Editorial
The North East Norfolk Country Churchman' magazine committee's enthusiasm for this Centenary Issue has proved quite infectious in most of the contributing parishes, provoking some really serious and valuable research, when each parish was invited to produce an article on the past. As editor, may I on behalf of the committee and contributors say I hope you will enjoy our concerted effort to produce an issue worthily commemorative of a Hundred years of faithful parochial journalism, production and distribution.
We are only sorry that limitation of space has necessitated the curtailing of otherwise most acceptable matter, and regret too that one or two parishes proved immune to our infection.
Casting our minds back over the Hundred Years of publication we think gratefully of those who each month have striven to write something both of interest and to purpose. Reporting on events past and to come, knowing full well the possible, favour or disapproval, for items or names included or omitted, which could ensue. Also problems of sometimes having to condense material down to the allotted space, while at others finding sufficient of interest to fill it, are very real. A most wide and remarkable range of interests have been covered and both serious and frivolous purposes served, keeping friends, families and parishes in touch.
We think too of the countless distributors throughout the century who in all weathers faithfully deliver monthly, some punctually and some not so punctually, I am told. One who might be described as not so young as she used to be, writes, "My mother and I walked round the whole village delivering it for 15 years. It was 1½ d then and some people would offer us a pound note. One woman said she would deliver it to a neighbour to save us a journey, but the neighbour soon refused to have it as she said her friend read all the news before she did and had all the cream while she had only the skim". A most valuable if seemingly sometimes thankless task. Thank you distributors.
Although advertisements have not been included in this Centenary magazine, both tradesmen and customers have paid high tribute to the value of the columns of advertisements carried throughout the years, and some of the long standing firms have used it from the very first, to this day.
So with this Centenary issue, we look back with thankfulness to God for a century of devoted team work in the production of the monthly magazine, and forward with a prayer that it may continue to flourish in His service.
DONALD PETTITT (Editor)