Past and present staff from The Crow in Royston have gathered to mark the paper's 150th anniversary.

As part of its celebrations a reception was held at Royston Town Hall, where guests shared their memories of the paper.

Guests included Barbara Doyle, Valerie Evans and Rodney Sillence, whose father, the late Fred Sillence, was editor of the Crow from 1965 to 1981.

Also there were staff from Archant Anglia, publishers of The Crow, including managing director Richard Nicholls, publishing director Gerry Eagling and Mike Almond, managing editor of the Herts and Essex division of the company, as well as Royston mayor Philip Mayne and local council leaders.

In a speech, editor Les Baker thanked all those who had helped to make it a success.

He said: "The Crow has lived through and reported on thousands of events. It has, obviously, changed over the years, but it still remains the local newspaper."

He said the anniversary had given him the opportunity to look back on the history of the paper and come to appreciate those who over the years had shaped the paper.

He said The Crow was in debt to John Warren who had the vision to publish a newspaper, and to others who had had a "remarkable" impact.

He told the audience: "Each of those in the past played an important role in the development of the paper and each of them knew the strength of having a local newspaper in our community.

"We who now work on The Crow have inherited their vision, their enthusiasm, and their dedication."

He added that the success of the paper was not just about producing The Crow each week.

He said: "Without the loyalty of our readers, and advertisers and contributors we would not have achieved reaching 150 years.

"They are the people who are really important to us."