Our Story
Our goal is to secure the future of traditional printing, not just preserving the past but bringing it to life.
We started our journey in 2017, when we founded our on-campus letterpress teaching and research studio.
Next came StreetLife: an ambitious project that put traditional printing back in the heart of York.
In late 2023, we soft launched our Centre for Print, recruiting a fantastic team, running workshops and away days, and welcoming members. In 2024, we moved to a permanent home in a beautiful historic venue.
Our Name
Safe in the Minster Library, one of those printed pages has survived. Image courtesy of the Chapter of York.
The name 'Thin Ice Press' is a tribute to York’s own Thomas Gent, an 18th-century printer who famously operated a makeshift press on the frozen River Ouse in 1739.
The great frost turned all the rivers of York into ice and Gent set up a press to print souvenirs. He wrote about his experience.
The frost having been extremely intense, the rivers became so frozen that I printed names upon the ice. It was a dangerous spot on the south side of the bridge where I first set up, as it were, a new kind of press, only a roller wrapt with blankets.
Butler Wood, Thomas Gent: Printer, Bookseller and Bookmaker, p.7
A crowd gathered and the ice began to creak. Luckily, no cracks appeared and the day was a tremendous success.
Gent’s adventurous spirit lives on as Thin Ice Press creates new opportunities for learning, volunteering, and community-building through creative experiences.