The Shuttle

The Shuttle, formerly known as the Kidderminster Shuttle, is a free weekly newspaper distributed to households in the Wyre Forest area of Worcestershire, England on a Thursday. In the Stourport area it was known as the Stourport News, and there was also a paid-for edition, the Kidderminster Times; all three papers have had identical editorial content since 2005 although each had its own masthead front page until April 2006. Since then all three papers have been renamed as The Shuttle incorporating the Kidderminster Shuttle, the Kidderminster Times and the Stourport News. The local office in Stourport was closed at the same time.

The paper remains a local institution in the Kidderminster area, notably with its in-depth coverage of local politics and Kidderminster Harriers F.C..

The Shuttle was first published in the 19th century, and takes its name from the carpet industry for which Kidderminster is famous.

The current editor of the Shuttle is Paul Walker.

The newspaper is owned by Newsquest Media Group which was acquired by the Gannett corporation in 1999. The Newsquest head office is based in Weybridge, Surrey and employs a total of more than 9,100 people across the UK.

The Shuttle (novel)

The Shuttle is a 1907 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, republished in 2007 by Persephone Books. One of Burnett's longer and more complicated books for adults, it deals with themes of intermarriages between wealthy American heiresses and impoverished British nobles.

Plot Summary

Sir Nigel Anstruthers comes to New York in search of an heiress, as he no longer has enough money to keep up his estate, Stornham Court. He marries the pretty and cosseted Rosalie Vanderpoel, the daughter of an American millionaire. But on their return to England, Nigel and his mother control and isolate Rosalie from her family. Many years later, Rosalie's now-grown up sister Bettina, who has spent a decade wondering why Rosy has lost contact with the family, arrives at Stornham Court to investigate. She discovers Rosalie and her son Ughtred, physically and emotionally fragile, living in the ruined estate. Bettina, who is both beautiful and made of considerably stronger stuff than her sister, begins to restore both Rosalie's health and spirits and the building and grounds of Stornham Court in Nigel's absence. Bettina, as an attractive heiress, attracts the attention of the local gentry and re-integrates her sister into society, while also gaining the respect of the villagers by her insistence that repairs be done by local workers.