It all began with postcards; to be exact, with the extensive collection of picture postcards of Kenilworth and surrounding villages, which Helen Scott had accumulated by the early eighties. Here was the raw material for an illustrated booklet on Kenilworth's past, aimed at an unfilled niche in the market, between the detailed recording published by the History & Archaeology Society on the one hand and more ambitious, commercial publications on the other. One of the four partners involved had incidental editorial and publishing experience and the other two could bring bibliographic and financial expertise. Such, in essence, was the genesis in 1983 of the first title of the Odibourne Press, Around Kenilworth in the Past. ('Odibourne Press' was chosen for the imprint to establish identity by using a distinctive local name.)

Crackley Cottages

Castle Green

Albion Street

Park Road

Rosemary Hill

If the first title were successful, there was obviously the possibility of producing a second picture booklet, but, as it turned out, from such small beginnings bigger things evolved. The Press has moved on to encompass, as well as postcards and other pictorial material, railway history, poetry, family history and personal memoirs, and other aspects of the town's social history. This output has been achieved with virtually no working capital, receipts from the sale of each title contributing to meet the cost of the next. Marketing and distribution, mainly but not exclusively in Kenilworth, entail hard work and the rewards essentially are those of creating, rather than more tangible, financial ones. A source of regret is that on occasions the Press has been unable to accept an offered title, usually because its schedule (limited by being a spare-time activity) was full at the time. Fortunately in most cases the proposed book has nonetheless seen the light of day.

Kenilworth has a history rich in events, characters and institutions, which have contributed to our familiar surroundings. The Odibourne Press is privileged to have a share, however modest, in recording and making known something of this inheritance.