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November meeting 07
Our speaker at the November meeting was Terry Fletcher, the Editor of
The Dalesman for the last 14 years. He gave a very interesting account of the magazine's history, starting as an idea of its first editor, Harry Scott, until the present time. Scott, then a senior journalist with The Yorkshire Post, believed that there was a demand for a regional magazine based on Yorkshire peoples sense of identity with the county.
The first edition appeared in April 1939, published from his newly aquired
home at Clapham village. It was an immediate success, and circulation increased rapidly, despite wartime restrictions on paper and printing ink. Scott soon bought larger premises at teh rectory in Clapham, and continued to edit the magazine until 1968, when he was succeeded by his assistant editor, Bill Mitchell, who was in charge until 1988 and greatly increased its circulation. Later editors were David Joy from 1988 to 1993, who oversaw the move from Clapham to the present
headquarters at Broughton Hall, Skipton, and Terry Fletcher himself. He
explained that The Dalesman was now by far the best selling regional magazine and had branched out very successfully into book publication. |