This week we have added 114,456 brand new pages to The Archive. We are delighted to welcome one brand new title from Cheshire – the Crewe Chronicle – which spans nearly 100 years of history with pages running from 1874 to 1972.

Our existing titles have not been neglected either; from London (Harrow Observer, Kensington Post) to Newcastle (Newcastle Journal, Newcastle Evening Chronicle) from Torbay (Torbay Express and South Devon Echo) to Huddersfield (Huddersfield Daily Examiner), from Scarborough (Scarborough Gazette) to Leicester (Leicester Daily Mercury), you’re sure to find fascinating news stories from your local area.

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Our most recent addition to The Archive – the Crewe Chronicle – was founded on the 21 March 1874. Originally known by the much lengthier name of The Crewe and Nantwich Chronicle and Cheshire and North Wales Advertiser, it was established by the editor of the Chester Chronicle. It was intended as a Radical rival to the Tory-biased Crewe Guardian, and appeared every Saturday.

Crewe Chronicle | 11 February 1950

The Beginnings of The Beatles

We’ve been scouring our newly added pages this week to discover very early mentions of The Beatles, given that we have added some brand new pages from the 1960s (Crewe Chronicle and the Torbay Express and South Devon Echo). Crewe is, of course, the best place to start, given its relative proximity to Liverpool from where the Fab Four emerged.

In the Crewe Chronicle we can find mentions of The Beatles in 1962. On 21 July 1962 an advert appeared for The Joe Brown Show, which featured the ‘North’s No. 1 Recording Group,’ namely The Beatles. The venue for this show was the Tower Ballroom at New Brighton, Wallasey, and The Beatles were to play here a total of 27 times.

Crewe Chronicle | 21 July 1962

A couple of months later in 1962, we can find another advert for a Beatles show within the pages of the Crewe Chronicle. This time they were supporting iconic singer-songwriter Little Richard in what promised to be the ‘greatest rock night ever presented on Merseyside.’

Crewe Chroncile | 29 September 1962

We extended our search for early mentions of The Beatles into the pages of the Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. Miles away from Liverpool, this evening title mentions The Beatles in March 1963, where readers are invited to hear the ‘fabulous Mersey beat direct from Liverpool’ at the Esplanade Ballroom, Paignton. Featured artists were The Beatles, as well as Jerry and the Pacemakers.

Torbay Express and South Devon Echo | 29 March 1963

And months later, The Beatles had cemented their stratospheric rise to fame. No longer were they the focus of a small advert on page 8 – they were making front page news. In an article in October 1963 in the Torbay Express and South Devon Echo entitled ‘All Night Queue‘ – 2,000 people are described as sleeping outside in a long queue for tickets to a Beatles show at Coventry Theatre. Theatre officials described the occurrence as ‘fantastic.’

By 1964 Beatlemania had truly taken over the world. The Torbay Express and South Devon Echo reports in August 1964 that The Beatles had been ‘trapped in their dressing room‘ by crowds of teen-aged fans in Seattle. Not only was the sound of the gig drowned out by the screams of the audience, the band were also pelted with peanuts and jelly beans.

The Beatles rehearse for the Royal Variety Performance | Illustrated London News | 16 November 1963

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated ten of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.