Oxfordshire journalist John Chipperfield retires after 44 years

John Chipperfield, Assistant Editor of the Oxford Mail, retires after one of the most distinguished careers in regional journalism.

He started out as a fresh-faced 16-year-old schoolboy and went on to spend four decades covering the county's biggest stories and issues, as well as receiving an MBE from The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

John was only a teenager when he first considered a career as a news man. He wanted a Saturday job and while a lot of his friends were going into shops and markets, that didn't appeal.

The schoolboy wrote a letter to the editor of the Oxford Mail at the time, Mark Barrington-Ward, asking for the chance to submit Saturday football reports — to combine his love of football and newspapers. His letter got him an invitation to visit Newspaper House, in New Inn Hall Street.

John recalls feeling excitement and fear at being in the newsroom. The office was filled with the sounds of reporters tapping away at their typewriters. He was hooked and obviously impressed 'BW'

and his team, because he was asked to start writing football reports immediately.

Leaving school later that year, John went to the Oxford College of Technology to do a business course, but journalism was now his goal in life. He had free mornings on his course and signed up for a shorthand course — with 26 girls.

On the first day, the rather austere female teacher walked in, took one look at John sitting among the girls and barked: "Out!"

But once he explained he was there to learn shorthand and not fraternising with the girls, he was allowed to stay.

At 18, John found himself in jail. He explained: "My mother bumped into a prison officer who lived close by. He explained they were looking for someone to help him cover the weekly organ playing at Oxford Prison. I was playing organ at St Michael's, in New Marston, and agreed to help."

The once-a-month favour became once a fortnight and when the prison officer was posted away, John played every Sunday. He held the post for 30 years, often seeing the same faces in court on a Friday and in the congregation at the prison on Sunday.

At the age of 20, he was taken on as a full-time trainee reporter at the Oxford Mail.

After four years of filing sports reports and spending school and college holidays in the newsroom, he was already making a name for himself as accurate and reliable.

He soon got the chance to cover one of the biggest stories of the 20th century. He was at a children's party in Rose Hill with a photographer when they got a call to go to Leatherslade Farm, near Oakley, where the Great Train Robbers had been hiding out.

John found himself on the back of the snapper's 1935 'bone-shaker' motorbike, racing to the scene. When they arrived, Fleet Street's big names were already there. John said it was one of his most exciting days as a reporter. The story made it into the late final edition of the Oxford Mail, with the press being held until 5pm.

At that time he combined his role as a news reporter with covering sport and occasionally his name was on both the front and the back page lead stories. But ambition led him to eventually stop sports reporting and become a full-time news reporter.

In 1968 he took on the job of local government reporter. Unfortunately for John, his editor was passionate about local government. So much so that John would often arrive for city and county council meetings to find Mark Barrington-Ward already in a seat.

Some mornings he would be called in to explain why he had missed an important quote from a meeting. And the said quote would be hurriedly added to his copy.

He kept the job until the reorganisation of local government in 1974, when he was promoted to become deputy news editor.

John moved up to the news editor's chair in 1979 and began what he said was the most rewarding stage of his career and the "best job in the office".

In those days the news editor was on call seven days a week, and despite having a young family, the phone could ring at all hours with alerts about fires, accidents and breaking news stories.

Unlike many others, who assumed the post meant acting like the newsroom's sergeant major, John brought a calmness to the job, backed with a wealth of experience.

He held this most demanding of roles for an astonishing 22 years, saying farewell to five editors in the process.

John recalled the great team around him during those years, ready to respond immediately to the stories in hand and the daily task of finding a compelling front-page lead story.

And he loved the daily challenge of going to work, as the paper was going 'great guns'.

One of John's other great passions came about, somewhat by accident, when he covered a barn dance at Cowley Community Centre in aid of the Oxford Leiden Link with Oxford's twin city in the Netherlands, and left promising to keep in touch.

Two years later, he was asked to host a journalist from Leiden and the next year John visited the Dutch city. He went on to become the link's treasurer and is now in his eighth year as its chairman.

In 1994 John was invited to attend a Royal Garden Party, for his contribution to Oxford Prison, and he was back at Buckingham Palace three years later to receive an MBE.

He said: "I received a letter from the Prime Minister's office and I couldn't believe it. It asked if I would accept an MBE and I thought 'why me?' I didn't think I'd done anything exceptional.

"But I was very honoured, and my wife Marilyn and I and our children Sarah and Paul went up to Buckingham Palace and had a wonderful day. The Queen seemed to have done her homework and knew I had worked a long time on my local paper. It was superb."

In 2001, John became assistant editor, responsible for the letters pages, staff training and reader complaints, as well as compiling the popular Memory Lane pages, unearthing long-forgotten facts and faces from the county's past.

Asked for his career highlights, John listed three: "My spell as news editor. It was fascinating," he said. "It was always a challenge and there was always the next day's edition to get out.

"Secondly, Memory Lane. I'm thrilled to say that people have taken Memory Lane to their hearts and searched their cupboards, attics, everywhere, for pictures and information, which has proved fascinating.

"And thirdly, the highlight of this job has been the chance to meet so many wonderful Oxfordshire people. Over the years I have talked to thousands of people and in doing so learned so much about their lives and the county which I come from.

"I can honestly say there hasn't been a day when I haven't wanted to come to work. It has been a wonderful job.

"I'm now looking forward to getting back to my music — the organ and piano playing that I have neglected a little recently, to my gardening, which I love, and also to spending more time with Marilyn and our two grand-daughters. I will still be keeping my hand in with the paper though."

John will continue to mastermind Memory Lane. He said: "I enjoy it and anything that helps the paper..."

Oxford Mail Editor Simon O'Neill said: "I did tell John that if he dared to make a retirement attempt, he would be sacked. He just smiled and handed me his notice.

"I had played my last card in an attempt to stave off the inevitable end of an extraordinary era. The phrase 'we'll never see his like again' is often used at such times, as a tribute to a departing colleague. In the main, it's not true. In John's case, it most certainly is.

"He is someone I trust and respect. His judgment is flawless and I shall miss his quiet but wise counsel.

"John is quite simply an outstanding journalist and human being; humble, steadfast, dedicated, loyal, dignified, decent and honest. Our newspapers are the poorer for his departure. He can never be replaced. There is nobody capable of filling his shoes."