Worcestershire | Archive | 2002 | October
WHETHER he's the likeable everyman who gets the girl in Sleepless in Seattle, lost on a desert island in Cast Away, or even as the voice of a toy cowboy in the Toy Story movies, Tom Hanks always seems to be the good guy. more...
IT was a daunting prospect, but I think it sort of worked out," veteran British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins says about revisiting Hollywood's favourite psychopath, Hannibal Lecter, for a third time. more...
ARE the days of the suave James Bond numbered? Is he about to be usurped by a louder, brasher new spy hero, more in tune with the rave generation? more...
UNCONFIRMED reports via a Boer source claimed Capt Vernon, son of Sir Harry Vernon, from Hanbury Hall, had been killed at Mafeking, in South Africa. more...
AT a meeting of Bromsgrove Rural District Council members heard a report by Dr Swete that there had been 23 births this month -- nine boys and 14 girls. more...
THE guardians at Bromsgrove's workhouse advertised in the Messenger for a cook. The successful applicant could expect a salary of £20 per year to include board, food and washing -- but not beer. more...
BOURNHEATH was in mourning following the death of the five-year-old son of Mr and Mrs Fox. more...
THE father of little Fred and Bessie Wall complained to Bromsgrove School Board -- which oversaw the area's schools -- that they had been savagely caned by Mr Jones, headmaster at Rashwood school where they were pupils. more...
CECIL Harmsworth, mid-Worcestershire's Liberal candidate in the forthcoming General Election, spoke to supporters at a rally in Aston Fields, Bromsgrove. more...
POTENTIAL landlords made their way to the sale of the Red Lion Public House, in Alvechurch. Bidding started at £300 and, after some spirited competition, it was sold to Henry Ward for £545. more...
A LOYAL Bromsgrove Rovers fan wrote to the Messenger suggesting townsfolk should show their appreciation of the club's recent success by going to more games. more...
FREDERICK Rutter, of Bournheath, was charged on a warrant for being in arrears for £1 4s 6d (£1.22.5p) in regard to an order made by the bench calling on him to pay 3s 6d (17.5p) a week towards the support of a child of Amelia Griffin. more...
BROMSGROVE Rovers' impressive unbeaten run since October 14 ended when they lost 1-0 to Birmingham Junior League's bottom club, Windsor Street Gas, at the Nechells ground. more...
ALTHOUGH no longer a rarity on the roads, a motor car still attracted considerable attention. more...
THREE Bromsgrove bakers appeared before town magistrates charged with failing to carry proper scales on their carts while delivering bread. more...
BROMSGROVE Urban District Council elections broke all records this week -- more residents placed their vote and John Brazier, who headed the list, polled more votes than any other candidate before. more...
BEN Juggins, Walter Perrins and Alfred Hall, three lads from Aston Fields, found themselves in front of Bromsgrove magistrates charged with annoying residents of Factory Road by playing football with a paper ball. more...
THE Easter holidays were marred by gale force winds which never let up from Good Friday through to Tuesday. Even the oldest Bromsgrove residents could not recall such a "boisterous Easter", the Messenger said. It seriously disrupted outdoor activities such as cycling and football and many people preferred to stay by their firesides. more...
ABEL and Leo Jelfs, from Catshill, appeared before Bromsgrove magistrates charged with assaulting their other brother, Heber. The three were involved in a brawl on Heber's Horse Course allotment in the village after a disagreement over the land. The bench dismissed the case against Leo but fined Abel 1s (5p) with 10s 6d (52.5p) costs. more...
A YOUNG pauper living at Bromsgrove Workhouse, said to be a bad boy and incorrigible, had been given nine strokes of the birch rod for breaking windows and stealing. more...
A RECENT farm fire at Bournheath, near Bromsgrove, where firemen had experienced serious problems obtaining water with a hand operated pump, led to renewed calls for steam equipment to be purchased. more...
FIFTY students who worked hard through the winter learning French and shorthand were put to the test during end of term exams. more...
THE half-yearly Court Leet and Court Baron of Lord Windsor was held at the Town Hall. more...
THE parents of Pt William Dyers, who lived in Stourbridge Road, Bromsgrove, learned this week of his death from dysentery while serving with the 2nd Worcesters fighting the Boers in Bloemfontein. more...
HE sudden death of William Llewellyn, from Elmshurst, a Bromsgrove worthy in the true sense, saddened many townsfolk. more...
100 years ago more...
CHARLES Gibbs, aged 31, a baker by profession, appeared in the dock at the Worcester Quarter Sessions charged with stealing various items, including clothing, from his employer, Charles Taplid, of Upton Warren. more...
ALL Saints' Church, in Bromsgrove, took space in the Messenger to advertise its forthcoming garden fete at the vicarage. Included in a packed programme would be a parade of decorated cycles, a gymkhana, maypole dancing and a washing competition. Admission was 6d (2.5p) and 2d (1p) to park bicycles. more...
A PECULIAR accident happened in Sidemoor, Bromsgrove. Mr Waldron, of Catshill, was driving in Broad Street when the seat of his cart tilted back and Mrs Giles and Mrs Horton, who were riding with him, were thrown to the ground. Dr Rowland was sent for and it was found both women had severe bruising. more...
EDWIN Docker, north Worcestershire coroner, held an inquest at the Turk's Head pub, in Worcester Road, Bromsgrove, into the death of Edward Wallis, of Peter's Finger. The nailer died the previous week in unusual circumstances. His wife, Ann, said the 48-year-old was in good health but addicted to drink. She found him lying dead on his bedroom floor. A doctor said there was no definite fracture to his skull, but a clot of blood was pressed on the brain. Both his liver and kidneys had stopped working from alcohol abuse. The jury returned a verdict of death from excessive indulgence in alcohol. more...
EVESHAM Technology has said jobs could go following its strategic acquisition of a computer company in Wales. more...
100 years ago more...
A BUSINESS manager has been named top student on the part-time law degree course at Worcester College of Technology. more...
WITH the soft fruit season now in full swing, the courts would be kept busy during the next few weeks dealing with what Bromsgrove's police chief, Supt Jeffreys, called "fruit picking nuisances" -- travelling casual workers. more...
PIZZA company Domino's says it will create 15 jobs when its new store opens in Malvern Link later this month. more...
CHARLES Tandy was hauled before Bromsgrove Petty Sessions charged with being drunk in charge of a pony and trap in Stoke Heath. more...
A WORCESTER accountancy firm has been voted one of the top four medium-sized accountancy practices in the country. more...
TWO Droitwich soldiers, who had been invalided home from the war in South Africa, took part in a procession at Droitwich horticultural show held in Brine Baths Park, courtesy of John Corbett. more...
BUSINESSES in the two counties are being invited to participate in a Trade Exhibition in Russia. more...
SUPPORTERS who packed into the Roe Buck pub, in High Street, for Bromsgrove Rovers' annual meeting heard the club was £45 in the red. more...
