Descent Magazine
Descent was launched in January 1969, as a small-format monochrome publication priced 2/6. That’s 12.5p in today’s money. Bruce Bedford was editor and publisher from the beginning until issue 82 in 1988, and he gave his publishing company several names – see the table below. Bruce wrote an entertaining account of the early years in Descent 210.
The ISSN of 0046-0036 was first used in 1977 for issue 35 and in 1979 the magazine moved to an A4 format for issue 40.
Ambit Publications began publishing Descent in 1983, with issue 55. For the next five years, until issue 82, Bruce remained as editor, while Keith Creighton ran the publishing side, with Sue Dwyer working on the layout. Keith acted as interim editor for issue 83, then Chris Howes and assistant editor Judith Calford took the reins.
Chris and Judith initially worked with Ambit Publications, which changed its name to Gloster Publications (named after the Second World War aircraft) in 1997. They had already set up Wild Places Publishing, with book publication in mind, and in 1998 Wild Places became the publisher for the magazine. This set-up remained until issue 288 in 2022.
Starting with issue 289 in 2022, the editor of Descent is Chris Scaife, working alongside publishing manager Carolina Smith. They are the owners of Stalactite Publishing, based in Kendal.
The table below gives a brief summary of the editor and publisher for Descent from its inception.
| Issue | Editor | Publisher | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-22 | Bruce Bedford | No publisher name | St Paul’s Cray |
| 23-30 | Bruce Bedford | No publisher name | Wells |
| 31-34 | Bruce Bedford | Descent Publications | Wells |
| 35-36 | Bruce Bedford | The Mendip Press | Wells |
| 37-45 | Bruce Bedford | Mendip Publishing | Wells |
| 46-54 | Bruce Bedford | Mendip Publishing | Wedmore |
| 55-82 | Bruce Bedford | Ambit Publications | Gloucester |
| 83 | Keith Creighton | Ambit Publications | Gloucester |
| 84-134 | Chris Howes | Ambit Publications | Gloucester |
| 135-142 | Chris Howes | Gloster Publications | Gloucester |
| 143-181 | Chris Howes | Wild Places Publishing | Cardiff |
| 182-288 | Chris Howes | Wild Places Publishing | Abergavenny |
| 289-current | Chris Scaife | Stalactite Publishing | Kendal |