LOP

In the Beginning

Leicester's Other Paper ran over two years from April 1994 until 1996. Although it was only published once every two months it took up a considerable part of our lives. As soon as one issue was out of the way we had to start on the next.

LOP was a labour of love. There was not an outlet for the truth in Leicester. There was the local paper of course... fondly referred to as the Leicester Mockery... but then, as today, we only get half a story at best... and half of that is wrong.

When they could publish real stories they shy away - perhaps through political pressure or Old Boys' Club connections - more often I suspect, due to consideration for their advertisers.

I was considerably inspired by the original Leicester's Other Paper. It ran from 1792 to 1795 (yes those dates are correct). The logo below belonged to the original paper.
Free speech for all
The idea of publishing the truth was as much of a problem for authorities then as it is now... for his troubles the poor editor went to prison for a year. When he came out he moved to London and lived a successful life in business.

So... yeah, that was it... two years of heady fun producing a magazine written by ordinary people, full of humour and insight.

All the local media ignored us except Cable Seven TV who ran a slot about us. Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye was kind enough to write and say "I enjoyed the magazine...". The Big Issue were about to publish a feature about LOP... when we folded.

Time and money beat us in the end. For those involved, reading, writing or producing, the whole thing was poetry. But that was then... and now, thanks to the miracle of the micro processor LOP is back - as Leicester's Other Website. No deadlines out here and minimal costs.

The complete set of back issues will be online on this site in due course.

So... back to the future then. And remember... one website can make a difference - add your voice to the debate.