The Alf Cooke printworks is a grade II listed former industrial building by

Thomas Ambler Thomas Ambler (1838 – 1920) was an English architect, living and working in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Ambler was a friend of the Mayor of Leeds and Member of Parliament, John Barran, who became his patron. Among Ambler's surviving work ...

, now the Printworks Campus of

Leeds City College Leeds City College is the largest further education establishment in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England with around 26,000 students, 2,300 staff, with an annual turnover of £78 million.

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It was built in 1881 and rebuilt after a fire in 1894.

Alf Cooke

Alf Cooke (1842–1902) founded his printing business in 1866. He expanded into colour printing in 1868 and moved his operation to

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the early 1870s. After his first works, on the east of Hunslet Road, burned down, he built a printworks on the west side of the road. This was burned down in 1894 and the existing building was built in 1895. The architect was

. It was described in ''The British and Colonial Printer'' as "the largest, cleanest, healthiest and most completely fitted Printing works in the World." ''History of the company'' in 1885 Cooke was appointed by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

as "Her Majesty's Colour Printer", and in 1890 he was

Mayor of Leeds The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council. By charter from King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the governing body of the bo ...

. His sons Harry and Alf junior took over the business after his death in 1902, but Alf junior's son Alf was killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After Alf junior died in 1947 the family was not involved in the company, but the name "Cooke" was still used until 1981 when it became Bemrose Cartons. In the 1950s the factory acquired the site of the former St Jude's Church, and a window from the church was preserved in the factory building.

Later use

The works closed down in 2006. Plans had been put forward to convert it to offices, but it was announced in 2011 that the site would become part of

. The College's Printworks Campus opened in September 2013, at a cost of £25 million for the renovation of the printhalls and the construction of new buildings adjacent.

Alf Cooke

Later use

See also

References

Further reading