A weekly paper will celebrate its 125th anniversary next week by beginning a series of year-long features about its history.

The North Wales Weekly News will celebrate the milestone on 14 February and is putting together a double-page spread to mark the anniversary for next week’s edition.

It will then publish articles throughout the rest of the year about its history, including interviews with former staff members and archive material from old papers.

The title was founded in 1889 by a local printer called Robert Evans Jones, pictured, when the tourism industry in the area was taking off and was originally called the Weekly News and Visitors’ Chronicle.

This week's anniversary edition of the Weekly News

Editor Linda Roberts said: “We will be starting with a double page spread in our February 13 edition, and then will have a story every week until the end of the year. There are also plans for a supplement in the summer.

“It is remarkable to think that the Weekly News has been around for so long, and to be a part of its history is a great honour.

“We have lots of plans for the celebrations, and we hope our readers will enjoy reading about the paper’s past, present and future.”

She added: “When you look at the first one, there is literally about four broadsheets of paper and there’s lots of adverts on the front page.

“Over the years it has changed dramatically. It used to cover more national news. I am only the second female editor of it.”

The paper's first editor J. Roger Dawson.

As part of its anniversary coverage, the weekly is trying to contact former staff who worked there in the editorial, production and advertising departments so they can share their memories of the paper.

The Weekly News, which covers most of the North Wales coast, has kickstarted the careers of many journalists, who have gone on to work for media organisations including the BBC, the Baltic Times and in China.

It was first based at the back of a newsagents in Conwy then moved to a newly-built printworks in the town around 1900, where it remained until 1972.

The paper then moved to purpose-built offices at Llandudno Junction and the North Wales Daily Post later moved to join the Weekly News there, where the titles remain.

The paper stayed in the Jones family until around 1988 when it was sold to Trinity International, now Trinity Mirror.