IT'S a striking thought that this newspaper is so old that, in the very year it was established, people could be hanged in public, not just for murder, as you might expect, but for even stealing a mare and an ox from a farmer.

William Burnett was hanged at the Market Place in Aberdeen on October 31st, 1783, having been apprehended by the farmer, who had found him asleep at the roadside. (According to the Encyclopedia of Scottish Executions, a book that has proved useful on more than a few occasions while I have been researching stories) the farmer thus confirmed a local belief that it was unlucky to bring an offender to justice; he was reduced to destitution, and was last known carrying coals in Aberdeen).

All of this is a way of saying that The Herald has been around for a very long time. Two hundred and forty years, to be precise. It has covered the biggest stories in Scottish, British and world history, and has chronicled daily life in Scotland in all its forms.

The legacy of all of this is a vast archive of cuttings and photographs, currently in the expert custodianship of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. We're proud, too, of our tradition of quality writing, in news, features, comment, business and sport. And we've seen so many changes in the way that people consume news, from print to digital.  

Like many newspapers at home and abroad we've lately discovered a real public appetite for nosalgia: nostalgia, in this case, for stories that reflect trends and discoveries and happenings of long ago. We try to meet this demand in various ways, including the daily pictures in our Remember This ... slot on the letters page.

From now on, though, we'll be making a more concerted attempt to reflect our colourful heritage in the pages of the Herald. Not so much from the decades when the paper was known as the Glasgow Herald, but from more recent times. 

We'll be looking at events and occasions that the younger generation is only now getting round to discovering, and seeking to explain and re-assess their importance.

There is, also, a huge appetite for celebrating Scottish history. To that end, we'll be re-telling the stories of real people and major developments. 

The Herald aims to increase its heritage content across all of its platforms in the coming weeks and months. We hope you find it stimulating and enjoyable. But you have a part to play, too. If there are any stories you would like to see us re-visiting, drop me a line at russell.leadbetter@heraldandtimes.co.uk

If you have any old photographs you would like to share - photographs that tell a story, feel free to email me.