Modest Guardian woman praised

4:00pm Friday 14th November 2008

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As usual, the ever-modest Ruth Eaton is in the background of the photo printed in the October 8 edition, showing the staff of the Northwich Guardian in the early 70s. But hers is a name that ought to be known to all female Guardian news reporters and readers because she was, almost certainly, the first in the line.

As Evelyn Ward remembers, once ‘all of the reporters were local boys’ and Ruth struggled to persuade the management otherwise. Eventually, she was taken on but to work in the advertising department or admin; she only transferred to the news room after putting forward such a constant stream of newsy stories that the editor finally agreed she should write them herself.

Although at least seven other women appear in the photo, only one – Olwen Evans, now the wife of Mark Bevan, also pictured – was there as a journalist but even when Ollie was taken on in around 1970, she was confined mainly to light news and features.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the Guardian recruited its first woman news trainee – me.

With the recklessness of youth, at interview, I told the then editor-in-chief (Northwicher, Trevor Buckley) I had no interest in fashion, cookery, pets or children and that if he wanted anything other than a hard news reporter, I’d look elsewhere.

Fortunately, by then, Ruth and Ollie had shown women were easily a match for the boys and, despite or, perhaps because, of my cheek, I was allowed to join the news team at Winsford, where puzzled contacts often greeted me with ‘Ah, yes. The Guardian’s young news lady!’ By the time I became Northwich’s first woman chief reporter in around 1983, there were many more female newshounds at work in the group, Ruth still among them. She would have been amused to find herself now part of local history.

One of her regular assignments was writing the regular From the Market Place local history column, which almost always sparked a stream of visitors, phone calls and letters.

She does deserve bringing out of the background, though – for kick-starting the Guardian’s move to finding its reporters among local boys AND girls. And an early From Theatre Court column would be an apt place for it.

PAM BEDDARD Ex Northwich Guardian Now based in Bristol