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Editor makes the news

Editorial staff have paid tribute to their long-serving editor who is retiring at 62.

Dave Low was at the helm of the Hoddesdon & Broxbourne and Cheshunt & Waltham editions of the Mercury newspaper group.

Staff paid tribute to the “kind, caring and understanding” newspaper chief who joined the company in 1964 and has spent two-thirds of his life in the industry.

Dave started out as a cub-reporter on the Bucks Standard based in Newport Pagnell.

During National Service he was posted not to the Far East where he wanted to go, but to the War Office based in Stanmore, Middlesex, because of his shorthand skills.

He returned to the Bucks Standard, where he became chief reporter, then moved on to the Northamptonshire Chronicle and Echo.

He then joined the Middlesex County Press at Uxbridge, where he was in charge of the Hayes and Harlington edition, before becoming a sub-editor.

Dave’s next move was to the Hertfordshire Mercury in September 1964 as a trainee sub, where he became sub-in-charge of the two editions covering Cheshunt & Waltham Cross and Hoddesdon & Broxbourne.

After a brief spell at the Herts Advertiser in St Albans he returned to the Mercury series as deputy editor of the Lea Valley Mercury and later became editor of the paper which was split into two editions.

His retirement plans include enjoying the summer then “taking stock” in the autumn.

  • His successor as editor of the two Mercury editions is Ian Rogerson, who has been working on their sister paper, the Hertfordshire Mercury, as senior sub-editor for the past four years.

    Ian was previously editor of the North Herts Comet series before moving to the South Coast to edit a weekly paper in Bournemouth. He then worked on daily publications, the Evening Echo in Bournemouth and The News in Portsmouth.

    Ian paid tribute to Dave’s editorship and said: “Dave has worked hard over the years to put the Mercury on a solid footing and I will endeavour, along with the support of a dedicated and hard working staff, to continue the good work.”

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