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Chief photographer who covered ‘Cod Wars’ for regional daily dies at 70

A former regional daily chief photographer and “brilliant newsman” has died aged 70.

Tributes have been paid to Mike Scott who worked at the Grimsby Evening Telegraph throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

During his time with the Telegraph, Mike spent one Christmas in the North Atlantic covering the ‘Cod Wars’, a series of confrontations between the UK and Iceland over fishing rights, for the newspaper aboard a Royal Navy frigate.

He also once successfully engineered a photograph of Princess Diana holding a copy of the Telegraph while boarding an aeroplane.

MikeScott

Mike, pictured left covering a Grimsby Town game, died on New Year’s Eve after a long battle with lung disease.

Former Telegraph assistant editor Patrick Otter said: “For those of us who had the pleasure, and most of the time it really was that, to work with him, he will be remembered as a photojournalist whose artistry with a camera brought a whole new perspective to life during those two decades.

“His quick wit brightened many a dull day – yes, we did have them occasionally during those halcyon Evening Telegraph days – and whose sheer personality went before him, much like a bow wave precedes a ship.

“He was never happier than he was off, with his camera gear over his shoulder, ‘on a job’. It mattered not whether it was a golden wedding or a car crash, he loved being behind the lens, cajoling his subjects with that winning smile of his and the inevitable wise cracks which were his stock-in-trade.”

Mike moved to Oban, Scotland, with his second wife Margaret after taking redundancy from the Telegraph. More recently he had moved to Belford, Northumberland, to be near his daughter Beth, and is also survived by his son Chris.

Former colleague Ray Corke said: “Scotty always had a fag on in his hand and he was always full of the old chat. That’s the sort of guy he was. He was a loveable rogue and he did get into trouble later.

“But when I first joined in 1968 we ended up working together for between 20 or 30 years. He helped me a lot when I first came here. He was very helpful and generally a good bloke.”

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  • January 28, 2017 at 7:59 pm
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    I was a ‘young reporter’ on the Telegraph in the 70s. Going on a job with Scotty was so damn exciting. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. If it was a ‘house on fire’ or a ‘police incident’ he would just drive straight up to the front door in one of the company’s beat-up old cars, point his camera and start work – with me on his coat tails trying to keep up and look the part. Top man in those days….

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