I went to school in Manchester in the 1950s. In the first week of term, we were told that there were two things that all Mancunians should be proud of: the Hallé Orchestra and the Manchester Guardian. The newspaper was available daily in the school library. I had never seen any newspaper at home other than the Daily Mirror. I started to read the Manchester Guardian then and continue to do so. Many congratulations on your birthday.
Liz Newell
Sudbury, Suffolk
• Terrific edition of the Guardian on your bicentenary (Times change but the Guardian’s values don’t: 200 years, and we’ve only just begun, 5 May), with so much history and all the reasons why the Guardian is to be treasured. I gave myself an extra treat and went out and bought the print edition as well. The last copy on the shelves at 9am.
So many good reasons for being a Guardian reader but, for me, it is like a friend dropping in every day to wish you well and tell you what is happening. So I have put it in my “contacts”, together with a note of its birthday. I get a frisson of pleasure knowing that every year from now on I will be reminded of my lovely friend, who will be living longer than me. And whoever inherits my iPad will be reminded as well.
David Swallow
Southport, Merseyside
• I enjoyed the coverage of the 200th anniversary of the Guardian. The first thing that struck me when looking at the reproduction of the first issue was the price – 7d. As your analysis inside explains, by some measures this is around £2 in today’s money. However, in 1821, 7d might represent almost a quarter of a labourer’s daily wage – perhaps £20 in today’s money. Most of this price was taxes and duties imposed by a government with no interest in the dissemination of news. Today, many people in Britain can access this news for free, but we should always remember its true value.
Dr Ian West
Broseley, Shropshire
• Wednesday’s Guardian featuring the first edition of the Manchester Guardian and the paper’s history reminded me of when I first read it, 70 years ago. I had just been demobbed from my national service in the navy, and asked my uncle Frank which paper I should read. He suggested the Guardian and I’ve read it ever since. I am now 90. Please keep championing social justice and hold politicians and leaders to account.
Brian Byrne Simmons
Lincoln
• What nostalgia in your cover on Wednesday. I can remember every incarnation of the masthead. My grandfather, Arthur Wallace (ASW), contributed to the gothic font Manchester Guardian from about 1910 to 1939, starting as private secretary to CP Scott and ending up as literary editor. He would have been amazed and delighted that his paper is now read all over the world.
Dale Thomson (née Wallace)
Winchester
• Growing up in a News Chronicle reading family in Dorset, I first heard of the Guardian from a curate at church who had previously worked in Lancashire. He told us of prayer meetings brought to order by the senior member present declaiming: “O Lord, as thou hast doubtless read in thy Manchester Guardian, there is trouble again in Northern Ireland. We beseech thee of thy great mercy …” Later we wondered if the Lord continued his readership when the “Manchester” was dropped from the title.
Peter Woodsford
Cambridge
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