THE Malvern-based Festival Housing Group has appointed a new head of finance. more...
CONSCIENTIOUS objector Frederick Cullupp, a signalman from Stoke Works, successfully applied to Droitwich magistrates for his daughter to be exempted from compulsory vaccination. more...
WILLIAM Newport, a pauper at Droitwich Workhouse, was given 21 days' jail and hard labour by Spa magistrates who found him guilty of punching Mr Loader, the master, in the face. more...
THE swarm of bees which had gathered inside the large lamp in front of the Bell Inn, in Bromsgrove, on Wednesday was still there on Friday. more...
AT a meeting of Bromsgrove Rural District Council, the chairman, the Rev C Stockdale, mentioned an outbreak of scarlet fever at Stoke Pound where the inspector said four people were removed to the Infectious Hospital without notification being sent to him from the doctor. more...
A TRAMP who refused to perform his allotted tasks at Bromsgrove Workhouse seriously -- and assaulted the labour master -- paid a heavy price. Wm Barnes appeared in the dock at Bromsgrove Petty Sessions charged with neglecting to work, wilfully and maliciously breaking a lock and a pane of glass and assaulting the labour master, Charles Edmunds. more...
THE sitting Member of Parliament for East Worcestershire was returned to the House of Commons after standing unopposed. more...
NEWS that Pt B Twigg of the Worcestershire Yeomanry had been seriously injured fighting the Boers had got back to his family in Bromsgrove. more...
A NOVEL performance was set to take place at Bromsgrove's Drill Hall. A military drama, entitled For the Colours, would feature 14 Zulu chiefs and warriors brought over especially to England to appear in the main scene -- The Defence of Rorke's Drift. more...
WYCHBOLD'S recently opened telegraph office was doing good business. In the three weeks since it opened some 100 messages had passed through. This was good news for Dodderhill Parish Council which had guaranteed to underwrite any loss. more...
BROMSGROVE Urban District Council called a public meeting of ratepayers at the Drill Hall to consider the authority's plan to buy Llewellin's site to base the New Market and to consider the alternatives. A good turnout was expected. more...
AT about the same time as the royal wedding at Wood Norton, a marriage of almost the same splendour, without royalty, took place at Evesham. more...
RESIDENTS living near Throckmorton could, perhaps, be forgiven for believing that plagues were being visited on their houses. more...
MORE about life on RAF Stations at Honeybourne and Long Marston are revealed in a book written by an Evesham man with a passion for aircraft and aviation history. more...
THE 1950s are often hailed as one of the golden eras for Britain's railways as steam trains huffed and puffed their way across the country. more...
AUTHOR Pete McCarthy has written his own version of Treasure Ireland... more...
THE youngest of Andrea Holland's two daughters, Nichola, was playing outside one day in June 2001 when, as all children do, she took a tumble. more...
MEMBERS of the Worcestershire nobility were very much in the news in Berrow's Journal this week exactly a century ago. more...
BEFORE the City Magistrates Court in 1901 was William Hughes, a butcher of The Shambles, Worcester who, reported the Journal, had pleaded guilty to being asleep in charge of a horse and trap at Spetchley, and was fined 7/6d plus costs. more...
TWO pensioners from Pershore remain on 24-hour call, 20 years after their first demonstration at Greenham Common. more...
THOUSANDS of graduates will finally receive their degrees in a series of prestigious ceremonies at Worcester Cathedral. more...
ON an inspiring religious note, the Journal of 200 years ago this week sought public subscriptions towards the urgent restoration of one of Worcester's most prominent and familiar landmarks. more...
AN Evesham woman rescued from a hostel fire in Australia in which 15 people died has spoken of her relief now the trial of the arsonist is over. more...
THE role of the German resistance during the Second World War proved to be an award-winning topic for a Herefordshire scholar. more...
RELIGIOUS intolerance and prejudice was clearly rife in and around the Faithful City 250 years ago, judging by a remarkable report in the Worcester Journal for this week of 1751. more...
THE culmination of years of hard work by lovers of historic buildings will come to fruition this year. more...
ON a celebratory note, the Journal of 250 years ago reported a day of special events in 1751 to mark the anniversary of the Restoration to the Throne of Charles II. more...
WHAT'S in a name? asked Shakespeare. He said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but in Evesham would Eof trip off the tongue as easily as Eoves? more...
THIS week 100 years ago, panic was caused at a Worcester sauce and canning factory when a gigantic food order arrived from Whitehall. more...
IT was the Sayce family that Worcester people urged to go to blazes in late Victorian and Edwardian times! more...
WONDERFUL years working on steam trains at Worcester during the last war are fondly remembered by Mrs Peggy Edwards, of Ronkswood. more...
JUNE 3 this year marks the Queen's Golden Jubilee, which will be heralded in villages, towns, and cities across the country with a variety of commemorative events and a public holiday for everyone to join in the camaraderie. more...
THIS nostalgic montage of pictures of Boys - and Girls - in Blue comes from the heyday and, alas, final years of the Worcester City Police Force. more...
EASTER Sunday will be extra special in Evesham as the Carillon in the world-famous landmark the Bell Tower will play after a silence of nearly 10 years. more...
ONE of Worcester's familiar and popular personalities is the ever courageous Don Baker. more...
THE mother of a young man who died from heroin has given a heart-rending account of the last two years of his life. more...
SCALING Ankerdine Hill on a bicycle a century back appears to have been seen then as almost akin to climbing Everest on foot -- at least, that's the impression given by an item in the Journal 100 years ago this week more...
AS steadfast Sterling-lovers, we may have turned a blind eye to the launch of the single currency on Tuesday. more...
SPOOKED staff at The Fleece Inn in Bretforton are appealing for psychic investigators to spend a night at the historic pub restaurant and uncover the secrets of its ghostly past. more...
THE Bennett family of Callow End, near Worcester, have been familiar figures in the life of the village for six generations and for well over a century, from at least mid-Victorian times. more...
THOUSANDS of British families will be taking to the ski slopes for the first time over the next few months and despite high expectations it can all go downhill - fast. more...
THE Journal's chief photographer, Ian Cameron, faced one of the biggest tests of his golfing career when he squared up to European Tour star Jeremy Robinson. more...
THE first batch of students collecting their degrees attended their University College Worcester graduation ceremony yesterday. more...
GENERATIONS of amateur soccer players in and around Worcester owe much to the likes of 78 years-old Bert Powell, who selflessly devoted half-a-century of voluntary service to local football. more...
LOVE it or hate it, Marmite still reigns as one of our favourite foods, despite being created 100-years-ago around the time Edward VII was crowned. more...
ANYONE driving into Evesham along Waterside in recent months cannot fail to have been impressed by the views now opened up across the River Avon. more...
READERS have rapidly solved the "Where are they now?" mystery I recently posed over the whereabouts of death masks of convicts, who went to the gallows at the former Worcester County Jail in Castle Street. more...
