A date for our diaries.

The professional artist printmakers who have been working at the Halfmoon Studio on the Bath Factory Estate, behind Norwood Road, have sadly decided to close down at the end of March. They are inviting people to visit and hunt for bargains in the final days before they leave.

The rising costs of rent, services and energy have made it uneconomic to keep going in their present premises. They aren’t the first, and won’t be the last to walk away from the arches, which for generations have provided unglamorous but functional and affordable accommodation for small businesses which often operate on narrow margins. A recent visit showed several repossession notices from landlords The Arch Company ( a joint venture between Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners), who bought the UK’s huge estate of railway arches from Network Rail in 2019.

Before working in the railway arches here, and even before that in an old bakery in West Dulwich, they had rented premises behind some shops on Half Moon Lane, hence the name of the business. Their studio houses the classic instruments of printmaking, chiefly the massively heavy etching presses.

One of the printmakers, Karen Keogh, is able to move to other premises in South London.

Susie Perring  will continue to operate from Artichoke Print Workshop in Loughborough Junction, and she can always be contacted via her website ,
by email  and by phone on  07817 762 780.

But the other artist, Sonia Rollo, is retiring from the business.

Susie and Sonia are holding a closing down sale in their studio with many bargains on offer.

Sale at the end of March

The studio will open for this sale on Monday 20 March to Sunday 26 March with many prints and etching ephemera at knockdown prices – a good opportunity to acquire some professional art for our walls. The Studio will be open from 11:30 am– 4:30 pm on those days.

To reach their Studio, you enter the Bath Factory Estate through the main gate on Norwood Road alongside the supermarket/Post Office, then head through the arch under the first railway line and walk about 100 yards to Arch 143.

Do not be dismayed by the squalid appearance of the estate: enjoy this new world!

Halfmoon Studio, Arch 143, Bath Factory Estate, via 41 Norwood Road, SE24 9AJ

On the way out you can perhaps sample some noodles!