BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 In writing this post I do not wish to start a debate on the subject of strikes and industrial action. My interest is in the people and the cutting edge work they did after a dispute. In June and July 1973 there was a dispute at the Nottingham Post which resulted in some redundancy. A group of these workers got together and put up some of their redundancy money to start a free newspaper that would be funded by advertising. The free paper was called Info. The name Info was in a purple/blue heading at the top of the front page. This was produced in the very early days of free newspapers. (Now we are inundated with them and free local magazines.) My dad was one of the people who worked on Info. They worked in the evening at an office that was somewhere on the 16A bus route to Bilborough. My dad caught this bus home as he said the office was not in a very nice area and he did not want to leave car parked there at night. The free paper was very successful for a time but then it ended due to a very sudden lack of advertising. I was told the reason for this but I do not think it wise to elaborate on this point in an online forum. At this time I had married and moved away from Nottingham so I only have very sketchy detail. I am so cross with myself for not talking to my dad about this in more detail. Mum had some copies of Info and I saw these when we went to Nottingham for the weekend. I also remember one night dad being very late home from working on Info and I was so worried I was going to go out and look for him. The last 16A had gone. He arrived eventually and explained that he had been talking to a friend he met at the end of the road. This gave me an insight into how my parents worried when I was out late. When my dad died mum downsized and moved to a flat near where we live so there was a massive upheaval in distressing circumstances and now I no longer have the copies of Info. This is sad as I have no record of the project my dad and his friends and colleagues worked on. He was a compositor who had learned to use a computer. I have tried to find out about this on the internet. Wikipedia has a history of the Evening Post and describes the dispute in 1973 and it states that journalists produced their own paper with no mention of the compositors involved and no name of the newspaper. Wikipedia can be incomplete and sometimes misleading. Nottstalgia members have such a wealth of knowledge and information I am hoping that someone out there will be able to help me answer some of these questions: Does anyone remember having a copy of Info delivered to their house or picking one up somewhere in town? Has anyone got a copy of this paper in their archives? Does anyone know someone else who worked on Info? Can anyone suggest a location where the office of Info might have been? I will be so pleased if anyone has any information about Info. I am so annoyed with myself because I did not talk to my dad about this in any great detail. Also I am very concerned that Info seems to have been missed out of Nottingham newspaper history meaning that the efforts of a group of entrepreneurs who worked hard to start up their own business has not been acknowledged and accurately recorded. Thank you for reading this rather long post. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 I don't remember 'Info' but there was another Newspaper started by ex Nottingham Evening Post staff due to the strike (70s?) I seem to recall the name 'Nottingham News'? Their office was on Derby Road on the left coming up from town on the left. And think it was up a set of stone steps with an iron handrail? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Looks like the building accessed from the right hand arch steps? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,458 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Re: Info. If you haven't already done so, there are two places you could contact who might have more information on the subject. The Local Studies section of the Central Library http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/article/22325/Local-Studies-resources And The Nottinghamshire Archives http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/whats-on/archives/visiting-archives 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 I'm waiting for a reply to my email from a lady who worked at the NEP all of her life, just about. She knows a retired NEP compositor as well, so you never know, keeping fingers crossed ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TRD 196 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 There were some offices, and something to do with newspapers, at the bottom of Beechdale Road where it meets the ringroad (opposite the swimming baths). Don't know if that's the place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Enigma. 1,533 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 i think that used to be the offices for Nottingham Topic magazine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Many thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies. I do need to visit Nottingham local studies library and archives. Thanks Cliff Ton. I will follow the links you have given. Mick2me the Nottingham News was the newspaper produced in December 1978 to January 1979 by the 28 journalists who were sacked by the manager of the Post. It was sold on the streets and had huge public backing according to news reports. Catfan it would be brilliant if your contact knows about Info! Thanks. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Have made contact with my friend ! She well remembers the sackings & the name of the the new publication It was The Nottingham News which you already know. This lasted about three years. More information about this story is available on line at http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/evening-post-strikers-reunite-30-years-on/id/2466 I have PMd you BilboroughShirley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robbie 39 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 I am sure I read somewhere that the journalists strike and subsequent sackings of 78/79 resulted in the closure of the Guardian Journal but I could be totally wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,458 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 I think you're nearly right on that Robbie ! The Guardian Journal closed after an earlier burst of industrial problems in 1973; the Post was always at war with itself in those days. And I think I remember reading that the circulation of the GJ had fallen to such low figures that the management were looking for a way to close it down anyway, as it was totally uneconomic; so the unions helped them with that problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robbie 39 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 It looks like I have got my dates all wrong again Cliff Ton, it's becoming a regular occurrence. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 The time line of changes and disputes is a complex one Robbie! I have just delved into my archives to remind myself! I found the letter my dad got from Tom Forman Hardy, dated 1st July 1963, saying that the Nottingham Evening News was to be discontinued and offering him employment at the Guardian Journal newspaper on Forman Street. On the letter heading the newspapers are listed as: Guarian Journal, Nottinghamshire Guardian, Nottingham Evening Post, Nottingham Evening News, Football Post, Football News. This meant that dad and the other staff moved "over the road" (as they used to say) to work at the Post office on Forman Street. The building they had been working in was the one on Parliament Street that had the Watson Fothergill tower as the front office entrance. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bamber 128 Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 NUJ, NGA, NATSOPA, SLADE, SOGAT, and probably a few more of the alphabet soup of trade unions in the newspaper industry that I have forgotten, were vehement in their opposition to the Evening Post's plans to replace hot metal with new technology. 40 years on and I guess we know who was right. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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