We all know fashion is a fickle thing - but for Marks & Spencer, this adage is particularly true. more...
CRICKETERS at Evesham have taken time out from the wicket to research the history of their club. more...
ALEXANDRA Gordon always wanted to study for a degree in art, but in her earlier life it never happened. more...
ALMOST unbelievably, 72 years after his death, fresh stories still comes to my ears of the remarkable generosity and loving care shown to Worcester people by the legendary Woodbine Willie. more...
IT was easy to be cynical and to see it as just one more re-organisation, said Mr Barlow, but he pointed out that health minister Alan Milburn had made it very clear it was the last re-organisation for the foreseeable future. more...
A JOB book-keeping was not enough to excite UCW graduate Rachel Pritchard. more...
If you're standing on a delayed train and reading the latest about Britain's transport crisis, travelling to work in a flying car sounds like a fantasy. more...
WITH all the warnings around no smoker can claim ignorance about the health risks attached to the habit but it's something that tends to be pushed to one side when the craving kicks in. more...
ONCE a professional rugby league player, Alan Curless is now involved with the education and training of young people across the two counties. more...
MEMORY Lane continues to receive reader responses to earlier pieces about the former St Nicholas Girls' School at Worcester. more...
IT'S the day when singletons eventually start imagining happy couples skipping past hand-in-hand as they walk down the road. more...
SINCE the time of the Neanderthals, the dead have been buried using ceremonies which have followed similar patterns for hundreds of years at a time. more...
CELEBRATIONS will be in full swing tomorrow (Friday) when Pershore High School toasts its 70th birthday. more...
SOMEWHAT self-indulgent, maybe, but I hope I can be forgiven for regaling readers with my own pleasure and surprise at a recent re-union. more...
IN the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, pundits predicted a rise in the popularity of serious and "hard hitting" television programmes. more...
The Queen's Golden Jubilee promises to be a celebration like no other. But if you haven't been invited to a party at the palace, organise a right royal knees-up in your own backyard. more...
THE village of Broadway formed a community safety group about three years ago. Its success so far has impressed Wychavon and the police so much that one of the members, Ian Thomas, has been asked to give a talk to a whole host of delegates tomorrow (Friday) at the official launch of Strategy 2002-2005. more...
SOMBRE may have been his surname but Jack Blackman brought light, colour and cheer to the Worcester scene for more than a-quarter-of-a-century as a dance band leader, compere and comedian. more...
TODAY'S kid-ults may have succumbed to the irresistible lure of the PlayStation and Harry Potter, but mention classics like Basil Brush and a smile will surely follow. more...
Throughout showbiz history there are many tales of child stars rising to the pinnacle of fame only to come crashing down as they grow older. more...
ASPARAGUS grown at Badsey won a "best in the world tag" from a former Vale of Evesham woman now living in America. more...
The last of three days of graduation ceremonies brought to you by the Worcester Evening News. more...
CALLING all people who lived in the Foxwell Street area of Worcester between 1930 and 1945, or who went to Red Hill School during the same 15-year period. more...
THE thought of becoming a mum is both exciting and daunting - I should know, I'm giving it a go myself this August and I'm on the edge of my seat, literally. more...
For most of us, the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic is a tragic piece of history, an unforgettable disaster of the 20th century. more...
In common with the rest of the nation, the Vale of Evesham, Stratford and the Cotswolds are preparing to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. more...
The second of three days of graduation ceremonies brought to you by the Worcester Evening News. more...
A SECOND BATTLE OF WORCESTER - this time in words, not slaughter and bloodshed - was breaking out between Royalists and Cromwell supporters at this time 50 years ago. The war of words in 1951 was mainly in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall and came three centuries after the original fateful battle of September 3, 1651. This year is, of course, the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Worcester. more...
THERE'S no getting away from the fact that, for millions, a fantastic night out, a worthwhile teabreak or simply a peaceful moment go hand-in-hand with the click of lighter and a long, satisfying drag. more...
DURING the Second World War, the average number of missions flown by Allied bomber crews before something nasty happened to them was seven. more...
IN sidings behind the now deserted Royal Engineers depot at Long Marston lies an apparently ramshackle collection of railway coaches, engines and hoppers in varying states of repair or disrepair. more...
Spring is in the air and flowers are blooming and that's just in the high street. more...
AMONG a whole host of outdoor activities that hit the buffers last year when foot-and-mouth paralysed the countryside was an innovative scheme to make life easier for horse riders. more...
NEW research showing a startling decline in the state of England's much-loved meadows and pastures has been unveiled in a report by The Wildlife Trusts and Plantlife. more...
The first of three days of graduation ceremonies brought to you by the Worcester Evening News. more...
WE'RE aproaching the 50th anniversary of the Second Battle of Worcester which, unlike the awful carnage of the first, was simply a war of words between Royalist and Cromwellian factions. more...
A QUICK slick of lipstick can instantly transform your face, so it's no surprise it is considered the most essential item in a woman's make-up bag - if not in life. more...
WHAT a difference 25 years makes. A generation after the Queen's Silver Jubilee, British society has definitely moved on. more...
AN elderly, disabled Stratford woman has spoken of the torment she went through after bogus callers robbed her five months ago. Mary Patrick, aged 78, of Waldron Court in Guild Street, fell victim to bogus callers last December. more...
YANKS at the dentists in Worcester a century ago certainly didn't mean the painful pulling out of teeth! more...
TYING the knot is officially back in fashion, but that magical day doesn't come cheap. more...
WITH more people tuning into the Party At The Palace than the England v Sweden match, it's obvious that the Jubilee pop concert was a massive success. more...
"THIS is the time of year when there is a tinge of sadness in the hearts of old Asum market gardeners at what now would have been their busiest time of year," says Vale historian Michael Barnard. more...
MY article a few weeks ago about the women who served as railway guards on the steam trains of wartime Worcester overlooked at least one of those worthy young ladies. more...
DID you know footie fans will be able to watch Saturday goals on their mobile phones within three years? more...
OUR eyesight, arguably the most precious of the senses, is all too easily strained and fatigued by the long office hours and polluted cities of modern life. more...
I am constantly being asked why I do what I do and what keeps me going, the answer to which I am sure will be the same, not only for me, but also for others - for the love of my country and the desire to secure local food production, encourage and embrace local communities with economics that create prosperity for all," she said. more...
MILLIONS of pints must have been pulled for Worcester people by the Roberts family of publicans during much of the 20th Century. more...
A FORMER Vale of Evesham club which was almost forced to close two years ago through vandalism is now hoping for a bright future in south Warwickshire. more...
A HEADTEACHER at a Shropshire primary school has combined teaching with her own learning. more...
OUR parents and grandparents would never have dreamt of missing a mortgage repayment and using the cash to pay for a holiday. They'd have seen such behaviour as downright irresponsible. more...
HE may not wear breeches any more but the British gentleman is not dead. In fact he is alive and well and heralding in a new age of romance. more...
