Page 21 - link magazine

Swindon Wide

It all started 30 years ago

HRH Princess Anne at the official open-
ing of Greendown Community School on
Members of West Swindon Women’s Institute in 1987 23 March 1987

From The Archives with Link Computers and desktop producing The Link was a
founding publisher Roger Ogle publishing software was in its part-time hobby without
March marks the thirtieth year infancy and very expensive. So, realising what went into
since Link magazine first appeared producing a magazine was still creating an informative, accurate,
as a regular monthly, commercial a really physical, long winded well designed publication.
publication. activity. Instead of a typewriter Hitting the print deadline so that it chance to win a video recorder, if
As I explained in January, The I started working with a design could be in the hands of distributors you signed up to cable TV offering
Link as a community newsletter company and spent much of at the right time has always been the 15 channels including Home
had been produced every six weeks January and February that year imperative. It was only missed on two Cinema showing 28 films a week.
since December 1978, but having talking to advertisers and collecting occasions, including the first edition What a contrast to today.
grown from 500 to 8,000 copies, and writing stories which still when I turned up at the designers on For somebody starting a new
it was time for a step-change to had to be typed and delivered to press day to make finishing touches enterprise with only limited
provide more regular community the designers for typesetting and to discover they had not even started experience on how to deliver the
based news which would expand to layout. I also set up a darkroom at work on typesetting the stories and product and without any business
keep up with the continued growth home in our utility room to develop adverts, or scanning the photographs, background, it was a huge learning
of West Swindon which was film and print photographs. let alone laying out the pages. It curve to create a readable and
planned to be 11,000 homes. Thankfully businesses bought into was a nightmare at the first hurdle, financially viable publication.
As the first chair of governors at the idea of a monthly magazine eventually overcome later that day Unquestionably the support of
Greendown Community School, focussed on West Swindon, after a dozen people worked at top advertisers should be recognised,
which had opened to its first intake and gathering news and asking speed. without them Link would not have
in September 1986, I was one of contributors to write articles was Other stories which featured in survived as long as it has. And as
the first to know that Princess quite straightforward. The tough the April 1987 edition included the business grew we were able to
Anne would perform the official job was actually writing the pieces announcements for the housing employ an advertising salesperson
opening ceremony on 23 March for the rest of the publication development at Peatmoor and and also part-time writers.
1987. The occasion was a good which took up much of March until the agreement to build Shaw In all the years it has been going,
target around which to launch the the royal opening. Ridge Leisure Park. The Chinese I’ve not come across any other
new look magazine. Whereas the newsletter averaged Experience restaurant was due before comparable publication with such a
As a newsletter Link stories 8 to 12 pages, the magazine was Thamesdown Council’s planning high level of editorial whilst being
were typed onto paper then cut going to be 32 pages, and once committee and we reported that the delivered to homes in such large
and pasted on layout sheets, the first edition was published, the last committee meeting had rejected numbers free of charge.
and Letraset stick-on lettering next one was due just four weeks an application to build an all-terrain And thirty years on, in parallel
was used for headlines. It was later. It was a daunting thought, vehicle track on Shaw Forest Park. with our success, Greendown School
very crude in appearance. As a and became a feature of life for We described the council’s efforts to has now achieved great things.
monthly magazine The Link was both myself and my wife and explain HIV/AIDS in a leaflet to be Now Lydiard Park Academy, it is
going to have a more consistent business partner Ruth until the distributed to every household in the one of the top performing schools
look, yet still be entirely funded by magazine was bought by James town. West Swindon librarian Linda in the town and a multi-academy
advertising and given away so that Phipps in August 2014. Many is the Black wrote about a day in her life trust working in partnership with
every household receives a copy. time people would suggest that and Swindon Cable advertised the Isambard School in North Swindon.

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