蜜芽传媒

James Naughtie explores history through front page small ads of old UK newspapers.

The classified ads in the Hereford Journal of Sunday 1st January 1800 reveal the stresses of a country at war - from "English wines nearly as good as foreign" to the list of the dead and injured from the Battle of Camperdown.

The list reveals the breadth of races and countries of origin from Malaya to New York in the crews of Britain's triumphant fleet.

Front page news is a relatively late addition to the newspaper business. For most of their first couple of centuries, British newspapers carried classified ads rather than news on their front page. They transformed the hustle and bustle of the marketplace into newsprint, so you could take it home or to the inn to pore over at your leisure.

James travels the country discovering how these front page ads give us a snapshot of time and place, exploring how they weave national and local life together - the heartbeat of history rolling daily or weekly off the presses.

Producer: John Forsyth

A Loftus Media production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2018.