A Fond Farewell to our readers
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The final print editions of the Advertiser in Turriff, Inverurie and Ellon see us say a fond farewell to our dedicated print edition readers in both the home towns of the titles and across the wider north-east.
For generations, stretching back to the very first edition of Turriff back on December 15, 1933, we have been proudly covering the communities of Turriff, Inverurie and Ellon and championing local causes and organisations.
Founded by father and son William and Robert Peters who were previously staff at the Banffshire Journal, they took over the business of Cyril Lely of the Garden Press in Turriff.
The very first edition comprise of only four pages and was prepared in a building which stood on part of the site that is the current Turriff Academy.
At the time the announcement at the top of the page read "Since taking over the business of Cyril A Lely of the Garden Press, we William Peters and Son are grateful for the liberal patronage we have received from the public of Turriff and District in our general printing department.
"It has been suggested to us that a weekly distribution of an advertising medium would be welcome and patronised by traders.
"We have resolved to give this a trial.
"The object is purely and simply and district advertising medium.
"If favoured with the necessary support, a copy will be delivered in every household on a Friday of each week and also in the country districts free of charge.
"I think we may be pardoned for pointing out that as an inducement to traders that this our weekly advertising medium will find its way into every home in the Burgh and generally throughout the surrounding district.
"That judicious advertising pays is the opinion and experience of shrewd businessmen.
"We have no ambition to attempt anything in the nature of a newspaper.
"Local events coming our way in very brief may appear from week to week as any notes that may occur to us of Turriff in bygone days which may be of interest to readers."
The paper increased in size and distribution and changed to a newspaper format around 1948.
First to grace the editors chair was Donald Noble from the Arbroath Herald assisted by Jack Webster who would go on to forge his own career in journalism.
Next to take the role was Ian Howard, followed by John Murray who oversaw the first Inverurie edition.
He was followed by Edward Balloch, known for his work with Kemsley newspapers and in 1957 the Ellon edition of the paper was launched.
By 1958 the paper had grown to an eight page broadsheet costing 3d.
The sudden death of Mr Balloch in 1975 saw John Morrison formerly of the Banffshire Journal take over, to be replaced by Kenneth Moar and Jim Banks in 1988.
In 1979 the format changed to a 16 page tabloid and the first female editor Joyce Summers took over in 1991 after the death of Mr Banks.
She remained as editor until 2007 when Jan Mackie a former reporter with the title stepped up as editor, where she remained for a total of 11 years before the final print editor, David Porter took on the mantle in 2018 following her leaving the firm and the subsequent transfer of ownership from W Peters to Scottish Provincial Press in June 2019.
As the paper has developed and changed over the year's so to have reading habits and now more readers than ever are now opting to get their local news online instead of printed newspapers every week, with over 50,000 becoming registered users of our titles and 20,000 signing up to receive regular email newsletters.
We remain committed to covering the communities of Turriff, Ellon, Inverurie and the wider Aberdeenshire area.
To that end, local content will continue to be published on the Grampian Online website, produced by journalists living and working in the patch they cover.
HNM Publishing Director Steve Barron said: “We are confident that these changes in strategy will allow us to cover the area in more depth and deliver an enhanced experience for our readers."
Our digital subscribers are growing at an annual rate of 75 per cent – evidence that there is a strong appetite for the content our teams publish.
And we remain committed to serving the communities we cover by holding individuals to account while being a campaigning voice and championing great causes.
Weekly email newsletters for these communities, which are free to access, are being launched and can be accessed at https://www.grampianonline.co.uk/newsletter/.
