The Long Eaton Advertiser has been the weekly newspaper for the town since it was first published in 1882 by Messrs. Bewley & Roe of Derby. The original Long Eaton office was near the Old Bell public house in the Market Place. Ten years later, Messrs. Gallimore & Hooton bought the newspaper and formed the Long Eaton Advertiser Company Ltd., with five others as directors. Mr Gallimore was Long Eaton Branch Manager of the Derby & Derbyshire Bank and Mr Hooton was a lace manufacturer. For the next 20 years the newspaper was printed by Frederick Willman of Mansfield, with the editorial work carried out from various premises in both the High Street and Main Street. In 1928 the company moved to premises in West Gate (since closed) where both composing and printing machinery was installed for the production of the Advertiser. In the 1990s the newspaper was bought by the Loughborough Echo group of newspapers. It is currently printed at Coventry Newspapers Ltd., Corporation Street, Coventry using over 55% of recycled paper in its production. The local office for the Long Eaton Advertiser/Stapleford & Sandiacre News, is now at 13 Derby Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1LU. The average weekly sale between January - June 2001 was 4,911 copies. A link to its website, Hold The Front Page, can be found on our links page.
The first issue of the Long Eaton Advertiser on Saturday August 5th 1882 said in its opening article:
"Newspapers can speak for themselves. The Long Eaton Advertiser, whose first number we beg to introduce today with a few words, will soon appeal upon its own merits to the public for support, or fail through its demerits to propitiate popular favour. All that we have to say in its behalf is to ask for a fair field and the exercise of an honest judgement. There is undoubtedly an opening for a local paper in the town and district, and we can see no reason why the requirements of the place should not be specifically supplied at the same time that the wants of the other flourishing communities in the Erewash Valley are attended to. As the demands of Long Eaton increase, we shall endeavour to find means to meet them. Without further preface we leave our readers to form their own opinion of the new venture."The newspaper has always spoken out on important issues such as local health matters. As the town grew it was in need of a better water supply and sewage system but it wasn't until 1885 when the town pump became contaminated and a drain emptying into it was promptly stopped up. The Long Eaton Advertiser stated:
"The health of the district ought to be considered before £.s.d. A supply of pure wholesome water in Long Eaton would be a blessing....."In 1912 the Long Eaton Advertiser suggested that the town needed more industries. The lace trade was suffering from one of its periodic depressions. Again in 1919 the paper made a similar observation, but noted that during the First World War one or two new industries had appeared.
Over one hundred years later, the newspaper is still concerned with public health matters. The October 18th 2001 issue states:
"Long Eaton's public toilets are to be given priority in an upgrade despite calls for more money to be spent in the villages...... A senior council officer said there were 23 public conveniences in the borough...... But one woman told the forum 'We all pay our rates. Why is it just Ilkeston and Long Eaton? Everyone wants it.' Another councillor said 'Out in the sticks we don't matter. Labour doesn't think the villages are worth bothering about.'"The Advertiser also reported that Erewash Borough Council were considering getting rid of the Romorantin Fountain as it was being used as a public toilet and a rubbish bin and they consider it a health hazard. We shall have to wait and see...
The following is taken from the Jubilee Supplement of the Long Eaton Advertiser in 1933 of J. B. Maskell's recollections.
"From 1865, when I commenced my duties at Messrs S. J. Claye's Works, where I continued for 48 years, in that year the works were being considerably extended, and were finding employment for a large number of men. Starting from the railway crossing we should first notice the iron gates leading to Manor House, in which Mr and Mrs Claye and their family then resided. Across the brook were two farmhouses, Bramley's and Edward White's, on the site of which now stands Claye's Erecting Shops. The Homes Closes of these two farms are now built on: Acton Road, Nathaniel Road, Oaklee Mills. The cattle pound and pinfold was hereabouts.There have been other local papers circulating the town over the years. The Long Eaton Pioneer (a local edition of the Ilkeston Pioneer) was produced between the 1890s and the first few years of the 20th century. Two other papers, The Long Eaton Reporter and The Long Eaton Star, were around between 1913 and 1920.On the right hand side of Main Street were six villas built by Mr Claye, and tenanted by Mr Newsum, Mr Gaskin and other officials. On the opposite side the only buildings were Mr Maltby's house, Heaps Grocers Shop, and the Old Barn Chapel, with some old cottages.
