TWICE editor of the Gazette David Cullimore retired yesterday after a lifetime in provincial newspapers.

And he said how much the industry had changed in his career which spanned almost 47 years.

"When I started as a trainee reporter there were no such things as faxes. Computers were something in science fiction. Most households didn't even have a phone. It did mean you gathered the news by leaving the office," he recalled. "Most people did not run to a car so you travelled on foot, by bike or bus.

"Today the whole world has speeded with instant communication via email, both in word and picture, from almost anywhere to anywhere. Papers are also deluged with news releases and hand-outs and you could fill an issue without ever leaving the office, though it would be a poor product.

"So regrettably the job, while it has never lost its occasional glamour nor the excitement of chasing a breaking story just before press time, has become much more desk-based and frankly there are far fewer people employed than there used to be."

Mr Cullimore, 65, began his career on the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald in Devizes, which also served as a district office for the Swindon Evening Advertiser. Then came time at head office, later covering Marlborough.

After a couple of years in Workington, Cumbria, on the former Cumberland Evening Star and weekly Star he moved to the East Midlands as chief reporter on the Long Eaton Advertiser and Stapleford and Sandiacre News, becoming news editor and then editor for 14 years.

In 1985 he returned to his roots - his grandfather and forebears came from Cromhall - as deputy editor of the Gazette, later succeeding John Cox as editor in 1991.

Successful roles from 1995 saw him as production editor and then training officer for the then Gazette owners, Bailey Newspaper Group. He returned to a stint as a reporter before becoming editor again in 1999.

Following sale of the company the paper went through what he termed a sticky patch and the paper had to regain its credibility and authority.

"This we succeeded in doing but it took lots of hard work and dedication by all the staff. Now the Gazette has its reputation back," said Mr Cullimore. "I'm pleased to be handing over to a new editor who can build on our achievements.

"Weekly newspapers like the Gazette must never lose sight of the fact they are essentially community-based and at time must be even parochial. That is what makes them different and special."

Mr Cullimore says he will be taking a break, enjoying "doing not a lot" and catching up on travel and reading, but is not ruling out looking for a challenge, possibly in some journalism training overseas.

His With the Pirates column in the South Gloucestershire editions which he has written for 20 years will continue. "Perhaps this season there might even be something for the club to shout about!" he said.