THE owner of a Malvern business collected an award for his management skills at his graduation ceremony. more...
THE three Bowley brothers - Jim, Mike and Wal - have given much enjoyment on the Worcester music and entertainment scene during the past half-a-century or so. more...
WITH a snotty sprog on the way, I'm forced to contemplate the inevitable. more...
WITH her platinum blonde hair, scarlet pout and trademark wiggle, Marilyn Monroe was the 20th Century's ultimate sex symbol. more...
A RARE selection of old photographs of Worcester scenes and personalities graces Memory Lane as the lives of three generations of the Bryan family are traced. more...
READ the News Shorts which line the Evening News and you can't fail to spot intriguing tales of stolen mowers and pilfered power tools. more...
FOR centuries women have been thought of as the weaker sex but a new US study has revealed the opposite - men's health and well-being is much more at risk than women at every point during their - usually much shorter - lives. more...
DETECTIVE work is again asked of Memory Lane readers as I try, to identify the doctor who compiled 13 photo albums, now in the possession of the Worcester City Museum. more...
IT'S taken as read by many that putting on shed loads of weight stems from eating too much and exercising too little. more...
IT'S your birthday. But as you blow out the candles on the cake your heart sinks - another year, another step towards old age. more...
CALLING all past and present employees, agents and customers of Kay's who may have memories or memorabilia to impart about this 207 year-old Worcester company. more...
You're looking around house number 20 on your list. It seems perfect but if only...... more...
Slumping on the sofa like Jim Royle to channel surf while munching through a packet of crisps might seem the perfect indulgence after a hard day at work. more...
BBC Antiques Roadshow expert Henry Sandon of Worcester has told me of a highly amusing incident witnessed on Pitchcroft about a century ago. more...
WHETHER crabby Cancer or sassy Scorpio, your star sign could determine how you use your flexible friend, according to a new study. more...
In recent years women have been catching up with men on everything from pay to job prospects - and even drinking habits. more...
THE Religious Society of Friends - The Quakers - have now been influential figures on the Worcester scene for almost 350 years. more...
ARE wa David Beckham da, are wa David Beckham da..." more...
Most people would say they have suffered from stress at some point in their life, whether it is work-related, linked to a major event or just the pace of modern life. more...
A RECENT chance meeting in Worcester Cathedral with a young woman from Canada has prompted me to give this week's insight into a family who had a significant impact on the community life of the Faithful City through most of the 20th Century. more...
WORLD Cup fever may have rendered dads inactive at present, but you may be surprised to learn how much the average father does in return for a pair of socks on Father's Day. more...
Whether it's a slight tweak as you turn your head to talk to a colleague or a more serious injury such as a slipped disc, most people have experienced some sort of back pain. more...
A CONSPIRACY theory is emerging, five centuries on, surrounding the death of Arthur Tudor, the 15 year-old Prince of Wales, at Ludlow Castle in 1502. more...
ANYONE who saw the TV documentary Saving Face a few weeks ago is probably in two minds about the quick-fix wrinkle blasting surgery, Botox. more...
Let there more...
The fascinating and painstakingly researched new book Perdiswell Past and Present by Joan Hinks tells us much about the well-to-do families who lived in the country mansion which stood at the heart of the area. more...
YOUR mother, no matter how much you love her, can always terrify you with the simple words: "I thought I might stay for a few days". more...
MANY readers have telephoned or written in since I recently published a portrait photograph taken more than half-a-century ago. more...
Are you ready to pucker up and delight someone you fancy? If not - why not? more...
WORCESTER people are still benefiting from the generosity of a wealthy city clothier and merchant who lived four centuries ago. more...
I CAN safely say that I would die if I tried to become a vegetarian. The only vegetables I like are mushy peas and sweetcorn, and there are only so many satisfying meals you can make out of those. more...
IN today's insular stay-at-home, armchair TV society, it was a delight the other evening to attend a large-scale re-union in Worcester with all its human hubbub. more...
IT has always struck me as being a particularly British custom that we lie on a beach and stay there until our skin is seriously damaged, but apparently we're novices compared to the Australians. more...
Sixty years ago, the people of Pershore and surrounding villages raised a staggering £200,000 to fund a new Royal Navy Corvette. more...
EVERY year, The Open golf championship is responsible for thousands of rational people taking up the most addictive, infuriating game known to man. more...
ROYAL Worcester, a major employer in the Faithful City for 250 years, is looking for the help of past and present employees and their families and descendants. more...
THE summer holidays are here and children everywhere have been released from their schools and left in the hands of their despairing parents. more...
YOUR military musuem needs you ...that's the clarion call to ex-servicemen of the Worcester area! more...
THEY look like normal people, smell like normal people and even sound like normal people. They usually behave quite acceptably in public and can even hold down regular jobs. more...
OLD-TIME XMAS ATMOSPHERE - "Christmas this year should be an extremely happy one. It is the first peaceful festival since 1938. For weeks the stores have been crowded and, although there was not a great choice of presents, shoppers managed to find something, and cards and calendars, though expensive, seemed to be more plentiful. more...
THE Worcester Beer and Cider Festival is sure to delight drinkers from all over the region this weekend. more...
SIXTH CHRISTMAS OF WAR - "Modified cheerfulness might best describe the atmosphere of any assembly of people in Britain this Christmas. more...
THESE days, everyone seems to want to be young. Old people are a nuisance, tolerated rather than respected by society and ridiculed by young people who think that listening to Slipknot makes them cool. more...
HOME MADE CHRISTMAS - "The festive season in 1943 is going to be a home made Christmas for most British people. There are few things suitable for gifts on the market, and most of them are subject to 100 per cent purchase tax. more...
SEPTEMBER is almost upon us, and the nation's children have stopped complaining about being bored as a feeling of impending doom washes over them. more...
CHOCOLATE QUEUES AGAIN - "When we were issued with personal ration books, we thought we had done with queuing for chocolate and sweets. more...
AN auction of ITV Digital's knitted monkey mascots this week acts as a stark reminder of the perils of taking on BSkyB at the digital game. more...
POSTAL RUSH - "With many postmen away at the war, a lot of temporary delivery personnel have had to be hurriedly recruited, including 26 women and 59 schoolboys, primarily from the King's School, Royal Grammar School and the Technical School. more...
PEACE AND GOODWILL - "To think of Peace and Goodwill at this present moment in history may seem to some ironical. Millions of men, armed with the most ingenious weapons of destruction the world has ever seen, are engaged in an orgy of killing, maiming and burning. more...
TELLING and often poignant insights into the happinesses, heartaches and hardships of Christmases in wartime Worcester are drawn here from the Evening News bound archives for the early 1940s. more...
APPARENT euphoria among the Worcester sporting public for the City FC's proposed move from St George's Lane to a new purpose-built football stadium is not shared, at least for one, by Mrs Mary Saunders. more...
