Milford on Sea News is now 13 years old and still going strong. Hopefully you are enjoying the journey and we thought you might like to look back to see where we have come from:
OUR HISTORY
We launched our first Milford on Sea village website on 20th May 2008.
From day one we have always loved our independence, and as we take no revenue from anyone this means we can say & do exactly what we like!
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Milford on Sea website: When we decided to create our first village website, it was purely as a hobby and to provide some local information about the village. Over time, the site became pretty dated in style and content, so it was decided to focus on publishing local news articles and the original website now links to Milford on Sea News.
The
www.milfordonsea.org website had
2,068,185 visitors in the twelve years
before coming offline in 2020.
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Milford on Sea News website was launched in 2011.
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This local news website keeps people informed of village news and stories. Some articles are factual, other embellished, and others simply made up!
Since launch in 2011 and to April 2021 there have been 2,077,766 page views, and 2,888 news articles published.
The Milford on Sea News website now has an average of around 40,000 page views per month.
At the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic in February 2020 an even greater number of articles were published in order to keep people informed of services available as well as things happening locally.
During the first Lockdown page views increased to over 80,000 a month and registered reader numbers also increased.
Weekly News Bulletin: Each week we send a
free e-mail News Bulletin to anyone who wishes to register.
As of April 2021 we have
1,979 Registered Readers from a
village population of around 5,000. There appears to be a lot of people interested in Milford on Sea and our readers continue to grow. (
To get your copy please click here to register.)
In April 2021 we published No.607 of our weekly e-mail News Bulletin which informs people of the articles that have been added to the news website that week. Most news articles relate to what is happening in the village, but we also drop in some random articles as you will see below.
Our
most popular ever article 'Hurst Bridge Meeting Erupts' was published on 1st April 2017. If you would like to read it
please click here.
This year on 1st April we published an article entitled;
'Controversial Floating Pier Approved', this is already the most popular article in the past 12 months.
Please click here to read.
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Milford on Sea Villagers on the Doorstep: During the first Lockdown in February 2019 we asked people to send in photos for the
Milford on Sea Villagers on the Doorstep photo album.
Lots of people joined in to brighten what was a difficult time for many.
To view the album please click here.
Milford on Sea Unsung Lockdown Heroes: Throughout the pandemic Milford on Sea had many 'Unsung Lockdown Heroes'.
These are people who have helped others with acts of kindness however large or small and we felt it was only right and proper to recognise them.
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Village Events: In 2010 the first Milford on Sea Food Week took place with celebrity shows in the Cookery Theatre, over 100 food related events involving all of the local eateries and village groups & organisations, and a Sunday Food Market in the village green and streets.
Food Week also took place in 2011, 2012, 2104 and 2016.
From 2013 to 2015 the Great Dining Bus took groups of diners for separate course in a variety of restaurants across the village.
In 2015 there was Love Milford Week with scores of events which promoted local shops, village trade services, small businesses and community groups. There was also an Exotic Car Show on the seafront.
In 2016 a
Queens 90th Birthday Village Picnic was held on the village green by the Food Week team.
Photos from all of these village events can be found at: www.flickr.com/photos/milfordonsea/albums----------------------------------------------------------------------
Village Publications: In 2010 the first
Where to Eat & Stay Guide was launched, this was expanded to various
Village Guides from 2012 and 2015 which included where to eat, shop, stay, visit and what to do.
In 2010 and 2103 there was a
Community Directory published which featured local clubs, organisations, events, home services, charities, churches, kids stuff and lots more.
In 2015 a separate Village Tradesmen & Services Guide was published.
The Where To Eat in Milford on Sea and
Takeaways & Delivery are current guides that can be found in the left hand column on the home page of
www.milfordonseanews.org
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Village Photo Albums: In 2020 over
4,000 historic photos from Milford on Sea were loaded to a Village Photo Album, this includes many photos from years gone by, as well as a number of past village events.
During 2020-2021 the world was devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic and the
Doorstep Photo Album contains pictures of over
200 villagers showing humour and defiance as they were locked down in their homes for many weeks.
See Village Photo Albums here: www.flickr.com/photos/milfordonsea/albums--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connecting the Village: We currently have c.2,000 local people who regularly receive our e-mail News Bulletins, and we know of some people who don't want it at all!
We never really considered that people would enjoy & appreciate what we built, however it appears people do and is satisfying to provide a service with a smile to the local community.
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Join Us!: We are always looking for more village people to join us (That's people who live in the village, not the YMCA pop band!).
So, if you can
spread the word to any friends, family or neighbours who you think would like to get our newsletter, please send them the link to this article, or ask them to complete the registration form
by clicking here. - We can then ensure all of our community are kept informed of local news, which on some occasions contain actual facts!
Thanks for your support and for as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!
