This year marks the 130th anniversary of the Daily Echo, and here we take a look back at a large and influential figure in the newspaper’s history.

The late Gordon Sewell was considered one of the south’s most influential minds with his newspaper columns, his books and in-depth knowledge of the area’s history.

He worked for the company for more than 30 years, applying his fine writing skills which brought him national recognition.

A piece written by Mr Sewell on September 20, 1946, about the future of Europe grabbed the attention of the nation’s former wartime leader, Winston Churchill. In December Mr Churchill telephoned the editor, saying he intended to give it wider publicity as part of a speech he was to make.

Mr Sewell published an essay in 1958 in which he warned of what would happen to Southampton in future years if planners were to act recklessly and fail to heed local history.

He wrote “Southampton certainly continues to grow in size and economic importance. The great task of the authorities, it is clear, is to ensure that this development conserves and extends those natural amenities and beauties which have made the town one of the most attractive in southern England.

“A perpetual vigilance is needed to ward off the untidy tanglements that seem to go with industrial expansion.”

Mr Sewell also made his views known about the way in which the local authority tackled the huge undertaking of rebuilding bomb-damaged Southampton after the Second World War.

“Few towns in Britain faced such formidable tasks as did Southampton when peace came in 1945.

"Priority, of course, was given to the housing of the people. During the war about 60,000 of the inhabitants had left the town.

“As they began to return, the shortage of dwellings became heartbreaking as war damage repairs continued and hundreds of prefabricated houses were constructed.”

In his essay, Mr Sewell looked back at the beginning of the 20th century when Southampton was renowned for elegant streets and opulent houses.

“Georgian, Regency and Victorian shop fronts formed the premises in the High Street while Above the Bar, Portland Street and Cumberland Place the well-to-do lived in their town houses. The beginning of the Common marked the end of the urban area, Winn and Westwood Roads representing the latest building development.”

As the Daily Echo’s most senior reporter, not even those who worked with him for years would ever have dreamed of calling him Gordon – he was always Mr Sewell.

He spent a brief period working in Fleet Street before returning to his native and beloved city of Southampton where he continued his career until he retired in 1973, five years before his death.