We're 50 years old this year - join us for celebrations and memories
It's a year of celebration for the Shropshire Star, which is 50 years old this year.
The newspaper industry, and the Shropshire and Mid Wales region which the newspaper continues to serve, have both seen many changes over those past five decades since our first edition.
Over the coming weeks, we'll be taking a look back at the milestones, the amazing stories, and some of the campaigns which have helped to make the Shropshire Star one of the biggest selling regional daily newspapers in Britain.
A 16-page supplement inside today's Shropshire Star is just a taste of what's in store.
Our nostalgia man Toby Neal has been trawling the archives in search of amazing anecdotes and headlines, plus evocative stories and front pages.
And Shirley Tart, who has worked for the Shropshire Star from the very beginning, will be giving her personal recollections of newsroom life over the past half century, year-by-year, in a new weekly anniversary feature, starting on Saturday.
Click here to see our 16-page supplement as it appeared in the paper
For now, though, join us on a trip through the archives to meet some of the company's founders, as well as our loyal advertisers . . . and you, the public, whose stories have made people want to 'read all about it' in the printed pages, and web pages, of the Shropshire Star.
It all began on October 5, 1964 – that was the day the very first edition of the Shropshire Star was published.
Now we're encouraging readers new and old to join us in looking back at the people, places, and headlines which have shaped both the newspaper's history, and the fabric of our beautiful county, over the past half century.
The Shropshire Star has grown hand-in-hand with the emergence of Telford new town; it has also chronicled major changes in the county town of Shrewsbury, plus market towns, villages and hamlets. Traumatic stories such as foot and mouth, inspirational stories of people battling through adversity, businesses putting the region on the global map, and the ever-running rollercoaster of the sporting scene.
Thanks to our loyal and valued readers, the Star is now firmly established as one of the largest, and most respected regional daily newspapers in Britain.
Today, the Shropshire Star provides unrivalled news and sport coverage for Shropshire and Mid Wales, printing three editions per day, five days a week, plus a bumper edition on a Saturday including our flagship 40-page Weekend supplement.
Throughout its history, the Star has been making its own headlines. When the newspaper launched in 1964, it inherited a daily circulation of around 19,000 from the old Shropshire edition of the Express & Star.
It became the first evening newspaper in Europe to be printed by web-fed offset, which refers to the use of rolls, or webs of paper supplied to the printing press.
And the Shropshire Star continues to lead the field in newspaper technology to this day.
August 2012 saw the relaunch of the www.shropshirestar.com website in a responsive design – believed to be a first for any regional newspaper website in the UK.
Meanwhile, Shropshire Star apps for iPad and iPhone means readers can keep up with their favourite local newspaper, wherever they are, whatever the time of day.
Five decades on from its launch, the Shropshire Star is still first with your local news . . . delivering the headlines in increasingly varied, and innovative ways.
One of the founding fathers of the Shropshire Star, Les Childs, recalls how things didn't always go smoothly in those early days. Les, now 77, was one of those key pioneers who steered the new venture to success.
"I joined the Express & Star from the Bridgnorth Journal as a sub editor in 1962. Two years later the Shropshire Star was launched and I was appointed its chief sub editor. I was there from day one living then, as now, in Alveley.
"It was a big change leaving the Express & Star at Wolverhampton in the 'hot metal' days for the Shropshire Star which was using a totally new system for newspapers of cold type setting. A lot of us were totally green and we were certainly learning our trade. For my part I had been editor of the Bridgnorth Journal and sub editor at Wolverhampton, and then chief sub editor at the Shropshire Star.
"For John Sanders, the sports editor, it was his first appointment in that position. On the newsdesk was Gordon Riley, an old hand from the days of the Wellington Journal. He was very experienced, particularly on the Shropshire scene. Features editor was John Beck. Eventually, when he moved to Wolverhampton, Gerry Anderson took over.
"The chief photographer was Johnnie Johnson. He took that amazing picture of a gunman at a siege near Market Drayton, which you can see in today's supplement
"For Ted Ireland, it was his first appointment as editor, so he was another green one. He was very good and settled in quickly and was excellent to work for. He did a great job as the first editor of the Shropshire Star.
"Tragically later he was diagnosed with cancer and although he continued to edit the paper, he was ill. He showed great courage in carrying on. At the end it was too much, and his death was a very sad loss. He was only in his 40s."
Describing the early months of the paper, Les said: "We were doing only two editions at the start. For the first two or three weeks everything was fine, and then we had severe problems. Up until Christmas in that first year we were in serious trouble because we weren't getting the paper out on time. The problems were with the new presses. It was very frustrating for everybody.
"Fortunately coming back after the Christmas break, the presses suddenly behaved themselves. We took off then, and of course the rest is history. We increased the number of editions and circulation went up. I think we were about 20,000 when we launched and gradually we got up to 50,000, which was quite a landmark and celebrated at the time. We improved and improved and improved.
"Other newspaper groups were watching our progress because of this totally new system of printing a daily newspaper, although weekly newspapers had been using those methods a few years before that.
"And then after six years Ted Ireland was appointed editor of the Express & Star, taking over from Clem Jones. Ted asked me if I would go to Wolverhampton as his chief sub there, which I accepted. That meant going from cold type setting back to hot metal production which to me was a challenge."
Les says there was a wonderful atmosphere among the pioneering Shropshire Star team, particularly after the early problems had settled down.
"It was a very friendly atmosphere and everybody geared themselves up to produce the best paper possible. We were being watched very carefully. A young staff did extremely well."
Les was 28 when the Shropshire Star was launched and was destined to return to the paper towards the end of his 42-year career. "I was delighted. I have so many wonderful memories of the Shropshire Star."
See also:
Shropshire Star at 50: Same values in changing world
Family commitment to newspaper trade
Publisher looks back over a glorious past
