How your Gazette blazed a trail through the decades

FORMER Gazette editor Peter Laurie has reflected on his “truly wonderful” years in the job - and describes it as a “golden era” for journalism.

Mr Laurie took the reins on New Year’s Day 1980 and remained in the hotseat until 1986.

It proved an eventful spell as he and his colleagues oversaw major breaking stories including the infamous White House Farm murders and the European Gateway ship sinking after colliding with a ferry heading towards Parkeston.

There was also high drama at Gazette HQ during the 1983 General Election.

However, Mr Laurie says he would not change a thing and looks back with pride and fondness on his time as editor.

“They were truly wonderful years and I look back with great affection and warmth,” said the 73-year-old.

“In my eyes, it was the golden era of journalism and I’m sure most people from that time would agree.

“Hervey Benham (the pioneering proprietor of Essex County Newspapers) used to say that we make money to make better papers and I agreed with that mantra.

“We all did and we were proud to produce great newspapers.

“Mr Benham’s mentality rubbed off on us all and, in turn, the public reached out to us.

“I think they were pleased and proud to have their own evening paper.

“Our slogan at the start was ‘Your town, your news, your newspaper’ and that certainly rang true.

“I feel lucky to have experienced those times and it was a special environment.

“People hammered away on old-fashioned typewriters and there were always phones ringing.

“There was a constant babble of noise. People were allowed to smoke in the office then so there was always smoke lingering in the air.

“I woke up and was always grateful to be going into the office.”

Peter Laurie was the subject of a Burns Night stunt in 1985, organised by the news desk. The team had been talking about the significance of Rabbie Burns, the famous Scottish poet, and how haggis was served at events in his honour, with the main dish paraded alongside a piper. The phone on Mr Laurie’s desk rang and he was asked to come through to the newsroom urgently to deal with a problem. However, he said: “The joke was on me. When I entered the newsroom I was met by the skirl of the bagpipes played by Pipe Major Robert Pinkman, of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers regiment (stationed in Colchester at the time). His regimental colleague, Major Stewart Walker, was parading the haggis on a ceremonial salver. There was much hooting in the newsroom and, as is traditional, news editor Kelvin Brown opened a bottle of whisky to toast the haggis and the piper.” Also in the picture, in fits of laughter, is former deputy news editor Iris Clapp, who died earlier this year.

Mr Laurie, who lives in Colchester, was editor of the Gazette’s sister paper, the Maldon and Burnham Standard, when the Gazette launched in October 1970.

In the following decade he edited the Chelmsford Weekly News, had a stint on our group news desk and edited the Essex County Standard.

Then, at the age of 34, came his opportunity to take charge of the Gazette.

“The first couple of years were a bit of a struggle,” he said.

“There was a recession and we were fighting for readers, but then figures went up. Things went well and we got the circulation up to 35,000.

“The paper was healthy financially and I was fortunate enough to have some super staff.

“Everyone was committed and prepared to work hard.

“It wasn’t hard to ask people to go the extra mile. Everyone shared the same desire to produce the best product we possibly could.

“There was always a buzz in the newsroom and everyone shared a great desire to be involved - not just in a starring role but just to contribute and pull their weight.

“I certainly didn’t have to crack the whip too often.

“We cared about our community and one of the highlights of my time at the Gazette was successfully campaigning for a central crash barrier to be installed on the A12.

“It followed a series of serious crossover collisions between Colchester and Chelmsford.

“Until our campaign, there was nothing to stop vehicles crossing the central reservation.”

Peter Laurie with colleagues during his time as Essex County Standard editor. This picture was taken in 1979, the year the Standard won the award as Britain’s best-designed newspaper in a national competition, beating Fleet Street entrants

In terms of workforce, the Gazette was a bigger operation than it is now.

Glasgow-born Mr Laurie, who has been married to wife Pat for 51 years, has a son and three grandchildren, worked with more than 100 editorial staff, including those in the district offices and there were 14 reporters in Colchester alone.

There were also teams of photographers, features writers, sports reporters and sub-editors.

The Gazette then had three editions - one for mid-Essex, one for the coast and one for Colchester - and, being an evening paper, breaking stories could be included up until 2pm. The final edition would hit the streets at 4pm.

Naturally, there were plenty of breaking stories to write about but perhaps the most anxious moment occurred in 1983, during the General Election.

“The plan was to print all 650 results and they were being sent to us in a specially-formatted version by the Press Association,” said Mr Laurie, who left the company in November 1994 and became principal press officer for Essex Police.

“However, there was an electrical fault overnight and they didn’t arrive. We didn’t have anything, despite having previously trailed a huge pull-out in previous papers.

“We were still determined to print as many as possible and pulled together to collate and type them out.

“We wanted to get the paper out on time and give readers the full coverage we’d promised.

“It was certainly one of my most testing moments, but the sense of hopelessness turned to determination.

“The team of editorial staff and printers worked wonders and we pulled it off, despite it being such a huge operation and the fact we’d found ourselves in such a ghastly predicament.

“Overall, I enjoyed my time as editor and hope people would remember me as being firm, but friendly and supportive.

“That was certainly important to me and I always used to say that no-one worked for me - they worked with me.

“We worked together, as a team, and we were all components in a machine, a machine that was hopefully pointing in the same direction.

“We also had a great record for training people and I’m so proud that lots of our staff went on to forge very successful careers.

“They were truly great times.”

Peter Laurie with wife, Pat

In 1996, Irene Kettle became the first woman to edit the Gazette.

She went on to become regional editor-in-chief and also edit the Essex County Standard and took the Gazette to four editions, published on-day and selling more than 30,000 copies a night.

She said: “I am so proud of all the award-winning Gazette team achieved during my editorship. The Gazette was an exemplar of local newspapers.; we campaigned for our communities and made a real difference.”

“The Gazette has always been a trailblazer and my appointment as editor attracted national attention as there were fewer than a handful of women editing regional newspapers.

“It is wonderful the appointment of a woman simply wouldn’t be newsworthy today.”

The Gazette’s first and only female editor, Irene Kettle