The magazine went on from strength to strength, and at its peak reached over 1,400 subscribers. When Dave Worrall left Derann, he continued with his role as editor through his new company Solo Marketing, all we had to do was send all the material along to his premises in Christchurch and he would supply us with the finished 40 pages of artwork, ready for me print. As the hobby began to slip away, either through customers swapping to video projection or worse still their deaths, subscribers dwindled we looked for ways to cut costs. So it was that Adrian decided that it was time we designed and edited it in-store, Dave’s final issue as editor was number 57. The late, Steve Wellings, the 16mm manager was the one chosen to take over the new role, which if I say so myself he handled very well, while export manager Gary acted as proof reader. In 2008 I discovered that the metal plates we used on our offset printer were no longer being produced! New technology had taken over and in order for us to proceed was going to cost big money, big money we did not have, so we began a new search for a printer who could print the magazine very cheaply. It took some weeks before we found such a set up, just a short drive away it was a two man business situated in an old and grimey factory unit, but they were prompt and friendly. The end product wasn’t much better than what I was producing but we didn’t have much choice and inorder to continue with the regular newsletter we reduced the size to A5 so they could be copied on the photo copier.
The last ten issues or so of its life were filled with items written by Steve and myself, as incoming articles had decreased to a trickle, with only Keith Wilton’s S8FR and Peter Haigh’s crossword a certainty, even my wordsearch was created as a filler. The final issue, number 75, was dated Summer 2011, with issue 76 almost ready for printing when it was announced that we would be closing. I’m posting all of these magazines and in their entitity as PDFs for you to enjoy.
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