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An ex-editor recalls
Aleyn Grellier, recalls how he changed the presentation and layout of the Newsletter.
Our family moved into Victoria Cottage in the High Street in 1957 and have stayed ever since, so when in 1987 I was asked to edit this publication I was happy to try.
I had worked as a journalist and editor on various newspapers and magazines and in the 1950s had edited a prestige promotional magazine for the British Motor Corporation. Working alongside experts in graphics, I learned that however good the editorial copy, it could be and should be made more legible, attractive and digestible by the art of layout, illustration and general presentation.
Looking through previous editions of the Newsletter it was clear that it should be produced in a magazine format with a re-shaped front cover with large, bold lettering and full page contemporary photographs illustrating the main features.
One did not have to look far for subjects as Taplow was bounded by the magnificent estates of Lords Astor and Kemsley and the Grenfell family, with the grounds for their leisure pursuits, horse breeding and cricket.
For my first issue, I obtained an article on the 10-acre field, site of the Taplow Cricket Club, founded in 1850 and given to the club by the will of the Viscountess Gage, daughter of Lord Desborough. The secretary, Keith Paskins, wrote of how ‘Messrs. Skindle and Rance and a dozen other founding members’ paid a shilling a month. The article was illustrated with a cartoon by a Bray artist of a 19th century cricketer. For the front cover of the following issue I commissioned an attractive photo of the great marble ‘Fountain of Love’ on the drive at Cliveden House, by then already an hotel. Current topics of debate were argued in an editorial.
I do not believe that any reader likes to be presented with pages of unbroken columns of print. I ensured that every article commenced with a snappy introduction to whet the appetite set in larger type and wherever possible small illustrations and sub-heads were included. Before the introduction of computers, all lettering and words had to be meticulously measured and calculated so I secured the assistance of my daughter Frances, who worked as a print specialist with a design consultancy.
The issues of 1987/8/9 included a main feature on the refurbishment of Taplow Court by NSUK and an interview with the owners of the Cliveden Stud, Louis and Valerie Freedman, who had a Derby winner in their fold. Further contributions were gained from the President of the Society, Leonard Miall, who, having spent eight years in Washington as the BBC’s chief correspondent, wrote about the architecture and occupants of the White House. An indefatigable contributor, Lincoln Lee, produced a fascinating article on Taplow parish boundaries and the Thames ‘strip’ parishes which date from Saxon times.
Correspondence was also sought and letters were printed from George Milne and Tony Hickman, the planning watchman.
Finally I recall with gratitude the co-operation of that most organized of men, Major Dick Nutt, who put everything to bed most efficiently. Dick served the Society first on the Committee, next for 15 years its Secretary and then Editor of the Newsletter - a total of 22 years! Now he is the senior member and the first call for facts and information about the Society and its activity across the years.