Gestetner Years of WOW – before the internet

WoW Publications, , , ,

“As the story goes … so the story grows …”

From a small room at Abergwen Mill [Pencader, Wales] in the 1970s, the hum of a Gestetner duplicator sent World of Water’s first ideas into the world – simple leaflets about waterlife, water power, aquaculture, fishing bycatch and care for the environment. That same voice has kept flowing for decades, shaping exhibitions, encouraging live storytelling, promoting education and supporting research projects, with the core aim of making everyone more aware of our home planet’s most essential element – clean water.

Now, as we approach our 50th year celebrations in October 2026, our message flows online – through websites, social media, and publications, reaching each new generation eager to learn, imagine and evolve an ever better World for all its biomass.

 

 

(Above (top) original AberGwen list of WOW leaflets. (below) Imperial Model 60 typewrite used to create the Gestetner machine printing stencils - now in the WOW Collections)

From that first ripple of ink at Aber Gwen Mill, the flow never stopped. Those hand‑made leaflets traveled from person to person – each copy spreading new ideas about how we care for water and use it wisely. Each visitor leaflet, printed on recycled paper, magnified personal awareness and projected the  aims of our charity into the community.

Over time, the hands that made and distributed this print, turned to live storytelling for festivals, schools, and events. At tellings, WOW storytellers invited audiences to wade in and shape the tales with their own imagination. The stories drifted through tents, meadows, yurts, classrooms, boardrooms and community halls – always different, always interactive, always alive … reminding listeners that we all need to write a far better future for this planet.


Then the digital tide rose. After our website, an e‑zine, online exhibitions, and conversations on social media streams. The Gestetner hum gave way to keyboards and screens, yet the purpose stayed the same – to kindle curiosity and care, one reader, one listener, one click at a time.

Today, our print-current flows from our charity’s imprint, Little People Books, carrying the WOW message to new generations of early readers. From these early‑years picture books to upcoming audiobooks and films at the HoBB Field Centre, every project flows from the same source – storytelling that nurtures understanding, drop by drop.

As the story goes … so the story grows … and each generation needs to move us forward with ever greater care and love – toward galaxies of water still waiting to be explored.

If you are a nursery leader or new parent, begin your own ripple with our free LPB Early Readers and ‘A Guide for Pre‑School & Nursery Leaders’.

*Archive Reference / World of Water Publications List 1979:

  1. The Water We Use
  2. The Conservation of Everybody’s Oceans
  3. The Wet Factor in Water
  4. Danger… Water Polluted… Sorry!
  5. The Rain Drain
  6. Aber & Gwen on Fish
  7. Fishing – How It All Began & Grew
  8. Water Farming (The Histories of Aquaculture)
  9. Fish Through the Ages
  10. The World’s Future – Packed Like Sardines?
  11. The Sea – The Larder of the World
  12. About Sea Foods
  13. The Fish Retailer
  14. Fish Processing
  15. The Seashore Cocktail
  16. When You Have to Fish Around (Overfishing)
  17. Margarine Fishing (Fishing for By‑Products)
  18. Frank Buckland’s Future
  19. Hydroponics
  20. Sea Water Aquaculture
  21. Fresh Water Aquaculture
  22. What Is a Fish?
  23. Inshore Fish and Fishing
  24. Deep‑Sea Fish and Fishing
  25. Water Power
  26. “Taking Fish to Grimsby?” (Fish Marketing)
  27. But Oyster!
  28. Fish Farm Lists
  29. Fish Farm Books
  30. Catch That Fish Somehow
  31. Neptune
  32. Fish in Design
  33. Pearls and Water Wealth
  34. Life in a Goldfish Bowl
  35. Fish Finger Farming
  36. Fish Face (Some Humour on Fish)
  37. Fish Poetry
  38. Strange Ocean Creatures
  39. Fish and Chips (Fish Cooking)
  40. Fish Restaurants
  41. Our Pond in Our Backyard
  42. It’s More Than Guppies (The Aquarium)
  43. Shell Collecting
  44. Experiments with Water
  45. Employment in Fish Jobs

*Produced before the Internet, often typed overnight and copied manually – part education, part activism, and deeply “of its time.”

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