A success from the start!
THEY say there’s no better time to launch a paper than in a recession – well, the Review first hit Forest doormats in the severe economic downturn of 1982, and it became an immediate hit.
Founding editor Bill Price and his team set some clear guidelines – the Review was to be ‘Fearless, Fair, Fun and above all Free’. Setting out to be a news magazine rather than a newspaper, it has now been thriving for more than a quarter of a century.
Its growth from those beginnings has been little short of phenomenal. Initially serving the villagers of the ‘old’ Forest of Dean and its market towns of Cinderford, Coleford and Lydney, a major change occurred in 1984 with the launch of a ‘sister’ paper, the Wye Valley Review. Soon after that both papers combined, and the rest is history!
In an area said to be suspicious of change, the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review quickly became accepted as a new and fresh voice for the area. Its open platform and encouragement to readers to have a say has always proved popular: from far Left to far Right, devout Christian to convinced atheist, all views have been aired in its pages, and this will continue.
Now owned by the Tindle Group the success continues. The weekly circulation is now audited at more than 43,000, making it one of the biggest weekly newspapers in the West of England and South Wales.
General manager Nicki Read and editor Ted Lamb lead an enthusiastic and dedicated team determined to take the paper forward – and the web means your Review can reach you anywhere in the world.
In whatever form you read it, the aim remains the same as it has been all along – to keep you informed and offer a platform for your views, and to give you a taste of the area’s traditions, history and peculiarities!