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The one that got away

The 140th birthday of the Western Morning News has given rise to a host of fascinating stories about the history of the Plymouth-based paper.

A detailed account of the reigns of the paper’s 11 editors – up to and including current editor Barrie Williams – appeared in a 48-page full colour souvenir publication, given free with the paper to mark the anniversary.

It included the stories of two famous names who wanted to work at the paper.

One – newsreader Angela Rippon – achieved her aim, but the other – TV chef and seafood expert Rick Stein – was the one who got away.

It was during the editorship of Noel Vinson (1949-1974), the first editor to put news on the front page of the Western Morning News, that the two future celebrities applied to the paper.

It was in the early 1960s that Plymouth-born Angela, then studying for A-Levels, applied for a job in the photographic department.

She told the WMN: “I really wanted to become a journalist, but I would have taken any job going just to get a foot in the door.”

One of her main tasks was tea-making, but she also remembered massaging the shoulders of an old photographer suffering from arthritis.

The newspaper was then based at New George Street, and Angela said: “The smell of the hot metal and ink, and the clatter of the reporters’ typewriters, will remain with me always.”

Later, Angela moved on to the Evening Herald as a reporter before getting a three-year journalism indenture with a weekly newspaper and then moving on to TV. Famously, she became the first woman to read the BBC national news in 1975.

Rick Stein had less luck with his dreams of a career in journalism. He had edited the Cherwell student newspaper while studying for an English degree at Oxford.

In 1973 he applied to his local paper, the Western Morning News.

He told the WMN: “I was offered a position, I think as a sub-editor, by the then editor Noel Vinson. Unfortunately, shortly after the offer was made, Britain went on to a three-day week because of all the industrial disputes. Sadly, the job offer had to be withdrawn.”

The disappointment proved a turning point for Rick, who decided instead to buy the seafood restaurant in Padstow.

Mr Vinson was awarded the OBE in 1972. He died in February 1993.

  • Mr Vinson’s right-hand man for more than 20 years was Crispin Gill, whose memories of Union Street, Plymouth, have also been featured on HoldtheFrontPage. To read that feature click here

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