Some interest is being shown in an article by Philip Dalling in the latest Ilkeston Life.
Philip was a young reporter on the Stapleford and Sandiacre News in the sixties. At the time, the paper had a fierce rival in the Stapleford and Sandiacre edition of the Ilkeston Pioneer. Philip recalls how he once got the better of the Pioneer’s legendary reporter George Miller.
Philip writes: “[Scooping] George Miller was rare indeed, given his great ability, long experience and vast knowledge – all achieved despite the fact that his sight was minimal and he used a Braille shorthand machine at meetings.”
George was also a regular contributor to the Ilkeston edition of the Pioneer. The Pioneer office was at the bottom end of Bath Street, opposite the Mountain Top cafe where reporters, including George, often nipped in for a coffee and to find out what people in the town were talking about. (There was no checking out social media in those days.)
Photo courtesy of Stapleford and District Local History Society.
