Special edition celebrating Salisbury Journal's 250th anniversary

Slightly discoloured, ripped in places but otherwise in good condition, it was a copy of a special supplement made to commemorate the Journal's 250th anniversary. 

Published on June 7, 1979, the 250th Anniversary Supplement was free with the Journal, or 15p if bought separately. 

It is a treasure trove, containing a letter from the Queen's private secretary and a potted history of the town and its newspaper from the early days and the founding fathers, through the world wars and up to the then-present day. 

The letter from Queen Elizabeth II's private secretary takes pride of place on the front page, and reads: "The Queen sincerely thanks you and the staff of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal for your kind message of loyal greetings, sent on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Journal's publication, which Her Majesty much appreciates." 

It adds: "The Queen sends her warmest good wishes to the readers and to all those associated with the production of the Journal on this very special occasion". 

The supplement explains how copies of the Journal and supplements had been received by Queen Victoria, Edward VII and the late Queen's grandfather King George V, who thanked the Journal for a copy of the supplement marking the 200th anniversary. 

On that occasion, congratulations also came from Stanley Baldwin, David Lloyd George and Ramsay MacDonald.  

It was at the time one of a handful of newspapers to England to each its 200th birthday. 

Transport links

The front page story reads: "During the last 250 years the Salisbury Journal has been recording the day-to-day happenings and thus the history of Salisbury, and it is surprising how history keeps repeating itself". 

Since the 1930s, it says, there has been a constant cry for a bypass from local traders. Almost 100 years later, those calls remain the same from some quarters. 

"The cry in the 1830s was for the railway", it adds. 

"Fifty years before - in the 1780s - for a canal to link Salisbury and Southampton. The first edition of the Journal in 1729 gave space to the up-to-the-minute idea of making the Avon navigable from Christchurch to Salisbury". 

Page two gives a history of the publication, and 'How bankruptcy changed the course of the Journal's fortunes'.

The reader is taken through the history of the paper and the city in the supplement, with sections dedicated to the war years. 

During the Second World War a census was taken to see how many evacuees the city could cope with, and in March (year not specified) an "enormous crowd" gathered in the Market House to hear the Blackshirt leader, Sir Oswald Mosley, present his views on the role of the British Union of Fascists. 

The Journal's first issues of January 1940 carried a large advertisement from Lord Beaverbrook, founder of the Daily Express and a Government Minister, asking everyone to dig for victory. 

There are also amusing adverts, including the Red Lion Hotel offering its "congratulations to a Thriving Youngster", and Woolworths saying "By George you've done it... and so have we!", adding: "By a happy coincidence, Woolworth celebrates its centenary year this year, although the company is little more than a sapling compared to the grand old Salisbury Journal". 

Readers were also given the chance to meet the staff. 

Looked upon with envy by the current newsroom, the Journal boasted at least 45 staff members in 1979, from the editor Malcolm Harris, to the reporters and sports department to sub editors and photographers, to accounts, administration, reception staff and advertisement. 

With thanks to the anonymous member of the public, and with one eye on the 300th anniversary in 2029, here is to the next 250 years of the grand old Journal!