The award-winning Brighton Argus has been redesigned to give it a sleeker and cleaner look that makes it easier to read.

The new look offers fresher news, sport and features pages – and a new title which dropped the word “Evening” from the masthead.

As part of the celebrations, the paper carried this story of its early days – when news really flew.

The first edition of the Argus was published on March 30, 1880, from an office in North Street, Brighton.

It cost a halfpenny, comprised four pages and had only adverts on the front page.

It was named after an ancient Greek mythical giant with 100 eyes and the editorial of the launch day said: “What better name for a modern newspaper than that of the watchful personage who had a hundred eyes?”

At the time, a General Election was about to put Gladstone back in power for the second time.

The editorial assured readers: “The Argus will be more than a mere election record and will present all the best features of a well-conducted evening paper.”

Stories in the first edition’s news included an attack by Afghan tribesmen on a British fort, the appearance of Benjamin Davis, a labourer, and his wife before Hove Petty Sessions on a charge of being drunk and riotous in Goldstone Villas and a teachers’ conference in Brighton.

One of the best-known reporters in 1897 was Sidney Walter Evans, who covered rural Midhurst and Horsham. The area had no buses and few telephones so he cycled to stories, averaging 30 miles a day, and carried a knuckleduster to ward off muggers who lay in wait on rural roads.

Urgent news was sent back to Brighton by carrier pigeon and Evans carried a basket of six with him.

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