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Montgomeryshire'. In the same letterhead he lists the various items which he was able to print and these included posters, tickets,' progammes, handbills, circulars, clubcards, billheads, statements, balance sheets and over-printed envelopes. In January 1933, his son Gwilym joined him as an apprentice and remained with him until he enlisted in the army at the outbreak of the Second World War. The father acquired new premises in the Trade Hall, Great Oak Street in 1938 and at the same time opened a stationery shop on the ground floor of the building. The printing office was on the top floor but because of its size and weight, the poster press was kept in the basement. This was a Columbian double demy poster press which he had bought from Kilbride's of Manchester which incidentally, was sold in November 1972, to Mr. Pickwood, of Jesus College, Oxford, to enable him to set up a private press in Norfolk. During the Second World War, Ernest Owen worked on his own but was assisted on occasions by his sister Agnes, and would often work all through the night to complete the work that was required urgently at that time. After the war, the business flourished as E. Owen and Sons, his two sons having returned from the forces and joined him in the family concern. Albert Owen, youngest son, had worked as a clerk at John Mills' foundry for some years before the war and for six months after demobilisation, then deciding to join his father to learn the craft of printing. In the meantime, Ernest Owen's other son, Gwilym, had become responsible for the retail stationery side of the business while Albert and his father took charge of the printing which was all set by hand. The type of printing undertaken by this family concern was aptly described in Ernest Owen's letterheads in 1932, already mentioned, and the business has continued along these lines ever since its inception. Ernest Owen retired in 1949, when the business became known as the St. Idloes Press and the two brothers Gwilym and Albert became the proprietors and the business is now carried on at London House, Great Oak Street. The last surviving printer associated with the old Montgomeryshire Echo, Ernest Owen died on March 3, 1971, at the age of eighty-eight and was buried at Dolhafren cemetery in Llanidloes101. ""Owen. E. Obituary of Mr. E. Owen. in County Times and Express and Gazette, March 20. 1971.