MASTER printer and dedicated newspaper craftsman Barry Lyttle has retired from the Jersey Evening Post after 33 years of service.

As an old-school printer, Barry, who is 61, embodied the old values and traditions of the newspaper industry and was highly respected in the trade.

Known for the unfailing pride he took in his work and his high standards, he followed his father and brother, who worked at the News of the World, into what was known in those days as a career ‘in the print’.

Born and educated in London, he started his career in newspapers as a Fleet Street messenger boy.

The wealth of qualifications and experience he gained in the years which followed, started with a six-year print apprenticeship with the Mirror Group, followed by a two-year City and Guilds course.

It was in 1971 that he came to live in Jersey and went to work for Bigwoods printers. He also met his future wife Helen, a nurse, and they were married in 1973 and went on to have two sons Paul and Matthew.

In 1976, Barry moved to the Jersey Evening Post, encouraged by the opportunity to learn what was then revolutionary new print skills of computer type setting, photocomposition and paste-up.

It was the year before the company moved to its new Five Oaks base where a new web-offset press was installed.

With more technological changes taking place, Barry moved to the editorial department in the early 1990s, where he continued the same professional and dedicated approach to his work.

Barry said that he had particularly enjoyed the early years of his career as a compositor working with hot metal.

‘I was also very interested in assembling pages and design work which I was trained to do,’ he said, adding that he would miss the colleagues at the JEP with whom he had worked. Earlier last month, Helen retired after over 40 years in nursing.

They intend travelling more, gardening and visiting their sons in England. Barry has a number of DIY jobs lined up and is also looking forward to doing some fishing.