Publisher looks back over a glorious past
It was a 50-year greeting, writes Shirley Tart. As we met at the door, a colleague and employer over all that time met me with: "Well, the last two standing, that's what we are."
Alan Graham was absolutely right. He was the Shropshire Star's first general manager half an eventful century ago, I as its first woman's editor. And now, the last two standing!
No-one else who was with the Shropshire Star when it began still works for the company, except for Alan and I. Though his brother Doug, company chairman, was heavily involved in establishing the new business and has been so ever since.
Alan, who is now the company's joint publisher, was in the general manager's chair for around seven eventful years and guess what – when the Shropshire Star headquarters was built at Ketley, they were warned that the site may not be safe.
A claim dismissed by the builder who had no doubts at all about the structure's safety and suitability. Ken, the builder has of course long since been proved correct.
And 50 years on, the Shropshire Star still stands as solid as it was on the day some of us moved in – in my case, several months before the new newspaper began running off the revolutionary presses.
Alan Graham says disarmingly: "I think I was the first general manager because with all the new technology there wasn't anybody else who knew anything about it and we all had to learn as we went. But it was a most exciting time. There was Morley Tonkin who built a printing plant at Welshpool and Woodrow Wyatt with the weekly Banbury Guardian who both had the same technology.
"But the Shropshire Star was unique because it was a daily production and at the time, the only regional daily in Europe to have the web offset machinery," He was also a most respected, young and effective general manager who did know his stuff and whose training and research had included time in America.
It was also touching that unprompted, he remembered colleagues who had died all too soon from illness or accident including three from the very early days.
Of Ted Ireland, the Shropshire Star's first editor, Alan said: "He was amazing in the job and it was very sad that he died so soon."
Then John Sanders, racing editor: "He could compete with the national papers on his racing tips."
And David Elderwick, circulation department: "He was proving so successful and I'm sure would have had a fine future in the business."
Those of us who knew and missed them all would say, spot on, Sir!
Looking back, what does Alan Graham think have been some of the biggest moments in the paper's claim to its place in Shropshire life?
Well let's go back to October 1967 when a Shropshire farmer called in the vet to a sick sow and heard the shocking news that the animal had contracted foot-and-mouth disease. And the whole nation was to be affected by what for the farming community, is a horror story.
Alan says: "It might sound strange in some ways but I think the biggest breakthrough for the Shropshire Star with its readers was that foot and mouth outbreak where we were able to be of support.
"I was talking to the editor about how we could help and we came up with the idea of printing a map of where outbreaks had been and where new ones were. It seems silly to say but that was the only information the farmers and local people had and I think they were grateful our drivers got through as well. Sales rocketed and we felt we had been able to help out in a practical way."
Especially in the early days, there were also some challenges with the border areas between our two evenings like Bridgnorth, Shifnal and Albrighton where readers were so used to the Express & Star. But it all evened out and to this day, both newspapers sell very happily in those areas!
After a little chuckle about that, other memories followed on.
Alan says: "A different emphasis for the Shropshire Star at the time was that we were also very conscious of national and international as well as local news. And surveys showed that many of our readers didn't read a morning newspaper at all. We were even one of the first to carry colour pictures from the moon. Then there was the evening a reader called at about 6pm and I answered the phone. "He said 'your paper stinks.' I said 'I'm terribly sorry, what is it that's upset you?' he said 'no, no, it stinks'. We had what seemed to be a one-sided conversation for ages and then I realised he meant the actual paper itself really did stink! It was to do with the ink and we had to have a formula change.
"We also had such good canvassing teams who made all the difference and we all really enjoyed those canvassing evenings. I used to think that if you looked after them and gave them a drink and some good food afterwards, it made all the difference. And it did."
Finally, one of the men who helped establish our newspaper half a century ago and has cared about it ever since, says: "I was general manager for about seven years and had the luck of having a wonderful team being made available to me. They were very good days."