Memory Lane this week looks at the life of Benjamin Bray, a Worcester builder who was one time licensee of the Crown & Anchor pub in Hylton Road and long-term steward of the city's Conservative Club. more...
A POLICEMAN'S lot is clearly not a happy one when he is assigned to the role of Coroner's Officer and has to deal solely with death, as in the case of the late Joe Freeman at Worcester. more...
MY recent feature on Christmases past in Worcester during the Second World War evoked much nostalgia for Beryl Gough, who for many years, has been well-known locally as a dancer and choreographer. more...
FONDLY remembered this week are a popular Shambles character of yesteryear and a once-familiar landmark building in the heart of Worcester. more...
FLEETINGLY back in the spotlight is a Worcester family firm which ran a thriving hop and seed merchants business from three landmark city buildings through much of the 20th Century. more...
TO me, and I am sure others, one of the most impressive buildings in the Worcester suburbs is the large scale, Georgian-style block occupied by Kays in Northwick Avenue, Barbourne. more...
LIFE at Lowesmoor, Worcester, of the 1920s and 30s is vividly remembered by the surviving members of the Tunstall family. more...
WE'RE all heading blindly into a poverty-stricken old age and many of us won't be able to retire until we're 95, according to recent scaremongering. more...
AS winter approaches and the nation sinks into darkness and depression once again, many people start to plan next year's summer holiday to give themselves something to look forward to. more...
ONCE upon a time, pets knew their place and managed to go about their daily business without being smothered with human affection. more...
THE music industry has been struggling to stay afloat ever since the invention of recording equipment. more...
WHETHER you love them or hate them, mobile phones are now a huge a part of everyday life. more...
A FAMILY firm of butchers, one of the best-known in Worcestershire, is celebrating its centenary this year. more...
THE title of one of the arresting pen pictures of Worcester past - so eloquently painted in words by the late Betty Fulcher - is Jemima and Charlie more...
FINALLY, and sadly, to be disbanded next month are a group of volunteers who, for the past 67 years, have brought refreshment to hundreds of thousands of patients, out-patients and visitors to the historic Worcester Royal Infirmary at Castle Street. more...
WITH Worcester Royal Infirmary in its final days, I reproduce three photographs here of the historic hospital exactly a century ago. more...
FOR years, residents from all over the district have been taking their household and garden rubbish to the Hill and Moor tip, quite happily. more...
... and it cost just £1,575 more...
THE results of 12 months hard work will be revealed tomorrow when a new book by a Vale of Evesham historian is launched. more...
FORTY people gathering for a cheery re-union to-night will readily testify that Worcester's Happy Land very much lived up to its name in their "wonderful" childhood days of the 1930s and early 1940s. more...
A RECENT Memory Lane photograph of Worcester from the 1920s brought a very interesting call from a local man whose forebears, it turns out, were butchers in The Shambles for at least a century. more...
AN Evesham woman is hoping to use her 30 years of caring experience to help Barnardo's recruit more volunteers for its Worcestershire-based project. more...
MEMORY Lane pays belated homage to quite an accomplished Worcester amateur artist of yesteryear. more...
THE thumping sound of press machinery which used to resonate through Willmotts Ltd., the former factory in Swan Lane, Evesham, overlooking the River Avon, and which stopped 12 months ago, has been replaced by the sound of mechanical diggers and builders' equipment. more...
NOSTALGIA and sadness are naturally felt by the 337 members of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Nurses' League at the closure of the historic hospital at Castle Street. more...
THE Code of Conduct for parish and town councils, which was introduced by the government this year, was brought in following the Nolan Report into government sleaze. As from May, parish councils are required to adopt the code. Councillors must sign it and declare their own personal interests and those of their extended families on a register to be kept in the district council offices. more...
TUCKED away behind the scenes off Worcester's Angel Street is a small-scale mock version of the auditorium of the city's former historic Theatre Royal. more...
ONCE there were 30 pubs in Pershore but over the years the number has dwindled until now townspeople and visitors to the historic town have just 10 to choose from. more...
FIREFIGHTERS from the Vale, Cotswolds and Stratford are getting ready to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001. more...
THIS summer marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railway line between Stourbridge and Evesham, which extended the train network to Droitwich, Pershore and Fladbury. more...
WHEN five-year-old Hanna Herrera Pasqualin started doodling on a napkin in McDonalds one day, she was giving the first inkling of a special talent. more...
OCCASIONALLY, I have glanced at an impressive tomb in a fairly isolated position within Worcester Cathedral, but only recently have I been aware of the noble personage whose remains lie below it. more...
AS the family and friends of little Catrin Edwards prepared for her funeral this week there was encouraging news for other Vale families who find themselves in the same, sad situation. more...
THIS summer marks the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Bromwich Road Mission - the lasting legacy of a member of the famous Cadbury chocolate-making family who lived in Worcester and was a significant local benefactor. more...
IT is now a week since A-level students reaped the rewards of their labours of the past two years... or not, as the case may be. more...
WORCESTER High Street was closed to traffic and lined by silent crowds on the day of the funeral of Richard Cadbury in 1935. more...
VOLUNTEERS at the Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway are steaming ahead with their ambition to create one of the country's longest heritage railways. more...
SEVENTY-five not out and progressing confidently towards a century - that's the Worcester Nomads Cricket Club. more...
AFTER suffering months of delays due to opposition to its original design, Defford looks set to finally get a memorial for its village green later this year. more...
REMARKABLY, a country pub near the village of Ombersley, has now been owned and run by the same family for more than 150 years. more...
ANOTHER tale of a miraculous escape from death in the Meco bombing has been told me in the wake of my recent feature on that fateful day - October 3, 1940. more...
SOME of the most notorious criminals in the World have passed through HMP Long Lartin since it opened in 1971. more...
MEMORY Lane pays homage this week to the teams of volunteer women who, down the past 62 years, have run an invaluable service for the needy in Worcester. more...
Jim has memories of Elgar: more...
THE weekend "party nights" atmosphere and sing-alongs at the Cock Inn, Tybridge Street, during the 1950s are fondly remembered by Muriel and Arthur Cotterill of Kingsbury Road, Worcester. more...
FREEMASONS in the Vale of Evesham are opening their doors to the public in a bid to clarify some of the misconceptions about the fraternity. more...
GASCOYNE House, the historic riverside warehouse apartments block at South Quay, is now Worcester's only prominent reminder of a once flourishing city family business. more...
THE historic Besford Court, near Pershore, which dates back to the 10th Century, has taken on a new lease of life. more...
FONDLY remembered is a well-known Worcester High Street shop which was frequently an eye-catching feature of the city centre scene through the first half of the 20th Century. more...
THE DOORS of Evesham court have closed to local justice, and Journal court reporter Gerry Barnett who first used the press bench there over 50 years ago has been getting reaction from others involved for many years: more...
A PAST Bishop of Worcester suffered one of the most horrific of deaths in being burnt at the stake. more...
