Western Mail marks 150 years in print with supplement celebrating paper’s history

The Western Mail has marked its 150th anniversary with a special eight-page supplement on the Welsh daily newspaper’s history.

The title, which is owned by Reach, has also created a public Facebook group for readers to share memories of the paper.

The Cardiff-based newspaper was first published on 1 May 1869. It has been through 15 editors over its 150-year history, with Henry Lascelles Carr being the first to lead its newsroom.

When the Western Mail first hit newsstands, it set readers back by a penny. Today it has a £1 cover price.

In an editorial on the paper’s anniversary, Western Mail editor Catrin Pascoe said: “For an incredible 150 years the Western Mail has been at the very heart of Welsh life as each edition has delivered the news, features, sport and views that count.

“Each day the Western Mail features stories that scrutinise, interest, shine the light, champion causes, investigate, make you care, campaign, fascinate.”

The regional title’s first female editor added: “We have done this through great economic change, and through seismic social movements and fights for equality that Wales has inspired and driven, and we will continue to do this.

“This is particularly important as the indisputable fact is that our title remains a distinctively Welsh voice in a media landscape dominated by London.”

She also praised the Wales Online website – which is shared by the Western Mail and South Wales Echo brands – and noted that the modern newsroom was a “very different place” to the one of the 19th Century.

The Western Mail had an average circulation of 11,719 in the last six months of this year, according to the latest ABC figures.

Reach regional editorial director Alan Edmunds is also a former editor of the daily.

Picture: Western Mail

Topics in this article : Western Mail