WHEN the Warrington Guardian was first published in 1853 the then editor Alexander Mackie could never have envisaged the possibility of it still being the leading source of news in Warrington 170 years later.

As times have changed so has the Guardian in terms of its design, its content and how it is produced.

Back then it was an eight-page broadsheet with no pictures – massively different from the Guardian of today.

The paper was printed at the same office as the reporters and advertising staff work. Stop the presses was a phrase actually used.

But times have changed.

Now we are a seven-day operation, with a weekly newspaper published each Thursday and 24-hour online website, along with all of our associated social media pages and community Facebook groups from Twitter to Instagram and TikTok to Facebook. Our videos and picture content is as important as a 500-word story.

But it’s fair to say there have not been many occasions when we have had to adapt to change as quickly as we have done during the past couple of years.

As is the case with many businesses our Centre Park office closed to the public for most of 2020 during the pandemic leaving our small team to continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure we could bring you the very latest news each day.

Every page of the newspaper was put together on laptops from the homes of our journalists across Warrington – from Great Sankey to Appleton – before they were sent to our printing press down the M56 in Deeside.

Meetings were done via video call, whether that’s internal team updates or reporters following council and court hearings.

Now we are back doing what we do best, to help those who need our support during good times as well as bad, whether that’s highlighting the dedicated work people are doing in the community, providing publicity for those wanting to get their message out to the public, or speaking out on behalf of those whose voices aren’t heard.

We campaign to back our town’s businesses and shine a light on the efforts of our key workers and NHS.

Our audience is higher now than it has ever been as more people come to us as their first port of call for the latest breaking news – wherever and whenever that may be.

And we remain at the forefront of the industry across the country. Just last month the Warrington Guardian was a winner at the Regional Press Awards in London, where the best of the best of regional newspapers from across the UK were celebrated.

And our mission remains the same as it was in 1853. To tell the story of our town every day in the most interesting, accurate and up-to-date way.

Here’s to the next 170 years.