Pauline Clark, news editor of the Ludlow and Tenbury Wells Advertisers, has died.

She had been ill with cancer for several months but it had been thought she was making a steady recovery – and she had been expected to return to work.

Pauline joined the Advertiser at its former office in Upper Galdeford as a senior reporter in 1995. She moved to the group’s sister paper, the Kidderminster Times and Shuttle, in 1998, but returned to Ludlow as news editor in February 2001.

Pauline (right) started her career in 1970 as a reporter on the Croydon Advertiser. From 1971 to 1974 she was a reporter and theatre critic on the Manchester Guardian, under Peter Preston and Brian Redhead, including a short spell in Northern Ireland.

In the mid-Seventies she edited the journal of the civil service union IPCS, then spent nine months as a freelance in Amsterdam, working for British newspapers including The Times and Sunday Times. From 1975 to 1982 she worked on the Financial Times as industrial relations reporter and worked on news, news features, the City desk and as a sub-editor. She also specialised in Middle East finance and investment markets.

She grew up in Cornwall and was educated at St Austell Grammar School, training as a nurse before turning to journalism.

Ludlow and Tenbury Wells Advertisers’ editor Liz Griffin said: “Pauline was a thoroughly professional journalist who worked tirelessly for the good of the Ludlow Advertiser. She was totally hands-on as a reporter, setting high standards for other staff yet enthusiastically making the time to generate ideas for the paper’s development and to represent it at all levels.

“She earned respect wherever she went for her commitment and I counted myself very fortunate to know that the day-to-day management of the Ludlow office was in her more than capable hands. Pauline fought her illness privately and with great courage, for which we all admired her. We mourn her loss and can only extend our deepest sympathies to her family, whose loss is so much greater.”

Tributes were also paid by South Shropshire District Council, the Mayor of Ludlow, Coun Graeme Kidd, historian and former Mayor of Ludlow David Lloyd, librarian and former Mayor Jenny Smallman and Ludlow MP Matthew Green.

Professionally, she used her maiden name, but she was in fact Pauline Walker, married to Tenbury solicitor Nick Walker. The couple have two children, Jamie, (19), and Tessa, (24).

She maintained regular contact with a huge number of people throughout the Advertiser’s circulation area, in all walks of life. Many of them became good friends. She was popular, well-liked and especially known for her fastidious devotion to impartiality and accuracy, which won her respect in the community.

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