PLANS for the possible future development of the centre of Pershore are to go on display from next Monday. more...
It's believed Freemasonry had its roots even earlier, in local associations formed by master craftsmen in the art of stone masonry, together with other local "worthies." more...
STORIES of life in a First World War prisoner of War camp in Germany have been brought to life for Kevin Halford through the diary his grandfather kept. more...
I've been learning all about the hard-working dynasty from Mrs Betty Brown (maiden name, Worthington) who, with husband Derek, was the last in the family line to trade in Lowesmoor. more...
FOND recollections of Lowesmoor in the 1920s and 30s and of her courtship and marriage are highlighted in the hand-written memoirs of Kathleen Worthington, who died two years ago at the age of 86. more...
WORCESTER'S nationally-renowned College for the Blind is celebrating its centenary on its present site. more...
LAST week Warwickshire coroner, Michael Coker lamented the high number of inquests he has had to conduct already this year. At a heroin overdose inquest last week he said: "This evil substance does nobody any good. It leads to an extremely poor quality of life that requires feeding - and too many times to the death of a young person. There have been several this year, and there are several in the pipeline." more...
COLOURFUL times half-a-century ago amid the former closely-knit riverside community of houses, shops, pubs, lodging houses, scrapyards and warehouses of Worcester's Quay Street area are fondly remembered by Robert Wardell. more...
NOT many people can lay claim to having the autograph of Miss Sri Lanka 1986 or `Nicole' from the famous Renault television adverts, but these are just a couple of the more unusual signatures that Bidford man Dennis Malin has collected. more...
WHEN I joined the staff of the Evening News as a boy, 48 years ago, the group advertising manager of Berrow's Newspapers was a charming chap named Harold Gibbons. more...
STEAMY nights in Paris were experienced in the summer of 1880 by Worcester's most famous son, Edward Elgar, and his future brother-in-law, Charles Pipe. more...
A WIDE circle of friends and neighbours have, this weekend, been helping Worcester "born and bred" Ernest Smith celebrate his 90th birthday. more...
GEOFF Budd is something of a legend with the farming community of Worcestershire. more...
THERE was certainly something fishy going on at Upton-upon-Severn in the 1600s and 1700s as far as Worcester people were concerned. more...
I AM often asked how Worcester's Bull Ring got its name but the answer is, alas, very unsavoury. more...
ANOTHER significant milestone in the history of the Three Choirs, the world's oldest choral music festival, is reached this evening with the special Centenary performance at Worcester of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. more...
WE tend to blame global warming for the extremes of weather Britain and Europe has seen this August, yet a quick trip through the bound archives of Berrow's Journal suggests that these spectacular climatic conditions are nothing new for the eighth month of the year. more...
THE glaringly obvious can often be missed as, in my case, with the late realisation that Worcestershire villages with "castle" in their names, once actually had ... castles! more...
THANK goodness, many will say, that a ludicrous and much-published idea of the redevelopment-crazed 1960s never came to fruition at Worcester! more...
THE year this atmospheric view of Tallow Hill, Worcester, was captured on camera is, I'm afraid, not recorded, though the photograph appears to me to have been taken sometime between the First and Second World Wars. more...
A WELL-known Worcester cycle dealer was in court this week a century ago for speeding in his automobile. He was alleged to have been travelling at more than 12 miles an hour! more...
1802: On Tuesday, a violent storm of rain fell on the Parish of Abberley, attended by thunder and lightning. A beautiful old oak, containing three tons of timber and gracing the ground of Mrs Blayny, was shattered by a lightning strike in a most dramatic manner. A bomb or large quantity of gunpowder lodged in the tree and fired could not have had such a devastating impact. more...
FOR more that a century, a local family firm has been delivering the news every day to the people of Worcester's Westside. more...
AN EMINENT yet controversial Archbishop of York in the turbulent 16th Century stands out prominently in the long and complex lineage of the present Lord Sandys of Ombersley Court. more...
CAN Memory Lane readers answer a couple of posers I have been set but can't answer? more...
AN appeal by a Spa-based charity has been hailed a success. more...
THE transfer of the first patients to the new Worcestershire Royal Hospital this weekend will mark another major step forward in the work done by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to provide a comprehensive, cohesive and accessible healthcare service for the county. Gerry Barnett has been looking at what the new hospital has to offer... more...
OBJECTORS to road closure at Wyre Piddle when the new bypass is opened are expected to oppose the traffic orders, according to county councillor Liz Tucker. more...
MEMORIES of the Vale of Evesham as it was in the 1950s and 1960s are brought back to life in pictures in a new book Worcestershire Living Memories. more...
THE stunning splendour of apple and fruit tree blossom in a beautiful English village, relaxing in the gardens of a pleasing teashop watching the world go by, the exhilaration of strolling in clear fresh air on a green hillside - these are a few of author Roger Noyce's favourite things. more...
THE biggest campaign to cut down on waste ever to be launched in Worcestershire got under way at the Hill and Moor site near Pershore this week. more...
WHILE Evesham Cricket Club is having an excellent season - currently topping the League by some distance - interest continues in the history of the club, with more coming to light following the recent article in the Journal. more...
PERSHORE folk are logging on in their droves to take advantage of a new learning facility in the town. Since it opened on the site of Seals outfitters in June more than 150 people have become members of Pershore On-line. more...
A REGULAR contributor to the pages of the Journal with his sketches of the local scene, Michael J. Barnard has recalled his time with the Air Training Corps in bringing many of them together in a new book. more...
SIMPLE patriotism and a realisation that he was helping finish off something started by the 1914-18 war was the reason behind Denis Falvey's decision to join the Royal Artillery before World War Two after what he described as a 20-year half time break. more...
ENVIRONMENT chiefs have hired experts to test for potentially dangerous contamination. more...
IT'S difficult not to feel some sympathy for the family from Doncaster who have decided to educate their son at home after he was taught by 13 teachers in the space of 16 months. more...
I REFER to the report in the Evening News (Thursday, October 17) headed Ban the boy racers relating to disturbances in Malvern's Three Counties Retail Park. more...
I REALLY have heard it all now. A headmaster at a school near Chester has given pupils the go ahead to smoke during break times. more...
HOW long before Church Road is converted into another assault course? more...
I'VE recently returned from a holiday in the sun like many other Brits I'm more than happy to leave the winter for a couple of weeks. more...
SCIENCE Watch (Monday, October 21) tell us that chimpanzees and humans both evolved from a common ancestor. more...
IT'S a year this week that coachloads of headteachers from across the county travelled down to Westminster to lobby the Government for better funding. more...
HOLA y bienvenido a Education View. That's about the extent of my Spanish so far - well, that and being able to say I don't speak the language and `pleased to meet you'. (Mucho gusto, in case you're wondering) more...
HOW safe are our children in classrooms these days? more...
THERE'S at least one Worcester school that might not be suitable for "educational purposes". more...
