A Cloth Reback
Doug Mitchell, 2–3 May 2026
In this workshop you will learn the basics of book repairs using a variety of cloths, papers, tissues and adhesives. Through a mix of demonstration and practice you will learn how to: deconstruct a book in a safe and systematic fashion, repair both individual pages and sections, prepare your book should it require resewing, replace the end papers, and undertake any repairs to the cover in order to allow new material to be added. Some bookbinding experience would be an advantage, but all are welcome. All materials and limited equipment will be provided, but you will need to bring with you two to four hard cover cloth bound books, no bigger than A5 and with a stable book block (as time is limited) that you are happy to replace the end papers on if needed.
Please bring:
- Cutting mat
- Craft Knife
- Bone Folder
- Flat Steel Ruler
- Pen & Pencil
- Finishing Press (book clamp), if you have one
- Sheers/scissors
- Weights
- Any other bookbinding tools you have
Skill Level
This workshop is suitable for all levels.
Date and location
2–3 May 2026
Yardley Arts, The Old School Hall The Square, Yardley Hastings, Northampton, NN7 1EU
Price and other costs
- £185 for members of either Society
- £205 for non members
- Materials charge of not more than £15, payable during the workshop
Doug has been a Bookbinder since he left school in 1970. He completed a 5-year apprenticeship at John Dickinson’s in Apsley, Hemel Hempstead gaining a City and Guilds distinction in bookbinding and print finishing at the Watford College of Technology. He continued his training by later working for the British Museum Bindery and The Foreign Office Press in Whitehall as a Gold Finisher before joining the British Library in 2001, where he became a Book & Paper Conservator at the Centre for Conservation. He has made presentation books for the Princess Royal, Prince Charles (now King Charles III), The King of Morocco, the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s Independence Day celebrations and the Dutch Ambassador’s visit.
Doug has been teaching for 25 years and lectured at the SoB York conference in 2007 and Warwick in 2011. Although now retired, he continues to hold workshops on many aspects of bookbinding, conservation and restoration at adult education colleges, SoB regional branches and independent conservation studios as well as at the Frogmore Paper Mill charity in Apsley. Doug has self-published a guide on how to conserve and restore cloth and leather bindings.