History in the making

This week is an historic occasion in The Oban Times' 157-year history.

Over the years the newspaper has seen many changes – starting out in life as an A6 monthly magazine to the broadsheet newspaper you hold in your hands today.

But today’s broadsheet is special, because it is the very last one to be printed in this format. In fact, this week’s Lochaber Times & Oban Times is the last broadsheet weekly newspaper published in Scotland.

From June 7, just to prove that great things come in small packages, we are changing our format from broadsheet to compact, heralding a bold and exciting new era for your favourite local paper.

Why have we done this now, you may ask? Very simply, you told us to.

We carried out a reader survey last year and from almost 1,000 responses 94 per cent of readers said that a change in format would either encourage them to read the paper more often or would make no difference to their reading habits. You spoke and we listened.

We appreciate that change can sometimes bring uncertainty, but you can be assured that the new-look Lochaber Times & Oban Times will carry all your favourite features, with a few more surprises introduced along the way.

We will continue to champion everything that is good in Fort William and Lochaber, as well as keep our readers as informed as they have always been. We will just do it in a lot more pages and with a fresh new look!

We hope you like what you see next week, and we would value your feedback on the changes, so please drop us an email to fort@ obantimes.co.uk and let us know what you think of the new format.

The longest serving member of staff at The Oban Times, Davie Buchanan, was given the privilege of outputting the very last front page of the newspaper in its broadsheet format. Davie, who has worked for The Oban Times for 53 years, said he would find...