A regional newspaper journalist who covered three major disasters during his 45-year career at a Yorkshire daily newspaper is hanging up his notebook.
David Taylor, 63, joined the Hull Daily Mail in 1967 when his first job was a story about the introduction of the breathalyser.
He went on to cover the Flixborough chemical explosion in 1974 which killed 28 people and also covered the Great Yorkshire Show for 42 years on the trot.
For the last 20 years of his career he was based at the paper’s Beverley office but now plans to spend more time with his first love – the countryside.
David, pictured above left at the start of his career and right as he is today, first joined the paper as an 18-year-old fresh from doing his A-Levels at Driffield School.
He recalled: “I just thought you would go out to meet people and that’s what I wanted to do. I’d always had an interest in news.
“I’ve always thought of it as reporting on events that people will want to read about.
“We’ve got a job to do and it’s very important. There are ways and means of doing it. I always try to think about what the people involved are going through.”
On June 1, 1974, David was in his garden at Hutton Cranswick when he heard the explosion at the Nypro chemical plan in Flixborough 30 miles away. David was soon en-route to report on the tragedy.
He also covered the Triple Trawler Tragedy off the coast of Iceland in 1968 and the Lockington rail crash in 1986.
Speaking about predictions of the demise of traditional newspapers, David said: “I still think there’s a future in the printed word.
“The beauty of a newspaper is you can read it, put it down and come back to it. Other media doesn’t offer you that.”
Hull Daily Mail editor Neil Hodgkinson said: “It is testimony to his talent, perseverance and more importantly, ability to get along with people that David has reached this milestone.
“He has been an excellent ambassador for the newspaper and a real example of what is best about local journalism.
“I, and everyone at the Hull Daily Mail, wish him the very best for the future – although I doubt it will be the last time I see his by-line.”
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Good luck Dave – it has been an absolute pleasure working with you both as a colleague and latterly as a rival.
You will be sadly missed in the industry.
Driffield Show will never be the same again !!
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Best of luck Dave. Reading this tribute though, did anyone else think though that one of the disasters DT covered was the Yorkshire Show for 42 years??
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Congratualtions on an incredible stint at the coal face and best of luck with whatever you do next. I’m sure all your colleagues will be sorry to see you go. It was a pleasure to work with you.
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An East Yorkshire reporter spending 3 days covering the Great Yorkshire Show?
Goodness me!
Talk about a lovely jolly!
Shocking
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All the best Dave, hope you have a fab retirement. The Beverley office will never be the same again.
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Good to see one East Yorkshire institution in a journalistic sense (Steve Petch) congratulating another! As for the Driffield Show, I only had to cover it once (thankfully!). Congrats David.
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