Editor’s Diary: After The Party


The morning after the night before, and the whole team were on a high – our party had been a resounding success!

The only thing was, we all had aching feet from standing for hours on a hardwood floor in frivolous shoes – and while many team members sensibly opted for comfy shoes the next day, I had to look presentable as a reporter from STV News was coming to film an interview with me.

Filming With STV

With feet uncomfortably squeezed into smart shoes, I headed up to our archives department, housed in a building a few miles from our office, where the filming was to take place. There, I met assistant archivist Barry, and Lynne, the lovely journalist from STV. Filming took about an hour as Lynne asked Barry and me to talk through various items from our archive collection, including the first-ever issue and our famous jelly pan! She produced a really lovely little film that was shown on that evening’s news programme, much to my mum’s delight.

I also managed to snap a couple of behind-the-scenes pictures to share with you – hope you like them.

Drivetime

The amount of press coverage given to our anniversary has been magnificent, and it continued on Friday with a last-minute request to record an interview for BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime Show. I hot-footed it down to the BBC studio in Dundee for a chat with the lovely Bill Whiteford.

By five o’clock I was exhausted – all that talking takes it out of you! But I was also elated by the success of the party and the wonderful warmth being expressed towards the “Friend” by readers, contributors, colleagues and the wider public. It had been a week to remember.

Some relaxation was required, and I unwound over the weekend by going to the cinema to see “Stan And Ollie”, a sweet and nostalgic film about friendship – how appropriate.

Angela Gilchrist

Angela is Former Editor-in-Chief of “The People’s Friend” magazine. Her passions include cats, Highland ponies, good books, vegetarian food and long walks in the Scottish countryside. Her favourite place to get away from it all is the magical Isle of Skye.