We have been residents of Sedbergh since March 1982 and have two sons called David and John. We originally hail from London.
We started the Lookaround in March 1986 and, apart from a brief spell, have kept it going between us as a hobby. It is a very rewarding Hobby which helps to keep the community of Sedbergh and District well informed of things of interest in the area.
The very first issue consisted of 4 pages of A5 (One page of A4 folded in half). For the technical minded, we used a Sinclair Spectrum 48K (upgraded from a 16K) and an Epson 9 pin dot matrix printer. Articles and text were printed out on paper then literally cut out and pasted onto the page. Adverts had a little box drawn round them to make them stand out. This 'Master' was then photo-copied. We originally printed 500 but soon rose to 1,000.
After a while, we advanced to an Amstrad 8512 where we were able to created a whole page on the screen and print it out. Eventually we transferred onto the PC's which we have used for many years and developed The Lookaround into what it is today. Issues usually consist of between 72 and 84 pages and we print 1,000 every month.

Dennis & Jacky Whicker

  This first issue consisted of 4 pages. The quality is poor by today's standards as we had to print it out onto plain paper, cut it out then place it on a Master Sheet. The sections were then stuck down and the whole lot photocopied on both sides. In the early days, photocopiers did not like copying on both sides and many sheets either crumpled or got stuck in the machine. This added many hours work to the already lengthy process and many nights were spent producing the Newsletter this way.
  Issue 2 consisted of 8 pages and Personal Ads were 25 pence.
  Issue 3 had 8 pages with an insert.
  Issue 4 grew to 12 pages. Personal Ads increased to 50 pence.
  Issue 8 in October was 16 pages.
  Issue 9 included page numbers because with 16 pages, I was becoming confused - not very difficult at the time. The details of local Children's Birthdays up to the age of 11 appeared.
  Issue 10 had the Issue number on the front page.
  Up to Issue 12, they were all printed black ink on white paper. There was confusion as to whether the new copy was in the shops. From Issue 13, which celebrated our First Birthday, we printed on coloured paper to differentiate between each issue.
  Issue 14 went to 20 pages, Issue 17 to 24, Issue 18 to 28.
  In June 1987, I was interviewed by the local TV station Border TV about our Newsletter which was becoming famous locally.
  Issue 22 in December 1987 saw a change in format. Coloured ink on white paper. Again, this was to differentiate easily between issues.
  Issue 25 featured the local fight to keep the Secondary School open in the light of educational cuts. The Lookaround was instrumental in keeping everyone informed of the progress. Because of the local support given to the school, (95% of the letters sent the Education Department were for Settlebeck) it remained open.
  Issue 27 in May 1988 was my last as I my work moved me away from the area.
  Issue 28 was produced by 'The Lookaround Support Group' who kept it going. The Group did a very good job and put their own personalities into each production.
  In July 1988, The Lookaround won a Top Award in the News & Publications Section of the local Cumbria Village Ventures Competition.
  Issue 45 reached a massive 40 pages.
  The Group kept Lookaround going and in February 1990, I was able to get back into the driving seat and produced Issue 46 which was 32 pages.
  Issue 61 in May 1991 saw a full colour cover which featured the visit of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to Sedbergh to present a new Coat of Arms to Sedbergh School. This issue was 48 pages + the colour cover.
  Another Milestone was in August 1994 when we celebrated the 100th Issue with a full colour cover.
  The next Milestone was the 200th Issue when we were in Full Colour.
  Issue 240 in December 2006 saw 96 pages, the biggest issue ever.
  In June 2002, I began to produce a 'Large Print' version of the Lookaround for the partially sighted in the area and appears in A4 size.
  Under the leadership of Elspeth Griffiths, we produce an 'Audio Lookaround' which is an abridged version of some of the articles which is recorded onto tape and distributed to the Blind members of our community. We currently have 13 recipients of the Large Print and 12 for the Audio Tape.
  Issue 251 in December 2007 consisted of 104 pages which was the largest ever and printed in Full Colour.
  Issue 254 in April 2008 consisted of 100 pages, the biggest ever for a single month issue.

Dennis J Whicker