50 Years Ago, January 25, 1958

2:06pm Thursday 17th January 2008

THE final service in the wooden St Chad's Church in Rubery was about to take place. It had served the district for 62 years and was now about to be demolished to make way for a new church to be built on the site at a cost of £39,446. Since 1895, 700 weddings had been conducted there and about 100 couples, some from as far away as the south of England, were planning to return to Rubery for a reunion service.

100 Years Ago, January 25, 1908

2:04pm Thursday 17th January 2008

THERE was disquiet in the Bromsgrove village of Catshill about the 30 or so men who, clad in dirty clothes and using filthy language, regularly congregated on certain roads to the annoyance and embarrassment of young women and children. Despite a new working men's club having been established and facilities set up for further education, it appeared the loafers were simply not interested.

	All set to move on to big school
	3:38pm Mon 14 Jan 08
	IN this week's Memory Lane we take a look back to these school leavers and appeal for readers' help. The organisers of a school reunion have kindly lent us this photograph of the class of 1957 at the now closed St Lawrence School, in School Lane, Alvechurch.

	All set for the bulldozers
	12:37pm Thu 10 Jan 08
	WINDSOR House, which was demolished in 1961, was in its day one of Bromsgrove's most superior residences.

25 Years Ago, January 14, 1983

12:35pm Thursday 10th January 2008

THE Bishop of Worcester, the Right Reverend Phillip Goodrich, was at St Godwald's Church, Aston Fields, for a service to rededicated the organ. It had been rebuilt at a cost of £12,000. A year-long fundraising effort also saw the purchase of new carpets and kneelers.

50 Years Ago, January 18, 1958

12:34pm Thursday 10th January 2008

THE Austin works at Longbridge was about to undergo a huge transformation with a proposal to scrap the night shift in favour of two day shifts. The Messenger pointed out that this could lead to chaos with thousands of staff flooding on to the streets at change-over times and mean problems for bus companies employed to ferry people to and from the factory.

100 Years Ago, January 18, 1908

12:33pm Thursday 10th January 2008

AN unfortunate mishap befell six-year-old Charles Quiney, of the Durrance near Droitwich, who was admitted to Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital following an unusual accident. The lad's sister was chopping wood and unaware that he had placed his hand on the block accidentally severed the end of his middle finger. He was said to be going on well.' THE present spell of severe weather was responsible for the deaths of two valuable heifers belonging to John Twigg, of Cutnall Green. Both had drowned when they fell through thin ice on a pond. Other casualties of the big freeze included 11-year-old Tom Fisher, of Rock Hill, Bromsgrove. Tom broke a thigh while sliding on a pool near the boot factory in Worcester Road. And Richard Jones, aged three, of Henbrook, Wychbold, also broke a thigh while sliding on the road near his family's cottage.

	Calling time on town pub
	11:52am Tue 8 Jan 08
	THE Old Bell Inn, which stood in Bromsgrove's High Street until it was demolished in 1958, is the subject of this week's look back at the past.

25 Years Ago, January 7, 1983

11:51am Tuesday 8th January 2008

A MAJOR campaign to spruce up Bromsgrove and banish grubbiness was launched by Martin Irwin, headmaster of Watt Close Middle School in the town. The Bromsgrove Society and Rotary Club were joining forces in the big clean up.

50 Years Ago, January 11, 1958

11:50am Tuesday 8th January 2008

THE social club party season was in full swing, nowhere more so than in Catshill in Bromsgrove. There 80 members of the village Darby and Joan club enjoyed tea in the church hall. A concert party from Birmingham later provided a capital entertainment. The club was run by the Womens Voluntary Service.

100 Years Ago, January 11, 1908

11:49am Tuesday 8th January 2008

LABOURER Charles Harding, of Elmbridge, would long remember his wedding night - spent alone in a police cell. It followed his appearance at Droitwich police court where he was charged with drunkenness, using obscene language and attacking his new wife with an umbrella. Magistrates fined him 10/- with 10/- costs or 14 days' jail.

	The final curtain call
	11:10am Mon 24 Dec 07
	THE men and women who governed Bromsgrove more than 30 years ago come briefly under the spotlight again in this historic photo.

25 Years Ago, December 31, 1982

11:09am Monday 24th December 2007

AN orgy of excess' was how the vicar of All Saints' church in Bromsgrove, The Rev Barry Gilbert, described the Christmas festivities in the new edition of the parish magazine. He claimed many ordinary folk could simply not afford it and called for a return to more modest celebrations.

50 Years Ago, January 4, 1958

11:08am Monday 24th December 2007

THE funeral took place of well-known Dodford resident Frederick Bird, who died aged 71. Mr Bird was a village stalwart and had served on the parish council for more than 25 years. He had also gained an enviable reputation as a grower of fine strawberries. Along with his late brother Harry he had sank many of the wells on which the village still today depended.

100 Years Ago, January 4, 1908

11:07am Monday 24th December 2007

CHRISTMAS in Droitwich workhouse had brought respite, albeit temporary, to the austere daily existence of inmates. As usual well-to-do Spa residents had contributed many gifts. These included a tree, and venison from Mr and Mrs Bruce, plus tobacco, sweets and oranges from others.

	Celebrating the end of the war
	11:18am Wed 19 Dec 07
	THE end of World War Two was joyously celebrated throughout the length and breadth of Britain.

50 Years Ago, December 28, 1957

11:17am Wednesday 19th December 2007

ST Mark's church, Fairfield, was floodlit to celebrate its centenary. An appeal had been launched to raise £900 to buy a new heating system to replace the present apparatus, which often smoked during services.

25 Years Ago, December 24, 1982

11:17am Wednesday 19th December 2007

THE recently completed £160,000 makeover and pedestrianisation of Bromsgrove High Street appeared to have been a success. Traders reported a sharp upturn in Christmas trade. Fine Fare and Tesco supermarkets both reported having done brisk business, as had Currys whose top seller had been video games.

100 Years Ago, December 28, 1907

11:16am Wednesday 19th December 2007

A RECORD amount of mail was delivered in Bromsgrove in the period December 23 to Boxing Day. People posting later than usual and fog conspired to make life difficult for postal workers. Such was the high volume of mail that horse power was brought in to supplement the motor van and handcarts were used in the town centre to cope with an increase in parcel mail. Some postmen were staggering out of the sorting office with over a hundredweight of mail in their bags. Their busiest delivery however, was on Christmas morning. But before setting off on their rounds, 31 members of staff were treated to refreshments courtesy of the owners of the Coffee House in High Street.

	Happy days on the cricket field
	10:50am Fri 14 Dec 07
	WITH the new season some months off, cricketers have to content themselves with happy memories of glorious deeds of runs made and wickets taken last summer.

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