Your address will show here +12 34 56 78
Events

From the archive: MNA readers on cruise to the Med

By on

7th May 2019

- Events

Express & Star and Shropshire Star readers pose for a photograph before departing from Wolverhampton for a sponsored cruise to the Mediterranean in 1976.
 
They travelled by coach to Southampton, where they joined the Oriana, the 42,000 ton P&O liner. 
 
During the cruise, they had the opportunity of visiting Monte Carlo, Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompand Santiago de Competela. 
 
To see hundreds of pictures from the Photographic Collection visit photo-archive.expressandstar.co.uk
0
News

Lottery boss praises Express & Star photo archive

By on

7th May 2019

- News

The chief executive of Camelot praised the Express & Star Photo Archive project on a visit to Wolverhampton.
 
Nigel Railton and members of his senior management team were in the city to visit the newspaper and present a plaque to Nirlip Hayre of Mander News in the Mander Centre, which has average National Lottery sales of £17,000 a week.
 
The newsagents has raised more than £400,000 for National Lottery good causes since 2016.
 
The visit to the Express & Star came as Camelot celebrates its 25th anniversary of running the National Lottery this year.
 
Mr Railton, who sat in on the Express & Star’s morning conference, said that more than £2.6 billion had gone to 38,000 projects in the West Midlands over the years.
 
“A press organisation like this really understands the local area and the difference the National Lottery has made to the local community,” he explained.
 
“The National Lottery has been an amazing success story thanks to all the people who have played the game over the years.
 
“It was brilliant to see the Express & Star photographic archive which has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.”
 
Mr Railton, who worked in Birmingham for British Rail for three years before training as an accountant and joining Camelot, added: “It is hugely important to understand how the National Lottery operates regionally and we have been doing visits like this for the last two years all over the UK. It really gives us an understanding of what the National Lottery means to people and different areas.”
 
There are more than 4,400 retailers in the West Midlands who sell National Lottery tickets and Mr Railton said on each visit they went to a retailer to thank them for the difference they made.
 
The team from Camelot’s head office in Watford also visited two National Lottery-funded projects in Birmingham – creative innovation centre STEAMhouse, which has had £500,000 of funding awarded by Arts Council England to Birmingham City University, and the Lapworth Museum of Geology, which has £1.6 million of funding through National Lottery Heritage Fund for its education room.
0
Events, News

Got the purrrr-fect pawtrait of your pet?

By on

29th April 2019

- Events, News

Is your pet picture purr-fect? From cute kittens and top dogs to floppy-eared rabbits and furry guinea pigs – we want to see your creature companions wow the camera.

 

The Express & Star is launching a new competition, inviting pet owners to submit their favourite picture of their pet to be in with a chance of walking away with up to £500 in prize money.

 

We have long been a nation of pet lovers and everyone knows that animals really do make a real difference to our lives.

 

To celebrate our special bond with our pets we want to see your best photos – or Pawtraits – of the animals that are part of your family.

 

They can be easily uploaded online and all pets are welcome – no matter how small, furry or funny!

 

Photos of your pets will feature in a supplement in the Express & Star on Wednesday, June 5.

 

From there you will have the opportunity to vote for the pet that you think has the perfect portrait by sending in voting tokens, which will be printed in the Express & Star daily from Wednesday, June 5 until Saturday, June 22.

 

The overall winner of the competition will secure the coveted title of the Express & Star’s most popular Pawtrait Pet of the year as well as £500 in prize money.

 

So, get your cameras at the ready and get snapping!

Rob Kelly, head of circulation, said: “The Express & Star is launching a fantastic new competition called Pawtrait Pets focusing on our readers’ love of pets. We want to see your favourite photograph of your pet.

 

“This is the first time we have carried out a pet competition and we know that our readers will love to see all these fantastic photos which will appear in a special supplement in the Express & Star on Wednesday, June 5. We are expecting a great response from this competition and cash prizes will be up for grabs for the first, second and third placed pets, after readers have voted for their favourite.

 

“Please read the terms and conditions of the competition and ensure that the photo you send in is of good quality so it reproduces well within the supplement.”

 

* For details go to www.expressandstar.com/pawtraitpets

0
News

Feeling chipper after hat-trick of awards

By on

16th April 2019

- News

A family-run chip shop has been named the best “plaice” for the cuisine in Sandwell – for the third year running.
 
The Port chip shop in Dudley Port saw off fierce competition to be named Chip Shop of the Year for Sandwell in the Express & Star’s competition.
 
Chippies were rated by the number of tokens handed in by readers, while there was also a mystery shopper element which saw the takeaway taste tested.
 
Manager Manny Dhariwal described the hat-trick of awards as “amazing” – and put his success down to customers, staff and quality products.
 
He said: “It’s amazing. It’s great to win it three times on the bounce and the fact we can repeat the quality and the success of it is amazing.
 
“The chip shop is owned by three brothers – I’m the nephew to two of them.
 
“I would like to give a huge thank you to the customers more than anyone else – especially over the years. For them to keep coming to us and helping us grow as a small business is incredible.
 
“The one thing that we emphasise is using quality products – that we don’t negotiate on. We get the best fish, potatoes and kebab and we keep that quality.
 
“The staff are brilliant and their relationship with the customers is fantastic. Without them, we wouldn’t have a smooth sailing ship.”
 
Mr Dhariwal’s family reopened The Port in 2015, marking 30 years since the previous owner shut the doors of former chip shop Guest Fish and Chips.
 
And since then, the chippy has aimed to create a sense of nostalgia among its older customers by offering an unusual 
dish. 
 
“The main thing is that we cook our battered chips in beef dripping to create nostalgia – especially for the older people and that’s a recipe that’s worked for us,” he said.
 
