Doug Sunderland is a member of one of Coonamble’s most exclusive clubs, having worked with the one employer for more than 50 years.
He retired officially in May 2011 after 51 years of dedicated service at the Coonamble Times.
“Technology chased me out,” says Doug.
He started working at the Coonamble Times in 1960 as an apprentice, learning the trades of compositing and printing.
Over the years he worked under several editors and saw the newspaper transition from hot metal to offset printing and the eventual move into the digital age.
Doug witnessed the evolution of printing technology and the paper’s operations.
His career began as a 16 year old, on 9 September 1960 as an ‘printer’s devil’ sweeping floors, fetching type and other tasks on a three month trial basis.
He then began an apprenticeship as a compositing machinist working under Ronnie Thomas, who had just finished his own apprenticeship.
“I was composing the text and involved in the printing process. Learning all the trade as an apprentice,” Doug explained.
When he started, the Coonamble Times was operating out of premises in Easons Lane.
“It was pretty hot,” Doug explained.
“It was just an old house converted. The floor was all wooden and they built a shed on the side of it, with a cement floor.
“The printing happened in the old house part.
“It was a machine probably 6 feet high by 10 foot long and you had big sheets of paper, 3’6” and you’d fit them in one at a time on a round cylinder.
“It was sheet by sheet and then you’d fold them, and stack ’em up.
“We used to try to get a 12 page paper but sometimes you’d only have enough for 8 or a little bit more than 8 so you’d have to do a single sheet.”
Dough Sunderland (left) with the rest of the Times team circa 1970s. [L to R] Wally Hume, John Lough, Editor Jim Ellis (seated), Tom French and David Ellis.
As a compositor, Doug laid out the text line by line into columns on large trays, or galleys, which was inked and then stamped four pages onto lead that was melted down and reused each week.
“You had to know how to read backwards and upside down,” he said.
“It was heavy work, you got used to it. You didn’t know how heavy it was in the end but when I was a young fella just starting you’re like how am I going to carry this!
“I’ve got a crook back and the chiropractor said its from you standing on cement floor all your life, and the weight of it as well. You were always bent over, you couldn’t stand up because the thing was down there.”
The relocation of the Coonamble Times in 1967 to the former site of Frank Toohey’s garage at Castlereagh Street saw the purchase of a Swiss duplex printer, an automatic machine that could print 16 pages at one time.
“It had rolls of paper on it and had a bottom and top deck,” Doug explained.
“The owners wanted to expand a bit I think.
“We’d started printing the Collarenebri Express in our paper. It was four pages inside the Coonamble Times.
“After a little while we were doing the Warren paper in ours.
“We used to print 2500 papers then because we were doing Coonamble (probably about 1800), Collarenebri and Warren.
“You had to buy a paper to find out your news back in them days. And it was sixpence. Everyone had an ad in the paper. They even tore it up and put it behind the toilet door.”
A normal working day for Doug was 8 to 5pm, with the paper being printed during the day and distributed on Thursdays.
“If there was a breakdown we could work all night. It didn’t happen often.
“The paper was printed first and then we’d do the commercial printing,” Doug said.
Former Coonamble Times office and printery from 1967.
The next big change for Doug was the outsourcing of printing of the paper to Gilgandra during the early 1980’s.
“Costs beat us I think,” Doug said.
Doug began using offset printing machines to do the commercial printing.
“Previously I was using metal only, the offset machines were completely new to me.”
An attempt at taking a long break was quickly bought to an end with a phone call from Janelle (Nugget) Whitehead, who was owner and editor at the time.
“I left for 6 months, I was going to have a couple of years off. But I couldn’t stand it and they couldn’t handle it without me.
“She come and saw me and said when are you coming back? I said, ‘How’s Monday?” Doug explained.
The purchase of the Coonamble Times by John Proud saw further changes for Doug at the Times.
The office relocated to the eastern side of Castlereagh Street next to Joe’s Quality Meats.
Printing of the Coonamble Times continued to be outsourced and Doug was solely responsible for all commercial printing following the departure of John Lough the linotypist.
“John Lough left and there was not a linotyper at all so I had to learn myself.
“A few years into there, that’s when Michael and Coleen took over. I was still doing commercial printing then.
“It wasn’t hot metal then. John Proud put the little offset machine in, it was only a little one. It did a little bit more than foolscap. All books went down to being A4.
“They’d do it up inside and send the plate out to me and I’d put it on the little offset machine. Took some getting used to that. And this town water wouldn’t mix in with the ink properly. We had to buy ourselves a little rainwater tank because the pH of the town water was too high, so we had to use rainwater, everything came good then,” Doug said.
Doug’s final move at the Coonamble Times was to where Halcroft and Bennett’s offices are currently located.
But the increased use of digital desktop publishing and electronic book keeping along with spiralling costs saw much of the bulk commercial printing cease at the Coonamble Times.
“They kept me on as long as they could, Coleen and Michael, but technology got me beat.”
From the front page of the May 4, 20ll edition: Doug Sunderland with the Heidelberg platen press that has been with the company since 1960 and the paper guillotine in the background.
Doug said his fondest memories were the days when a big local team was printing the paper.
“The memories are there,” he said
Doug recalls moving printing press beds from the Easons street premise, using George Cummings crane.
“We took it past the Clubhouse and down the lane behind Sommo’s.
“Nothing on a truck or anything, just swinging on a jib on the crane.”
“There’d be a couple of us walking along beside to stop it swinging so much.”
He said the office moved before the print shop, so there was a period where the Times worked out of both sites.
“But we never missed a paper while that was happening. We’d carry these big plates loaded with type across the road.
“I often thought what if it falls to pieces in the middle of the road and you’ve got a million tiny pieces.
“It went on for a couple of weeks.”
Doug also recalls a strike by local printers during the mid 1970s over wages.
Union representatives had been called in after printers at the Coonamble Times hadn’t received pay increases in line with the award.
“The Daily Telegraph was going to go out on strike with us in support.
“The union was called in and told us to down tools.
“It went for a couple of days.
“We got the pay rise.”
Putting a newspaper together has always been a team game.
I loved working for the Times,” said Doug.
“Everyone was easy to get on with, never had any hassles.
“Everyone had their own job to do and they’d do it and then they’d help someone else with their part of it.”
By LISA WHEELER