A 40-page supplement has been published to mark the 125th anniversary of the Gazette series in Dursley, Gloucestershire.

It included a focus on stories from years gone by, messages from civic leaders and MPs, and a look at each 25th year's news.

The content also includes major contributions from local historians in the Gazette's heartland towns of Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, plus Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Thornbury in South Gloucestershire.

Editor David Cullimore said: "So much has altered. Our fore-runners who fashioned the Gazette with acumen and vision could not have foreseen how the newspaper - and the world - would change so dramatically.

"But we who have nothing less than the honour to continue the traditional sentiments that led to its creation in 1878 and steadfastly remain loyal to the Bailey family's goal - albeit despite momentous ownership changes in the past few years.

"The switch of a family-owned publication for more than a century, first to a growing national proprietor and then to an international one has meant changes. But the Gazette remains - and intends to remain - loyal to its roots."

He told readers in an editorial column that the celebration supplement was to cement the link between the Gazette and the communities it serves, and to acknowledge that the newspaper was also an integral part of those communities.

The title was owned by the Bailey family for more than a century. The Gazette was then subsequently purchased by Southern Newspapers - later renamed Newscom - and then by Newsquest.

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