved across generations.

1861

Learning the Art of Printing

Daniel Davies began a five-year apprenticeship to Daniel Jones of Aberdare in the “Art of Printing”. The surviving indenture gives the family’s documented printing story a clear Victorian starting point.

From hand-set type to modern production, the tools changed. Accuracy, patience and responsibility for the finished work did not.

The 1861 printing apprenticeship indenture — **Apprenticeship indenture**1861 - a five-year commitment to learn the craft.

1882

The Rhondda Gazette

Daniel Davies founded the Rhondda Gazette during a period of rapid industrial and social change. Newspaper production brought together reporting, composition, presswork and distribution.

Every line depended on type being assembled accurately before the press could run.

Historic Rhondda Gazette material — **The Rhondda Gazette**Printing for a rapidly growing community.

The people and the place

Robert Davies & Co.

Historic photographs and business records help reconstruct the working life of the Tonypandy printing company.

Historic Rhondda Gazette staff photograph — **The people behind the paper**A rare surviving photograph of the people behind the newspaper.

Robert Davies and Company shopfront — **Robert Davies & Co.**Historic Tonypandy premises.

Historic Monotype invoice — **Monotype invoice**A surviving record of the machinery and systems behind the work.

1969

The Move to Glenside

Robert Davies & Co. moved from Tonypandy to Wattstown and became Glenside Printing. The building provided room for new presses, finishing equipment and the next chapter of the family business.

Historic Glenside building — **Glenside, Wattstown**The building that gave the modern company its name.

Craft and machinery

Skills passed from one generation to the next

Historic machinery is shown as part of the working story, not as decoration.

Metal Type

Individual characters stored, selected and assembled before printing.

Glyn Davies at the Platen

A lifetime of practical knowledge preserved on film.

From the Archive

Historic machinery

The archive includes machinery that shaped newspaper, commercial and finishing production.

2020

Installing the Future

The installation of the five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster continued a pattern visible throughout the company’s history: embracing better technology without compromising established standards.

View the installation feature

Delivery and installation of the Heidelberg Speedmaster — **Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52-5**A major investment in the company’s future under Glyn's leadership.

Installation timelapse

The five-colour Speedmaster arrives

The arrival and installation of the five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster marked one of the most significant investments in Glenside's modern history.

Five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster at Glenside Printing

Installing the Future

The installation brought together decades of experience with the precision and productivity of modern five-colour lithography.

The presses changed.
The standards did not.

Nearly two centuries of printing knowledge,
delivered with today's technology. Start Your Story With Glenside

The archive continues

The archive continues to grow.

Missing items are presented as historical work in progress.