Bridlington Free Press editor Selwyn Dunford will say farewell to the newspaper next month when he retires after almost 50 years in journalism.

Selwyn plans to put down his notebook and pen and enjoy an easier life away from headlines and deadlines when he leaves on March 19 – his 65th birthday.

He has edited the weekly Bridlington Free Press, along with its sister title the Gazette and Herald, for the past seven years and has enjoyed a varied career on local, regional and national titles – starting out at the Barnsley Chronicle in 1955 where colleagues included Michael Parkinson.

Selwyn joined the paper as a junior reporter, gaining his proficiency certificate and getting a good grounding in local news and learning about local government and the courts.

He then moved on to the sports desk, as assistant sports editor and later sports editor, reporting on all manner of sports, including a Barnsley cricket team which included Geoffrey Boycott and Dickie Bird.

From Barnsley Selwyn moved to Fleet Street to the Methodist Recorder where he would spend eights years in two spells, first as a sub-editor and later as deputy editor.

It was here where he became known as the man who turned down Andrew Lloyd Webber.

He said: “I was one of the youngest at the newspaper when I first worked there and looked after the youth page where people would send items in.

“I was sent some music from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to review and, not knowing much about music, I put it to one side for someone else to do.

“I don’t know what happened to it but I know it never got into the paper.”

Returning to Yorkshire, Selwyn joined the Yorkshire Post when he spent three years, and after his second stint in Fleet Street he joined the Bridlington Free Press, then owned by Scarborough Regional Newspapers, as deputy editor.

He has spent the past 25 years working for the same company, which was taken over by EMAP in 1986 and Johnston Press in 1996, and spent time on the Scarborough Mercury and Driffield Times before returning to the Free Press as editor.

He said: “I love working on weekly newspapers and being part of the community.

“I never saw myself as an editor but I’m glad I took the job on and have found the past seven years very rewarding.

“It’s been a demanding job and now I want to relax and spend more time with my wife and family.

“But I think I will miss the pressure of the job. We have a good team here in Bridlington now and to pick up the paper each week and see what we have produced still gives me satisfaction after all these years.”

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