There’s a milestone coming up and some interest has been expressed in old Tears in the Fence covers. So, in the service of all things vintage, I thought I’d track down a few.
Following on from the cut-up illustration by Elaine Drake used in No. 23. Summer 1999, not long after I joined the magazine, and right away embarked upon what in hindsight we’ll call the ‘bright phase.’
This is the second cover from the Tears in the Fence archive. Here we’ve jumped years to, I think, the last incarnation before the present design. Issue No. 48 – one of the bridge series. In this case, the Forth Bridge, using a photo that I took on a visit to Edinburgh. And yes, I do think maintenance was being undertaken at the time.
I was looking on the cover, and then inside, for the date. Annoyingly I must have decided that a date was unnecessary or, more likely, that not having a date added to its timelessness. Hmmm! But, strike that. I’ve just looked on the spine and there it is: Summer 2008.
By this time the format of the magazine is A5, and we have dispensed with varnishing to give a more tactile feel, but it is still single colour print onto card. The font is Garamond.
Westrow Cooper 21st July 2014
Tears in the Fence 