Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Tabloid |
Owner(s) | Newsquest |
Founder(s) | David Walkinshaw |
Publisher | Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd |
Deputy editor | Nicole Garnon |
Managing editor | Kevin Ward |
Founded | 1859 |
Headquarters | Cardiff Road, Maesglas, Newport NP20 3QN |
Circulation | 1,808(as of 2022) [1] |
Sister newspapers | South Wales Argus, Penarth Times, Barry & District News |
ISSN | 1757-3076 |
OCLC number | 500055627 |
Website | Free Press |
The Pontypool Free Press is an English language weekly regional newspaper that was originally published in Pontypool, as the Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills, in 1859 and is circulated in Pontypool and the surrounding area of Torfaen, in south-east Wales.
The Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills was established in 1859, with the first edition on 5 March 1859. [2] [3] It was printed and published in Pontypool, in English, by the proprietor David Walkinshaw. [2] [lower-alpha 1] In 1877 Henry Hughes Junior agreed to purchase the paper, along with the Pontypool Local Register and the Pontypool Almanack, for £1,000 from Walkinshaw. [5] [lower-alpha 2]
The name of the newspaper changed on 5 July 1879, to The Pontypool Free Press, and on 2 April 1909 to The Free Press of Monmouthshire. [3]
In the 1980s, Don Touhig, later to become the Member of Parliament for Islwyn and a life peer, was editor of the newspaper. [8] [9] Touhig worked on the paper from 1968 to 1994, starting as a journalist, and ending as general manager of the Free Press Group. [10]
An edition covering Chepstow was added in 1980, with other editions added later, giving four titles produced by the Free Press Group: [11]
In 1997 the Bailey Newspaper Group, the then owners of the Free Press Group, was bought by Southern Newspapers, based in Southampton. [12] In 1998 Southern Newspapers changed its name to Newscom and, in 2000, was bought by the Newsquest Media Group. [13]
In November 2008 Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd merged the Abergavenny, Chepstow, and Monmouth editions into one edition covering Monmouthshire called The Free Press. The Pontypool Free Press continued as a separate edition. [11]
In November 2011 Newsquest moved the editorial staff to its regional headquarters, at the offices of the South Wales Argus, in Newport, closing its offices in Pontypool and Chepstow. [14] Soon after, Torfaen County Borough Council offered the paper an office at the Pontypool Civic Centre, and journalists now use the office as a drop-in centre every Friday. [14] [15]
The paper maintains a close relationship with the local rugby club, Pontypool RFC, as "Official Media Partner". [16]
The paper is part of a group of papers covering some of south-east Wales, including the South Wales Argus, Penarth Times , and the Penarth & District News. The papers are all based at Cardiff Road, Maesglas, Newport NP20 3QN, with Kevin Ward as Regional Managing Editor and Nicole Garnon as Deputy Editor. [17] The paper is currently released as a tabloid and in 2013 had an average circulation of 5,022 (including The Free Press) with a cover price of £0.40. [18]
Paper, and microfiche, archives of the Pontypool Free Press and The Free Press of Monmouthshire are held at Gwent Archives, Ebbw Vale and Newport Central Library. [3] [19]
An online digital archive of the paper (1859–1869 and 1872–1893) is available from Welsh Newspapers Online. [20]
Abersychan is a town and community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent.
Cwmbran is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Torfaen is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-west and north-west. It is within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire, and between 1974 and 1996 was a district of Gwent, until it was reconstituted as a principal area in 1996.
Monmouthshire is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with other towns and large villages being: Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouth, Magor and Usk. It borders Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north.
Monmouthshire, also known as the County of Monmouth, is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county. It corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig, known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he served in government as an Assistant Whip from 1999 to 2001 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2001 to 2006.
Pontypool is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970.
Monmouth is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The seat was created for the 1918 general election. Since 2005 the Member of Parliament (MP) has been David Davies of the Conservative Party.
Monmouth District was one of five local government districts in the county of Gwent in Wales between 1974 and 1996. In 1988 the district was granted a charter conferring borough status, becoming the Borough of Monmouth.
Fairwater is a community and suburb of Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen, in south east Wales, and was built by the Cwmbran Development Corporation between 1963 and 1966.
Pontymoile is a suburb of Pontypool in Torfaen, South Wales. It is all but merged with the nearby suburbs of Cwmynyscoy and Upper Race.
Monmouthshire County Council is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales.
Gwent is a preserved county and former local government county in southeast Wales. A county of Gwent was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972; it was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent. The authority was a successor to both the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport.
Cwmavon is a hamlet about 2 miles south of Blaenavon and 4 miles north of Pontypool. The hamlet is part of the community of Abersychan in the county borough of Torfaen in south east Wales, and is within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire.
The South Wales Argus is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. The Argus is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) is the local health board of NHS Wales for Gwent, in the south-east of Wales. Headquartered in Caerleon, the local health board (LHB) was launched in October 2009 through the merger of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, and Monmouthshire LHBs. It is named after Aneurin Bevan, a Member of Parliament who represented the area and who was the Minister of Health responsible for the foundation of the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is the operational name of Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board.
Monmouthshire is a county and principal area of Wales. It borders Torfaen and Newport to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north. The largest town is Abergavenny, with the other major towns being Chepstow, Monmouth, and Usk. The county is 850 km2 in extent, with a population of 95,200 as of 2020. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which came into effect in 1996, and comprises some sixty percent of the historic county. Between 1974 and 1996, the county was known by the ancient title of Gwent, recalling the medieval Welsh kingdom. In his essay on local government in the fifth and final volume of the Gwent County History, Robert McCloy suggests that the governance of "no county in the United Kingdom in the twentieth century was so transformed as that of Monmouthshire".
The County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser was a weekly English language newspaper with conservative editorial leanings that was published in Wales.
Watkin George (1759-1822) was an carpenter, engineer and ironmaster from Trevethin in Monmouthshire. He rose from humble beginnings as a carpenter to have a major influence on ironworks at Cyfartha and Pontypool and is responsible for the design of early cast-iron bridges.
Gwent County Council was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran.
{{cite web}}
: External link in |via=
(help)