View source for Severn Valley Railway News

[[File:SVR_News_200_Cover.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Severn Valley Railway News]]
'''Severn Valley Railway News''' ("SVR News") is the quarterly magazine of the [[Severn Valley Railway Company Limited]] provided free to its members, and on sale for £5 {{As of|2024|lc=y}} at [[List of shops|SVR shops]]. The first edition was published in November 1965, three months after the [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1965-1969#1965|meeting at the Coopers Arms ]] which resulted in the formation of the [[Severn Valley Railway Society]]. The most recent edition, issue 227, was published in Autumn 2024. 
	
==Format, publication and distribution==
The earliest editions of SVR News served the purpose of publicising the Severn Valley Railway Society.<ref name=SVR50>SVR News 50, David Williams, ''Fifty Not Out''</ref> The first issue took the form of type-written foolscap sheets with some hand-drawn and photographic illustrations included. It was produced on a hand-operated duplicator at [[John Garth]]’s factory in Lye.<ref name=SVR40>SVR News 40, David Williams, ''Ten years of editing''</ref> Issue 2 (February 1966) was produced in the same manner but with the pages folded in half to produce a booklet. 

Issue 3 (July 1966) under the new editorship of [[David Williams]] reverted to the unfolded page layout. At the time the Society membership had reached 300 and David's brief from Secretary Bert Cleaver was to produce four magazines and eight other newsletters per year (the latter were discontinued five years later after 37 issues in December '71).<ref name=SVR40/> Further issues of SVR News were produced in the same format every 3 to 5 months ending with issue 10 in October 1968.<ref name=SVR50/>

By the end of 1968 membership had risen to around 3,000 and hand duplication was becoming unworkable. Issue 11 (January 1969) was the first to be commercially printed and bound in the A5 booklet format which is still used today.<ref name=SVR40/> It consisted of 24 pages including the outside covers<ref group="note">Since mid-2015 the front and rear covers have been included in the page numbering, thus the first inside pages of a 64 page issue will have the list of officials on page 2 and the contents and editorial beginning on page 3, with the back cover being page 64. Before that time page numbering excluded the covers, with the contents and editorial being on page 1. All numbers of pages quoted are consistent with the present method.</ref>  and was wholly in black and white.  Issue 14 (Autumn 1969) was the last published by the Society with issue 15 (Winter 1969-70) the first published by the [[Guarantee Company]]. Simple colour bands appeared on the front cover from issue 26 (Winter 1972-73), while a one-off colour photograph was used on the cover of issue 28 (Summer 1973). Colour photos on the cover became a regular feature from issue 34 (Winter 1974-75), although they did not appear in the magazine itself until the centrefold of issue 110 (Spring 1994). Other colour photos began to appear increasingly from issue 115 (Summer 1995), although contemporary black and white photos were still in use as late as SVR News 160 (Winter 2007-08). Since that time pictures have been wholly colour apart from historical photographs.    

The number of pages also increased over time, while varying from issue to issue depending on the amount of content available. By the end of the 1970s issues were typically 48 pages, rising to 60 pages by the end of the 1980s. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw typical issues of 76 pages, with the greatest number of pages being 88 in issues 128 (Autumn 1998), 136 (Summer 2001) and 137 (Autumn 2001). After that time the number of pages began to decrease, partly to save postage costs. Since mid-2015 the 'standard' has been 64 pages with occasional issues of 72 pages. 

Issue 209 (Spring 2020) was packaged in an environmentally-friendly potato starch envelope but due to an issue with some members not receiving their copies, distribution has since reverted to using a compostable paper envelope.<ref>SVR(G) Annual Report, 31 December 2020, Chairman's Statement</ref> Some other material may also be distributed with the magazine such as the Guarantee Company accounts and AGM paperwork or appeals leaflets. Issue 210 (Summer 2020) included ''The Way Ahead'', a [[2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic|COVID-19]] themed supplement.

{{As of|2024}} the SVR has around 10,172 members. 9,000 copies of each edition of SVR News are produced with approximately 8,000 being sent to members (joint members receive one copy).<ref>SVR News 220, Winter 2022, ''General Information''</ref>

The Guarantee Company first announced in SVR News 215, Autumn 2021 its intention to offer the option of digital publication and distribution. {{As of|2024}} this is still intended<ref>Severn Valley Railway Company Annual Report 2023</ref>.

===Typical contents===
*Details of the Officers of the [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#Current_Organisation|current SVR organisations]] and departmental structures
*An editorial and summary of the content
*Diary of events
*Managing Director's and Severn Valley Railway Company Chair's notes
*Notes from various railway departments
*News items
*Letters to the Editor
*Obituaries
*Branch meetings
*Small ads

Although SVR News is a magazine of the Guarantee Company, it covers the Railway as a whole and frequently includes material relating to the other [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#Current_Organisation|SVR companies]] and [[List of preservation groups|preservation groups]].

==Editors== 
*The first 2 issues were produced by Paul Wyers.  
*[[David Williams]] took over as editor for issue 3 in July 1966 and continued until issue 224, Winter 2023/24, stepping down after more than 57 years in the role.<ref>Heritage Railway issue 313, p.106.</ref>
*Paul Appleton, from issue 225.

==Back copies==
Many of the [[List of shops|fundraising shops]] on the SVR have old editions of SVR News for sale, although the first ten editions are very rarely found due to the manner in which they were produced.

==See also==
*[[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#Current_Organisation|Current SVR organisation]]
*[[List of preservation groups]]

==Notes==
<references group="note"/>

==References==
<references/>

==Links==
[http://www.svrsig.org.uk/ SVR S&T website] with a library of S&T notes from edition 151 onwards 

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