HEADTEACHERS are more interested in enforcing uniform than making sure drugs are not rife, claimed a pupil this week. more...
I READ with interest last week that the Government estimates students spend £25 a week on alcohol. more...
A MERE six months ago Afghanistan women were living an oppressive existence. more...
PUPILS at a school in the north of England are at the centre of a religious education row. more...
IT'S no wonder that Dines Green Primary School has been put on special measures. more...
WHILE most 11year-olds know where they will be heading in September, one Worcester schoolboy remains in educational no man's land. more...
I'VE been reading with interest that binge-drinking's rife among secondary school children. more...
GOOD news for Elbury Mount again. The school's seen no let-up following its recovery from special measures. more...
NAME-CALLING, ignoring, punching and even kicking are what you would normally expect in the course of bullying. more...
NEWS that teaching assistants (TAs) are not easing the paperwork burden on teachers is hardly surprising. more...
CALLS for the reintroduction of corporal punishment at a Worcestershire school are bound to have pleased disciplinarians. more...
A DRIVE to get more men teaching in primary schools was launched by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) this week. more...
The idea of being away from home for more than one night is enough to reduce some children to tears. But, for thousands of other more adaptable children, it is a way of life. more...
I'D like to say a big thank you to all the pupils and staff at Stanley Road Primary School who made me feel welcome last week. more...
THE idea of smacking your own children has been well-argued across Britain, with some people quick to pounce on those who choose to punish in this way. more...
I SEE a woman has been jailed for knowingly letting her two daughters skip school. more...
ON the second day of Alan Brodrick's job of deputy head at a Worcester school he was told he was being promoted. more...
THE sun may be shining and thoughts turning to beach holidays, but for thousands of teenagers there are more pressing issues on their minds. more...
SO the number of exclusions from schools is rising. Tell us something we don't know. more...
THERE'S more to a school than just teachers and pupils. more...
IT'S half-term and the time of year when schools take their pupils on trips. more...
THE jailing of the mother of schoolgirls who played truant is said to have had a positive effect. more...
THE future of special schools was thrown into confusion for parents when they heard that a key school was being shut down for good. more...
IF you've had your eyes and ears open over the last week you will no doubt be aware of the revolutionary changes surrounding special educational needs. more...
IT'S clear from the moment you step into Thornton House School that children are valued and made to believe in themselves. more...
IT'S a plea parents will recognise, but having a pet really is good for your child. more...
MOVE over Anna Kournikova, the crown for sexiest person is up for grabs. more...
EVERY day across Worcestershire a school is visited by an inspector. more...
EXAMS may be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean students will stop being tested. more...
COUNCILLOR June Longmuir can't be accused of mincing her words. more...
PUPILS at Elgar Technology College are marking the end of what has been a transitional year for the school. more...
CONGRATULATIONS all round for those celebrating various awards this term. more...
TUCKED away in a small office in the middle of Worcester are the answers to all parents' questions about schools. more...
THERE are different reactions to be had when you mention to a school that you would like to drop in. more...
WE'RE all going on a summer holiday, fun and laughter for a week or two - or is it really tantrums and tears for a mammoth six weeks? more...
BOB Dylan once sang that the times they are a-changing. And for students at Royal Grammar School, Worcester, this is ringing true. more...
MILK might be cool for cats but it's also cool for kids. Whoever discovered that the calcium-rich liquid, routinely suckled by calves, was full of goodness for humans, too, struck oil. more...
EVERY summer there is a rush of anxiety and stress as thousands of pupils wait for their exam results. more...
Think science and you're likely to conjure up images of boys peering into test tubes, plus Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein and Bunsen burners. more...
FAME Academy, Popstars and Pop Idol will have nothing on pupils at a Worcester school in the years to come. more...
ONE hundred and fifty years ago the relatives of pupils at Inkberrow First School were starting their first day in the classroom. more...
IF the Government comes up with a test to see if private schools should keep their charitable status then The King's School, Worcester, should pass with flying colours. more...
100 years ago - March 29 1902 more...
100 years ago - April 5, 1902 more...
100 years ago - April 12, 1902 more...
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A CASH crisis hanging over Worcester's Swan Theatre looks likely to bring down the final curtain on the 40-year-old auditorium. more...
THE leader of Worcester City Council has told the Swan Theatre that it must face financial reality. more...
PLACARDS urging councillors to save Worcester's Swan Theatre spoke volumes at a meeting last night. more...
"INCOMPETENT amateurs" at the city council have caused the financial problems that could mean curtains for Worcester's Swan Theatre, according to a Worcester MP. more...
THE Swan is the only full-time theatre between Birmingham and Malvern and the only one where we have the opportunity to see not just big touring productions, but new plays and new playwrights. more...
I HAVE spent many enjoyable evenings at the Swan Theatre watching plays. more...
THE city council must either be confused or hypocritical to promote the Swan Theatre on a new website, when budget cuts could force it to close, says one MP. more...
WORCESTER MP Mike Foster has been accused of "mischief-making" by two city politicians for criticising a tourism website part-funded by the council advertising the Swan Theatre. more...
I would like to protest in the strongest possible terms about the council's decision to cut the grant to the Swan Theatre to such a level as to force its closure. more...
I WRITE to register my dismay at the reduction in the grant by Worcester City Council to Worcester Swan Theatre. more...
DO you remember the Lich Gate? Or the Elizabethan cottages in Lich Street? Or Blind Lizzie who lived there and repaired cane chairs? I do, but I was at school at the time and too young to do anything to save them. more...
MAY I correct all those campaigning for The Swan Theatre when they refer to "grant cut or grant reduction". There is no grant reduction or cut. more...
I AM the surviving founder member of the Swan Theatre and with Henry Gorst, the architect, I was involved with the theatre project from the beginning. more...
IT is with considerable dismay that my wife and myself have learnt of the considerable reduction in the grant to The Swan Theatre, a decision which may either result in its closure or seriously affect its performance. more...
THE fight to save Worcester's Swan Theatre will shift to the national stage tomorrow, with a House of Commons debate. more...
TWENTY-SIX people fell into the muddy waters of the Severn at Worcester in a dramatic, if somewhat amusing, incident at North Quay this week half-a-century ago. more...
A FASCINATING picture of Droitwich a century ago is painted by a feature on "Some British Spas" in a national magazine of the time, the Pall Mall Gazette. more...
A SAD event in local railway history was witnessed at this time 50 years ago. more...
DEATH and crime were very much in the news 250 years ago, just as they have been down the many decades since. more...
1802: ON Friday evening a young woman was violently assaulted in a coach-yard in the north of this county by a man who, it is supposed, would have murdered her on the spot had not her sister hastened to her assistance, when the villain made off. The young woman continues exceedingly ill and with little hopes of her recovery, having a locked jaw. The utmost exertions are being used and twenty guineas reward is on offer for apprehending the man, and we trust he will not long escape that punishment his wanton and atrocious cruelty so loudly calls for. more...