“The heritage of the chip shop is close to 50 years. It was a chip shop then and when we reopened, it’s always had an attraction and a heritage there and to continue that success is fantastic.
 
“It’s like with everything – things are always going up and trading is so hard and the fact we can still run a success business through this time is amazing.”
 
Family-run chippy The Codfather, on Brades Road, came runner-up in the competition. Raan Kandola, manager of the Oldbury-based business, said: “We would like to thank the customers. They are very very loyal.”
 
Despite finishing second, the 52-year-old said it had been a “nice experience” to take part. She added: “We tried really hard this year. But we said at the beginning to all customers, even if we don’t win it’s been an experience.”
 
George’s Fish Bar, on Great Bridge Street in West Bromwich, finished third.
0
News

Picture archive has been labour of love for MNA and partners

By on

7th March 2019

- News

From late relatives to lost landmarks, Black Country residents have been enjoying a trip back in time using the Express & Star Photo Archive.
 
The project, a partnership between the Express & Star, the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton City Archives and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has seen thousands of people view images online dating from 1970s to 1990.
 
The 3,000 images published on the website as part of the £60,000 National Lottery project include photos taken during steel industry operations and during the final years of the mining industry.
 
An archivist, representative from the University of Wolverhampton, project volunteer and a former Express & Star photographer were invited to Queen Street to look at the physical archive and be interviewed by the BBC.
 
Scott Knight, from the University of Wolverhampton, said talks began about the project 10 years ago, and after hundreds of hours of work from volunteers the website went live this week.
 
He said: “Now we’re set up to do more, it’s just trying to get funding.
 
“There’s 800 Second World War pictures which we could do for as little as £1 per photo.
 
“It’s absolutely vitally important for local people to be able to see these pictures.
 
“There are changes in architecture, the industry, the landscape, it has all changed so much.
 
“The page views on the website and the response on social media has been fantastic. We put up a photo of six Payton brothers from Wolverhampton who had been to war and some distant family members responded.”
 
Heidi McIntosh, senior archivist at Wolverhampton City Archives, was also present, as were former Express & Star photographer Dave Bagnall, from Ironbridge and Sue Beardsmore from the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund.
 
Brian Lester, from Kingswinford, volunteered after retiring from his job as a teacher.
 
He said: “You’d look through and occasionally you’d see someone you know who was obviously a lot younger in the photographs.
 
“The interesting thing for me was the social history, how things have changed and how life has evolved.”
 
Chris Leggett, marketing and communications director at MNA Media, said the Express & Star was contacted by a relative of a man in a photo posted on social media.
 
He said: “Someone contacted us and said the man in the picture was their late father and they said they hadn’t got many pictures of him and asked for a copy – it really meant something to them.”
 
 
0
News

Express & Star photo archive makes the headlines on TV news

By on

7th March 2019

- News

The historic digital photos from the Express & Star photo archive made the news when they appeared on the BBC evening regional news on Wednesday.

The project, a partnership between the Express & Star, the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton City Archives and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, was the subject of a four-minute feature on Midlands Today.
 
Watch the video on Facebook: click here
 
The project has seen thousands of people view images online dating from the 1970s to the mid 1990s after the website went live on Monday March 4. 
 
The 3,000 images published on the website as part of the £60,000 National Lottery project include photos taken during steel industry operations and during the final years of the mining industry.
 
An archivist, representative from the University of Wolverhampton, project volunteer and a former Express & Star photographer were invited to Queen Street to look at the physical archive and be interviewed by the BBC.
 
Reporter Joanne Writtle, herself a former Express & Star journalist from the 1990s, visited to look around the archive.

She interviewed former snapper Dave Bagnall, who gave his memories of some of the images featured in the collection, along with MNA director of marketing and communications Chris Leggett, who led the project committee.
 
The BBC also interviewed city archivist Heidi McIntosh, who picked out her favourite images of people at work across the region.
 
Volunteer Brian Lester, who was among a group of helpers who gave the equivalent of 260 working days to sift the shelves, was also featured.
 
And there was a twist in the tail as Midlands Today host Nick Owen surprised co-presenter Shefali Oza with Express & Star archive images of her arrival as a TV weather girl in 1994.
 
Shefali got her own back by presenting Express & Star archive photos of Nick, dating back to his early days as a television sports presenter.
 
As a result of the appearance, viewers rushed to the website after seeing it on the TV news.
 
The number of page impressions generated by users leapt from 450 per hour during the day to 3,000 per hour between 6pm and 8pm.
 
Chris Leggett said: “The photo archive has captured people’s imagination since the website went live on Monday so it was fantastic for the BBC to report on the historic images in such detail.
 
“We can already see in the web analytics that people responded by immediately going online to see the photos for themselves.
 
“Given that the project was funded by a Lottery contribution, it was pleasing to see the public want to know more about their history by viewing images of the region’s past for free online.”
 
The TV appearance was the second time the photo archive has appeared on regional BBC this week. BBC WM 95.8 hosts Sam and Daz discussed the photo heritage on the breakfast show on Monday.
 
The project partnership was set up back in 2008 by the Express & Star with the University of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton City Archives to ensure the printed photos taken throughout the 20th Century were made available to the public via an online platform.
 
Development funding of £59,800 was initially awarded to the partnership in 2014, which includes Black Country community group representatives, to progress their plans. 
 
The Express & Star photo archive has been described as one of the most important regional photograph collections in the country, as it includes photographs of royal visits and speeches by Prime Ministers, through to images of local ways of everyday life which have been replaced in the modern world.
 
The industrial images were selected after a survey of 750 local respondents by heritage development consultants Tricolor Associates showed the subjects the public wanted to see prioritised were industrial history, the War years and the changing local landscape.
0
NO OLD POSTSPage 2 of 2NEXT POSTS