It's been his workplace, man and boy, for over 40 years - in fact, his whole career has been spent in the building.

Aged 16, he started as an apprentice printer with the Bellingen Courier Sun back in 1978, working with Bob Hobson and John Rose on the big Centurion Letterpress machine that now lives in the museum.

In 2000, when the paper was sold to Rural Press, Graham and his wife Maree bought the printing side of it.

Mid Coast Printing prospered and six years later opened a Coffs Harbour office.

Although the business has been operating from both locations for over a decade, most orders arrive via email these days, so Graham and Maree have decided it makes more sense to consolidate things in Coffs.

"We won't be renewing our lease when it comes due," Graham said. "But we'll be keeping the same phone number and email, and I'll be in Bellingen one day a week to catch up with people who want to see me."

They stress that they are eager to continue servicing local customers - in fact, as they live in Bellingen, they will be personally hand-delivering orders at no extra cost to make it easy for people.

However, the closure of the local office is still a way off.

"We'll probably be out some time around the middle of November," Graham said.

The building that houses 36-38 Hyde St was constructed in 1938 and although not listed as heritage, it is considered a 'contributory item' within the heritage conservation area.

In her audit of the main street last year, heritage advisor Deborah Wray described it as: "Part of a series of single storey commercial shops, the scale of which contrasts with the landmark and two storey historic items".

She said aspects such as the timber doors, the cantilevered awning and the multi-paned steel windows ("rare in the historic precinct") should be carefully conserved to original detail.

Built to accommodate the production and printing of the town's two weekly newspapers, the Raleigh Sun and the Northern Courier, both owned by Alex Gilchrist, it replaced an earlier timber building that was originally Matthew's Store and then Polin & Polin's.

The two papers combined to become the Bellingen Courier Sun in 1946.

The newspaper left the building in November 2018, ending an 80-year residency.

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