The Primitive Methodists commenced their services in Chapel Street, and in the same street were the first gas works, which had an unfortunate start, the gas-holder being blown over in a violent gale. This part later became the Co-operative stables. Other old cottages led up to the Bush and Maltby lace factories.
On the east side there was one house and four small cottages between Mr Newsum's and Station Street corner. The two corners of Station Street were allotment gardens, and a small farmhouse, Tebbuts, stood where Zion Hall and Chapel were built. A row of almshouses called the 'Little Row' occupied the site where the post office and some big shops have since been erected. On the west side a footpath called 'The Twitchell' led from Station Street towards Sawley Lane, passed some old cottages called 'Temperance Row'. This site is now filled by the Royal Hotel, West Gate, and the new Advertiser buildings.
The First National School was built in 1864, on land given by Mr Claye. On the north end of the Market Place where the National Provincial Bank stands, was the house for the former Parish Clerk, Mr Hickinbottom. Opposite, what is now Regent Street corner, was an old farmhouse belonging to Mr John Smith, who was Churchwarden for over 50 years. This site is now occupied by the Westminster Bank.
Over the canal bridge (in what is now Derby Road) there were no houses in 1865, only fields and gardens. A solitary farm stood somewhere near where Canal Street is today. The vicarage was the first house built on Wilsthorpe Lane (Derby Road) and others gradually followed. Across the railway (Toton Gates) the old 'Coffee Pot Hall' was the only house in the Nottingham Road district. The three canal bridges at that time were of the steep, narrow, switchback pattern, similar to those at Draycott and Sandiacre. Owing to traffic increase they have been replaced by wide, modern structures at Derby Road, Tamworth Road and Longmoor. The cemetery was opened on Saturday 2nd April 1884. The land for this, and also West Park, was purchased from the Harrington family. The 'eighties were the days of the old Long Eaton Rangers, who defeated all comers, and included winning the Birmingham Cup among their virtues, beating West Bromwich Albion in the final. Cricket was also a popular game in those days.
The River Trent is sometimes a dangerous neighbour, and many serious floods have been experienced. One of the worst was in 1875, when the writer had the experience of helping to navigate some of the side streets on a raft and handling coal, bread, etc, to the imprisoned householders through the bedroom windows.
The National School was the only school until 1876 when the High Street Board School was opened. Long Eaton had much to thank the Midland Railway Company for amidst the worst depressions of the staple trades, the railway men must have helped to keep things going, and Toton Sidings has been a remarkable mainstay to the district. In 1865, the Midland Line commenced at Hitchin and the passengers for the Midland Counties departed from Kings Cross. Third class passengers on the slow train took five to six hours to go from London to the Erewash district. Trent Station was opened in 1862, and trains from the south usually divided into three sections, one to Nottingham, one to Derby and the other for Chesterfield and the north.
The lace trade has seen many ups and downs, and in its most prosperous periods the machines would be going 20 hours a day. There are numerous small businesses of great variety in the town. One is the tobacco business introduced by Mr Josiah Brown when he came to Long Eaton in 1871, a genial and popular character, an excellent musician and a fine bass singer. Rowland Hill, who came into public notice a few years later, was also gifted with great vocal and musical abilities.
Speaking of music, when I retired from the position of organist at the Parish Church in 1907, after 38 years of service, I thought that I had established a good record, but that record has since been exceeded. Mr E. Swift has played at Zion Church for nearly 50 years, and Mr Carver at Station Street Baptist, 52 years. There are others in the musical world who are so well known that it is hardly necessary to refer to them, but the names of Mountney, Garnett, Pattison, Turner and Gaze-Cooper may be sufficient to indicate the high musical standard that Long Eaton has reached in these latter years.
Old established families in the town have done their part in making Long Eaton what it is today, including the Wallis family, Smiths, Crowes, Sheldons, Parkers, Winfields, Hooleys, and others too numerous to mention.
Those of us who are spared to look back from 1934 to 1865 can realise the remarkable changes that have taken place during that period. If any of the present generation were able to come back and look around in about 70 years time, what sort of place will Long Eaton be then - say, in the year 2004AD."
You can email the Long Eaton Advertiser at: la_newsroom@mrn.co.uk
Most of the above information was taken from The Book Of Long Eaton by Keith Reedman.