A new book charting the last 150 years of Bridport’s news has been published by former weekly newspaper editor Margery Hookings.

My Kind of Town, 150 years of Bridport’s news, features stories from the past as well as reminiscences by people who worked for the Bridport News.

These include Arthur Townsend, who was a reporter for the News in the 1950s, who recalled that one of the jobs he disliked the most was gathering the names of mourners at funerals.

He now lives in Australia but Bridport holds a special place in his heart because it was where he met his future wife.

Other contributors include photographers Mary Payne and Ron Boshier and former editor David Cozens, whose work in the community at Lyme Regis – where he was key player in the Boys’ Club – earned him an MBE.

Margery, pictured below, said: “The book is aimed at people who are interested in Bridport and its past but are not necessarily looking for a heavy history tome.

“It’s been designed like a newspaper so people can dip in and out of it as they wish – the perfect coffee table book!”

Picture by John Gurd

Margery’s association with the Bridport News spans 23 years.

She worked for the newspaper in three separate stints and became its first female editor in 1999.

Her career included working on the Gemma Lawrence abduction story – being the first journalist to find out about it after a tip-off – and the sad case of Jo Ramsden, a young Bridport woman who went missing in 1992.

As editor, she instigated the Terry Collin award – a competition to recognise sporting stalwarts, as well as Find Fido, where readers had to search for local dignitary Fido May whose picture was hidden somewhere in the paper.

As well as writing, Margery has also run a pub and worked in public relations.

My Kind of Town, printed by Creeds, sells for £9.95 and will be available locally and also by contacting her via e-mail at [email protected] (plus £2 for postage).