A journalist who started his career on a regional daily has written a novel which aims to recapture the lost world of local newspapers more than 50 years ago.

Terry Hamilton ‘s book entitled If Wet in Church Hall, is based on his time at the Grimsby Telegraph, with a photo of him in his younger days gracing the book’s cover.

The e-book tells the fictional story of a young man who becomes a junior reporter on his hometown newspaper in the Sixties and describes the smoke-filled office and clunking typewriters used to hammer out copy.

Terry, who lives in Lancashire and is pictured below, has also worked as a journalist for the Manchester Evening News, Daily Express and Daily Star and still does casual work for the Sunday Express.

Said Terry:  “The story is fiction, but I hope I have captured the world of village fetes, comical drunks in court, diamond weddings, weather stories, and the sadness of covering fatal accidents.

“The characters are fictional, but they are types who will no doubt be recognisable to everyone who has ever worked in a newspaper office.

“Almost everyone smoked while they worked, blissfully unaware of the dangers to themselves and everyone around them, and the hammering away on typewriters made newsrooms noisy places.

“They would probably have given today’s health and safety people nightmares, but they were exciting, vibrant, grubby places. I loved newspapers then and I still do.

“I started my career in my home town on the Grimsby Evening Telegraph, so that was the inspiration for the setting.

“I wanted to record the world of journalism half a century ago, and I hope I bring back some fond memories, too.”

The e-book has been published by York Place Media and is available from Amazon.