EXACTLY 200 years ago this week, Admiral Lord Nelson visited Worcester to bask in the adulation of the citizens and to receive the Freedom of the City. more...
100 years ago - May 11, 1901 more...
100 years ago - May 18, 1901 more...
100 years ago - May 25, 1901 more...
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MOST of us who struggle to make a living out of writing in the English language would probably balk at the prospect of composing a decent poem. more...
I'VE interviewed a few people who have been on holidays of a lifetime, but try beating this. more...
100 years ago - July 13, 1901 more...
SOME wonderful little snippets about life in old Worcestershire crop up when you're trawling through rural memories. more...
100 years ago - July 20, 1901 more...
ACCORDING to legend, it was started "on a wing and a prayer" and rarely can a phrase have been better used. more...
100 years ago - July 27, 1901 more...
ACCORDING to legend, it was started "on a wing and a prayer" and rarely can a phrase have been better used. more...
100 years ago - August 3, 1901 more...
100 years ago - August 17, 1901 more...
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100 years ago - August 31, 1901 more...
100 years ago - September 7, 1901 more...
THE ink was barely dry on the day's issue of the Evening News before John Denton was on the phone. more...
100 years ago - September 21, 1901 more...
THE old saying goes that a dog is Man's best friend. Unfortunately, it sometimes works out that Man isn't a dog's best friend. more...
100 years ago - September 28, 1901 more...
THE six months young Paul Oppenheimer spent in England in 1936 were to prove the most important of his life. more...
IT has been described as the most unusual war memorial in Britain, yet for the thousands of visitors who travel the Severn Valley Railway every year, it's probably no more than the lovely old locomotive that pulls their train. more...
100 years ago - October 12, 1901 more...
IT was about time the old building had a stroke of luck, so it was a good day for 17 High Street when Andrew Brooker-Carey took a stroll through the centre of Droitwich. more...
100 years ago - October 19, 1901 more...
THERE have been times in England's none-too-distant footballing past when the sobriquet Mad Max would not have been inappropriate for Max Patrick. more...
100 years ago - October 26, 1901 more...
ENGLAND was struck by a severe hurricane at this time exactly 200 years ago. more...
AS signposts go, there was certainly no missing them. After all, even the dimmest wit would have difficulty not noticing a 70ft tall Scots Pine Tree. more...
100 years ago - November 2, 1901 more...
1802: At our City Sessions, William Smith was convicted of stealing a handbag and was sentenced to be publicly whipped on Saturday next. more...
100 years ago - November 9, 1901 more...
AT this time exactly a century ago, construction work was under way on a new riverside electricity generating station for Worcester. more...
WHEN music breaks out on the streets of Worcester, George Webb's there like a shot. True, he moves a little slower these days, being the pilot of an electric buggy, but you can't keep him out of the picture, as Eleanor Savage discovered when she decided to produce a series of paintings of the city's buskers. more...
100 years ago - November 16, 1901 more...
THE Journal of this week in 1902 reported: Joseph Ranford (12) of Carden Street and Joseph Lucy (10) The Pinch, Hylton Road, were charged with stealing a currant loaf valued at 10d, the property of Robert Stevens Wheatley, a baker of 25 Lowesmoor. Witnesses said they saw the boys rush into the shop and snatch the cake. more...
PUBLIC toilets with penny-in-the-slot locks and streets cleaned by horse-drawn brush carts, the sepia tinted world of Worcester half a century ago. more...
100 years ago - November 23, 1901 more...
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THE sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view, now St Clement's primary school has finally got its weather station. more...
100 years ago - November 30, 1901 more...
THE black-bordered pages of Berrow's Journal were naturally dominated by news of the death of King George VI at this time exactly 50 years ago. more...
AS an understatement, it stands right alongside Noah's observation there was a drop of rain on the way. more...
100 years ago - December 7, 1901 more...
WE moved here," said Tom Clarke-Hill, "to get away from the drive-by shootings in LA. "Droitwich doesn't have drive-by shootings - it has drive-by shoutings. more...
100 years ago - December 14, 1901 more...
HISTORY was made on the Malvern Hills at this time half-a-century ago when a new technique for erecting overhead electric power cables was used for the first time in Britain. more...
ON the evening of Tuesday, July 30, 2002, the music will start, the lights will go down and the curtain will rise on the 20th anniversary show of WODYS. more...
SIGNIFICANT finds were made when workmen dug trenches across part of the churchyard of Malvern Priory (pictured) this week exactly a century ago. more...
ANYONE who's ever been at the sharp end of organising a Three Counties Show might consider five years in the SAS to be good training, although Tony Halls took the groundwork rather father than that. more...
100 years ago - January 4, 1902 more...
AFTER 15 minutes rapid fire bonhomie from Henry Blofeld, you feel like you've been hit by a truck. more...
100 years ago - January 11, 1902 more...
THERE will be fingers and just about everything else crossed in the pretty little Worcestershire hamlet of Porter's Mill this coming weekend, as one of its best-looking residents faces the biggest challenge, both physically and mentally, of his life. more...
100 years ago - January 18, 1902 more...
A NUMBER of prominent Worcestershire people were today celebrating after learning they had been named in The Blair Old Year's Honours list. more...
100 years ago - January 25, 1902 more...
GOOD evening my friends. This is Olde Phillpotte calling from his cave deep in the forests of Battenhall. more...
100 years ago - February 1 1902 more...
AS cottage industries go, this one has a nice touch of the ancient and modern. more...
IT'S been some time since I last visited Germany. But I suspect very little has changed since the 1970s when, for three consecutive summers, I travelled to the Rhineland. more...
100 years ago - February 8, 1902 more...
EXPLORING the Dark Continent, with all its inherent dangers, hardly equates to meandering around the peaceful country lanes of 19th Century Worcestershire by gentle horse drawn cart taking snap shots of local beauty spots. more...
VETERAN Worcester journalist and writer Michael Grundy always weaves a cracking good yarn but last month he really excelled himself. more...
100 years ago - February 15 1902 more...
IN a delightfully tactful way, I was warned John Edgecombe only occasionally touches down on this planet and sadly his spaceship hadn't landed the day I phoned him. more...
100 years ago - February 22 1902 more...
THIS summer Neighbourhood Watch, the community crime prevention scheme, officially celebrates its 20th anniversary, but historically it may well be underselling itself. more...
WALKING along Worcester's High Street, even the most casual observer cannot help notice how few good buskers there are around these days. more...
100 years ago - March 1 1902 more...
FAR be it from me to suggest they can all remember every little detail, but when it comes to celebrating 50 years of the Queen's reign, few organisations are better placed than the WI. more...
LAST Guy Fawkes Night, I decided to break with tradition and make a bit more of Britain's annual fire worship ritual. more...
100 years ago - March 15 1902 more...
IN a neat twist to the usual, Malvern master chef Mauric