The Hereford Times is celebrating 170 years – and a rising circulation. To mark the anniversary, editor Liz Griffin published a series of articles to explain more about its history, staff and readers.

This is the story of an unsung hero…

With a 40-year-old typewriter, a room full of cuttings and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the local community Reg Michael is one of the unsung heroes of The Hereford Times.

A local correspondent for three-quarters of a century Mr Michael has been supplying the HT with stories about Ewyas Harold and the surrounding area since he was 16.

He said: “I did it for years without being paid. If we didn’t have the news in the HT people would say `Reg, you didn’t put it in this week.’

“When I first got paid it was a penny a line, that must have been in the `60s. Now they give me four and a half pence.”

The last report to come from the Ewyas Harold correspondent was the details of the parish meeting where he was clerk for many years.

He said: “They asked me to do it for six months – and I stayed for 30 years.”

But Mr Michael’s first love is sport.

Still president of the Ewyas Harold football and cricket clubs, he got involved with the paper by sending in reports of local matches, many of which he was involved in.

He then moved on to covering weddings and funerals and local news from Ewyas Harold, Abbeydore and Bacton.

He said: “I’ve enjoyed being a correspondent for The Hereford Times and got a bit of extra money for it. I’ve been doing it for 80 years and I’m still doing quite a bit. I normally have something in the paper every other week.”

“I enjoy reading the paper. You get to know all the local news and what is going on in the district.

“And I enjoy seeing my stories in print.”

Back to the Bygones index

Send us your memories. Write to HoldTheFrontPage, Ground Floor, East Point, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby DE1 3QT, or e-mail us now