Timeline of the Dorset Echo over the last 100 years

May 28, 1921: First appearance of the Dorset Daily Echo and Weymouth Dispatch, published from offices at 2 St Mary Street, Weymouth and printed at Bournemouth.

1921: Echo opens Dorchester district office in a former butcher’s shop in South Street.

1921: Echo opens Bridport editorial district office above Hine and Son, High East Street.

June 2, 1921: Guernsey Evening Press launch rival evening paper at 57 St Thomas Street, the Dorset Daily Press.

January 5, 1924: Daily Press ceases publication.

January 7, 1924: Echo takes over Press premises and prints first Echo on the presses of the Daily Press in St Thomas Street.

March 28, 1925: Echo closes its St Mary Street office and moves all staff to offices in St Thomas Street.

May 4, 1926: Start of General Strike but Echo continues to appear.

May 8, 1926: Echo brings out a morning strike edition.

May 12, 1926: End of General Strike.

February 16, 1928: New two roll rotary press started up by mayor of Weymouth, Alderman Bartle Pye.

October 5, 1929: Dorset Daily Echo launches The Football Echo and Sports Gazette, priced at 1d.

September 25, 1938: For the first and only time in its history, the Echo prints a special Sunday edition to keep readers abreast of the latest developments in the Munich crisis.

September 3, 1939: Outbreak of World War II. Publication of the Football Echo suspended for the duration of the war.

April 2, 1942: Echo offices in St Thomas Street destroyed in enemy raid.

April 4, 1942: Dorset Daily Echo is printed at Bournemouth.

1945: First plans are drawn up for the rebuilding of Dorset Daily Echo.

August 31, 1946: The Football Echo reappears for the first time since 1939 but is printed in Bournemouth.

July 21, 1947: Labour government imposes a cut in newsprint quotas in UK. Subsequent supplies of the Echo to readers are reduced by 20 per cent.

September 22, 1947: Start of rebuilding programme for Echo. Work carried out by Bournemouth-based contractors James Hewitt and Sons who built the Winter Gardens.

1948: Because of an embargo on the use of bricks for commercial work, the government withdraws the licence for the rebuilding the Echo offices. After an investigation the licence is restored and concrete blocks are used instead. June 16, 1949: The Echo is printed at its new Weymouth offices for the first time since April 2, 1942.

July 4, 1949: The Weymouth offices of the Dorset Daily Echo are formally opened by Sir David Ross, chairman of the Royal Commission on the Press.

August 20, 1949: Football Echo is printed for the first time at the new Weymouth offices.

July 1, 1958: Dorset Daily Echo and Weymouth Dispatch is renamed Dorset Evening Echo and Weymouth Dispatch.

June 20, 1959: 38 years of uninterrupted publication is halted by the start of a 46-day long strike called by the printers’ union.

August 6, 1959: Echo is printed after settlement in the printers’ strike.

September 12, 1959: Three weeks into the new football season, The Football Echo is printed for the first time on pink paper.

July 18, 1960: Echo dispenses with subtitle ‘Weymouth Dispatch’ after 39 years, replacing seal across front page with blue Dorset Evening Echo seal.

October 10, 1960: After three months, Echo switches to a green seal.

October 30, 1961: Echo opens editorial and advertising district office in 56 South Street, Bridport, premises previously used by the Co-op.

November 8, 1963: Echo wins a commendation in the annual awards for newspaper design.

May 11, 1968: Falling sales force the Echo to rethink the future of the 39-year-old Football Echo.

August 9, 1969: After an absence of one season, the Football Echo re-launched in hybrid form as Dorset Sports Echo.

May 28, 1971: Echo celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

January 24, 1972: Newly-installed high-speed four unit Hoe rotary press from Sweden used for the first time. Starter button is pressed by Bridport schoolgirl, Gillian Ackerman.

December 5, 1978: Echo editorial staff reject strike order called by National Union of Journalists.

January 27, 1979: Echo journalists face disciplinary hearings held by NUJ for refusing to heed strike call.

February 28, 1979: All 22 Echo journalists expelled from NUJ as punishment for ignoring strike order.

May 5, 1979: Echo finally axes Dorset Sports Echo.

July 31, 1981: Echo sets all-time sales record of nearly 40,000 with sales boosted by 32-page full colour royal wedding souvenir magazine.

August 1, 1981: Arrival of new £1million seven-unit Creusot-Loire printing press built for Echo in France.

April 30, 1983: Simultaneous closure of Echo’s district offices in South Street, Dorchester and South Street, Bridport. Dorchester office reopens in Great Western Road, Bridport office in East Street.

December 1, 1984: Echo reveals plans to say farewell to traditional ‘hot metal’ system of production.

January, 1986: Echo invests £500,000 in latest photo-composition kit.

October 6, 1987: Echo comes second to Britain’s biggest regional newspaper, the Manchester Evening News, in the annual Samuel Storey Editorial Awards.

April 11, 1988: Dorchester district office moves to Trinity Street.

July 5, 1991: Chester-based newspaper group Trinity International leads group of companies bidding for Echo and other group titles.

July 19, 1991: Southern Newspapers fends off takeover bid.

May 28, 1996: Echo celebrates 75th anniversary.

July 7, 1998: Echo wins Newspaper Society award for best feature on Local Newspaper Week.

September 25, 1998: Southern Newspapers changes its name to Newscom and moves to a full listing on the Stock Exchange.

October 15, 1998: Echo publishes property guide in colour as a forerunner to entire paper being printed in colour.

August, 1999: Echo relocates to new £14.2million headquarters on the Granby Industrial Estate.

December, 1999: Three bidders have expressed an interest in making bids for Echo publisher Newscom. Each application must be investigated by the Competition Commission.

January, 2000: Echo launches its business supplement on pink paper.

April, 2000: Dorchester editorial and advertising departments move under the same roof at Antelope Walk.

June, 2000: Newscom is taken over by American-owned publisher Gannett and joins Newsquest, Britain’s third largest regional newspaper publisher.

May 28, 2001: Echo celebrates 80th anniversary.

May 28, 2011: Echo celebrates 90th anniversary.

May 28, 2021: Echo celebrates 100th anniversary.