Kentish Express#History
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox Newspaper
| name = Kentish Express
| image = Kentish Express.jpg
| image_size = 210px
| caption =
| type = Weekly newspaper
| format = Tabloid
| foundation = 1855
| ceased publication =
| owners = KM Group
| publisher = KM Group
| editor = Robert Barman
| chiefeditor =
| assoceditor =
| staff =
| language = English
| political =
| circulation = 3,209
| circulation_date = 2022
| circulation_ref = {{cite web |url=https://www.abc.org.uk/product/202 |title=Kentish Express Series |publisher=Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK) |date=21 February 2023 |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510174113/https://www.abc.org.uk/product/202 |url-status=live }}
| headquarters = Ashford, Kent
| ISSN =
| website = [http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentish_express/news.aspx]
}}
The Kentish Express is a weekly newspaper serving southern Kent. It is published in four editions - Ashford, Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh, and Tenterden. The title is owned by the KM Group and published on Thursdays.
History
The Kentish Express was founded in 1855 as the Ashford and Alfred News by Henry Igglesden. The first edition was published on 14 July 1855.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentish_express/about_the_team.aspx|title=About the team - Kentish Express}} The paper was Kent's first penny paper after the abolition of stamp duty on newspapers in 1854.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-se/kentish-express/|title=Kentish Express|work=British Newspapers Online|date=22 April 2014}} Three years later, the paper was renamed the Kentish Express & Ashford News.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/km_group/km_group/history/timeline.aspx|title=KM Group Timeline|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316104420/http://www.kentonline.co.uk/km-group/timeline/|website=KentOnline|archive-date=16 March 2016}}
Henry's son Charles Igglesden (1861-1949) took over as editor at 23 years of age, after attending the Paris Conservatoire and a period as a reporter. He remained in post for a further 64 years and was knighted in 1928.{{cite web |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp102776/sir-charles-igglesden |title=Sir Charles Igglesden |website=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=18 January 2025 |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621110641/https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp102776/sir-charles-igglesden |url-status=live }}
Charles Igglesden represented Kent at lawn tennis; Ashford at rugby and cricket; beat Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at billiards, and was a lifelong friend of W G Grace.
His “A Saunter through Kent with Pen and Pencil” newspaper articles, describing 242 Kent villages, were republished as 34 books.
In January 1916, Igglesden was one of the first journalists invited to report from the World War I trenches by Lord Kitchener.{{cite book|publisher=Contemporary Watercolours |date=2018 |isbn=978-0952648062 |title=Sir Charles Igglesden: Sauntering through Kent: Biography and final saunters |first=Malcolm |last=Horton |location=Charing}}
The KM Group bought the Express in 1971.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/km_group/km_group/history/over_150_years_of_history.aspx|title=Over 150 years of history|website=KentOnline|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314010937/http://www.kentonline.co.uk/km-group/history/|archive-date=14 March 2016}} It also purchased the Folkestone Express, which was renamed the Kentish Express (Folkestone) in 2008.
Along with the rest of the KM-owned papers, the Express was given a design overhaul in May 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=30391|title= New KM is aimed at busy readers|first=Sarah|last= Lagan|date=6 May 2005|website=Press Gazette|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616191038/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=30391 |archive-date=16 June 2011 }}
Offices
All four editions of the Kentish Express are based at the KM Group's Ashford offices. The Folkestone and Hythe editions were based at the Folkestone offices until April 2009, when the offices were closed.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/feb/27/pressandpublishing-local-newspapers|first=Caitlin|last= Fitzsimmons|date=27 February 2009|title=Kent Messenger Group to axe 159 more staff|website=The Guardian}}
Circulation
The combined circulation of the four papers in the first half of 2009 was 18,664,{{cite news |last1=Luft |first1=Oliver |title=Just 15 paid-for regional weeklies increase circulation |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=44209 |work=Press Gazette |date=27 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202022625/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=44209 |archive-date=2 December 2010}} a drop of 12.4% against the same period in 2008.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentish_express/news.aspx Kentish Express homepage]
{{Ashford}}
{{Folkestone}}
Category:Newspapers published in Kent
Category:Newspapers established in 1855
Category:Folkestone and Hythe District