And Finally...

It is with great sadness that we have to report that The Dankworth and Humpingham Gazette is to publish its final issue next week. The paper has been at the cutting edge of local news reporting for almost a hundred years, never failing to keep the people of Dankworth and Humpingham abreast of all the latest developments regarding jam making, amateur productions of Gilbert and Sullivan and the continuing scandal concerning parking near the junior school.

But in recent years circulation has fallen, a fact which current editor Marianne Hamble attributes to the inevitable influence of the media. "It's changed the way people think about news," she told us. "The internet, twenty-four hour coverage, mobile technology - people can instantly access events as they unfold, anywhere in the world. Our thinly disguised advertising features about a new cafe opening its doors in the high street really can't compete."

The paper's final edition comes out next Wednesday and Marianne promises that it will go out with a bang, with an increased page count of twelve, an historic look back at the now infamous 'dog poo in the park' scandal of 1988, and not one but two columns about how to keep the kids busy during the summer break. But sadly, after that, The Dankworth and Humpingham Gazette will be no more and locals will have to go elsewhere for pictures of face painting, people handing over big cheques and badly staged photos of concerned residents pointing at potholes.