 The initial idea for the magazine in 2004 was just to do a small, free magazine to circulate around Cornwall, in the South West United Kingdom with a population of about 500,000.However, by July 2005, Gilchrist's leadership of "Stranger" was recognised with awards for best marketing strategy and best promotion of Cornwall.Not everyone was as impressed with the magazine and in February 2006 a detractor posted on a website that "Stranger" presented the most "banal, misleading and downright disgusting portrayal of Cornwall ever."