EVESHAM's talking newspaper is approaching a landmark in its twenty-year history, writes Phil Sunderland.

The newspaper for the blind will release its 500th edition on September 4, and to celebrate the occasion, it will be including a tape called the 500th special edition guide.

This will tell the history of the paper and come complete with Evesham poet Mike Edwards' Centennial Birthday Greetings poem, recently penned for the Queen Mother's 100th birthday.

Also included on the tape will be a summary of some of the most memorable stories from the Vale and thoughts from some of the original contributors involved with the paper over the years.

The story of the talking newspaper goes back to 1970, when a professor from Aberystwyth came up with the idea of a newspaper for the blind.

This caught on in Evesham ten years later and editor, retired schoolteacher Tony Geden and his team of newsreaders, now approach their 20th birthday.

The tapes are compiled from two weeks' worth of Evesham Journals and Evesham admags. They are released every fortnight and more than 100 are sent in freepost wallets to the "listeners".

The tape consists of the best and most relevant stories of the two weeks, although Tony stresses it's best to keep them as concise as possible so interest is maintained.

The stories are read alternately by a male and female voice, just like you would expect to see on a news bulletin.

Births, deaths and marriages are also included on the tape, so people can listen out for names they may recognise from the Vale.

Tony says it takes about two hours to compile a tape, which is recorded at a studio on Queens Road, Evesham. The tape is normally recorded on a Monday and distributed on Wednesday.

Every year the talking newspaper has a party for its "listeners" and so maintains good contacts with them.

They also like to compile quizzes for the listeners and supermarket chain Tesco are always willing to supply a £15 shopping voucher for the first correct entry and a £10 voucher for the second prize.

Past quizzes have included voices of famous comedians and other famous people from the past. This year's subject will be politicians and parliamentary figures from the past.

Tony says that they have just finished recording the Christmas tape, which will feature carols from Kings College, Cambridge.

The tapes are not just distributed around the Vale, one of them is sent to an ex-Vale resident who now lives in Salzburg, Austria.

It just goes to show that the word of the Evesham Journal goes beyond the Vale.