THE Haslemere Herald is making the news this month as it marks its 110th anniversary. The Herald first made its appearance as the Haslemere and Hindhead Gazette on September 16, 1896. But within nine months, the name Herald appeared on the masthead and that is where it has remained ever since. In the 10 years since The Herald celebrated its 100th birthday, while digital technology has continued to grow apace, the ethos of the successful broadsheet is as rock solid as it was in those early days. From the highs and lows of town and village life, occasions great and small, community issues and a wealth of human interest stories, most important of all, the news remains local. And The Herald retains all those values today despite the onward march of the internet, e-mails, digital photography, mobile phones, webcasts and on-line interviews. Speaking of The Herald's anniversary this week, Sir Ray Tindle, the proprietor of The Herald Newspaper Group, said: "It is a privilege and very great pleasure to write just a few words to our readers and advertisers on this 110th anniversary of The Haslemere Herald. "We are all grateful to those who started the newspaper in 1896. We have endeavoured over the past 40 years, to maintain the high standards that they set in terms of editorial quality and of service to our readers. "This is my 59th year in the newspaper industry and each passing year has added to my conviction that a paper is only as good as its staff. "Here, in The Herald, we have the finest staff any newspaper could possibly have. I am grateful to everyone who brings out The Herald each week in the face of all the difficulties - and I send them, and you, our readers and advertisers, my grateful thanks." To mark the occasion, Sir Ray Tindle has donated £2,000 to help restore the Haslemere War Memorial in the High Street to its former glory and launched a special fund for the project. With the fund now standing at £4,300, with a target figure of £13,000, work is expected to start this month and is planned to be completed in time for this year's Remembrance Day Service on Sunday, November 12. Several of the main issues affecting Haslemere over many years continue to attract much attention, with perhaps the biggest, the A3 Hindhead tunnel scheme due to be opened in 2011. Stories on the tunnel and its previous myriad routes and ways to solve the problem of Hindhead's notorious bottleneck and only set of traffic lights between Portsmouth and London, have filled more column inches in The Haslemere Herald and its letters page than any single issue over the last 25 years. Now the area waits with baited breath for an announcement following a six-week consultation by the Department of Transport over the spiralling costs of the scheme. The costs have more tripled to almost £371million, since it was first formerly announced in the year 2000. The Herald has played its part in helping to save Haslemere Community Hospital beds twice in the past five years. It has highlighted a number of planning issues and the current problems of "garden grabbing" schemes, which some believe could threaten the viability of the town and its infrastructure. But most of all, The Haslemere Herald has survived the changes to keep its sense of community, promote public debate and maintain the fierce defence of its beautiful countryside