Publishing Our Past: Ashley Drake of St. David's Press

CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket Podcast

Ashley has been involved in publishing for most of his adult life and is the owner of both Welsh Academic Press and St. David's Press. The former specialises in a range of titles, some with a Welsh connection but that cover subjects as far apart as education and welsh medieval literature. This was Ashley's first foray into the publishing business which was foloowed by St. David's Press in the late 1990s.
As a boy, publishing books was always part of the household as his father worked for book publisher Blackwells. His father also gave him his love of sport, taking him to watch live sport and watch it on the TV. Ashley worked for Blackwells as a student and later for the business his father set up which was a sales and marketing business for academic publishers.
He loved football but also played rugby and cricket. He carried these passions into his work as a publisher. After forming his own company selling academic books he read an article about the Welsh football team that attended the 1958 World Cup and was so taken with the story that he contacted the journalist who had wrote it and suggested publishing a book about it. This was his first sporting publication and was titled 'When Pele Broke Our Hearts - Wales and the 1958 World Cup'.
He has followed this with a number of books across a range of sports. In our chat we talked to Ashley about the cricketing books he has published, the first of which was a history of Blaina Cricket Club and which has been followed by books about Glamorgan players from the past, Jim Pleass, Bernard Hedges, Malcolm Nash and Alan Wilkins.
Ashley is currently in the latter stages of preparing a huge book on the 100 year history of Glamorgan as a first class county.
He talks about some of the issues involved in publishing and the joy he has taken in meeting some of his boyhood sporting heroes including ex Chelsea footballer Alan Hudson and welsh rugby player Steve Fenwick. He is particularly proud of the series of seven books he has published about boxers from wales.
At the end of our chat Ashley remembers both his father and mother and how memories of them still shape his work in the publishing industry today.
You can find St David's Press and Welsh Academic Press at the following places:
https://welsh-academic-press.shopfactory.com
@StDavidsPress on Twitter

@StDavidsPress on Facebook
The book celebrating the Centenary of Glamorgan CCC as a first class county will be published some time this year. Do keep an eye on both St David's Press and Glamorgan CCC websites for more details.