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little_a
Anarchist printshop set up by members and friends of the Anarchy Collective in the 1970s, to print the revamped Anarchy Magazine and similar stuff, and in more or less friendly competition with London's other anarchist printers and publishers, Freedom/Aldgate Press. Little A operated out of a 2000 sq ft warehouse floor in Metropolitan Wharf, Wapping, over a beansprout factory. The press was equipped with decrepit Multiliths, Rotaprint R20s and R30s, and the rent was 50p /sq ft (the founders had to scrape molasses off the floor and walls, put up drywall, install running water and sanitation.) We used to eat our chips on a loading platform right over the swirling brown water of the Thames. In the early 80's Little A passed into the hands of the crowd around London Workers' Group, the Workers Playtime collective, Oi! band the Apostles and other degenerates.
Taylor Woodrow allegedly burned the roof off the building to get rid of the tenants, as part of the first wave of gentrification of the area in 1983. The last issue of Workers Playtime, completed shortly after the defeat of the miners, was printed in 3 inches of the water, courtesy of the London Fire Brigade. Much hash was smoked at Little A, resulting in some innovative psychogeographic developments of the theory of surplus value, and the strange way it recirculates.
For a great viewing of Anarchy magazine covers throughout its history - and discussion about their design, including the period it was based at Little A, see Josh McPhee's blog posts on the Just Seeds site here: http://www.justseeds.org/blog/2012/11/jbbtc_123_anarchy_2nd_series.html
little_a.txt · Last modified: 2013/05/18 21:33 by jessbai