The end of steam power
	2:12pm Thu 21 Feb 08
	THE buildings in this corner of Bromsgrove fell into disrepair after this photo was taken in the 1950s and serious doubts were expressed about their future.

25 Years Ago, February 18, 1983

10:39am Wednesday 20th February 2008

POLICE were hunting three men who held up Michael Gaffney, the landlord of the Hundred House pub in Sidemoor, as he was walking to Bromsgrove to bank the takings contained in a hold all. As he approached Parkside School, a man leapt out of a parked car demanding he hand over the bag while an accomplice pointed a12 bore shotgun at him from a rear window. The four-door Morris Marina then sped off. This was the third cash snatch in the town in the last two months.

50 years ago, February 22, 1958

10:37am Wednesday 20th February 2008

ARTHUR Neale, the first man to drive a motor bus in Bromsgrove, had died aged 73. Mr Neale, from Station Street, came to Bromsgrove in 1902 and his first job had been to drive the omnibus which plied between the Golden Cross Hotel in High Street and the railway station. Its departure was signalled by the ringing of a bell outside the hotel. He later joined his father's motor business in Station Street. He recalled one memorable journey when he was driving a bus from Stratford-on-Avon to Bromsgrove and had 27 punctures. The journey took ten hours.

100 years ago February 22, 1908

10:36am Wednesday 20th February 2008

MANCHESTER United players were staying at a hotel in Droitwich, taking advantage of the waters as part of their preparations for their important forthcoming English FA Cup tie with Aston Villa.

	It’s the perfect line-up
	10:35am Wed 20 Feb 08
	I remarked here recently that during the 20 years I have been compiling Memory Lane we have had few photograph of Watt Close school, writes Pete Lammas.

Hanbury WI

11:25am Thursday 7th February 2008

AT the January meeting members were welcomed by Greta, our president, who opened the first meeting for 2008.

Fairfield WI

11:24am Thursday 7th February 2008

Shirley, our president, opened the January meeting by wishing everyone a very happy and healthy New Year. Maggie read the minutes of the last meeting, which were approved and signed. Shirley said she felt the Christmas party had been a real success. She thanked members of her committee for both their hard work during the evening and their donation of raffle prizes.

	The final curtain call
	10:34am Thu 7 Feb 08
	IT'S a final curtain call for the young performers and backstage staff who trod the boards at Catshill Senior School around 1950.

25 Years Ago, February 11, 1983

10:33am Thursday 7th February 2008

TWENTY firemen battled for hours to contain an early morning blaze which swept through the Dog and Pheasant pub in Worcester Road, Bromsgrove. Traffic was diverted from the town centre at the height of the blaze. The bar was extensively damaged, but prompt action by firemen save the rest of the building. Last July the pub had undergone a £70,000 refurbishment.

50 Years Ago, February 15, 1958

10:31am Thursday 7th February 2008

BROMSGROVE'S annual Brewster (licensing) Sessions were held at the town's police court. It was revealed that last year there had been 12 convictions for drunkenness and one for drink driving. Two 18-year-olds had been convicted of purchasing drink for people under age. All those convicted had been men. Bromsgrove, with a population of 42,715, had 64 licensed premises, which equated on average to one establishment for every 667 inhabitants.

100 Years Ago, February 15, 1908

10:30am Thursday 7th February 2008

WILLIAM Hill, a 22-year-old-labourer, appeared at Worcestershire Assizes charged with indecently assaulting a 12-year-old girl as she walked across a field at Tardebigge. Hill denied the charge, but was found guilty. He was supported in court by his local vicar, the Rev Roberts, and Mr Margesson, secretary to Lord Plymouth. Both said Hill was a hard working, honest and moral lad. The judge declared had it not been for the good people' who had spoken up for him he would have been forced to send him to jail. As it was he would be bound over.

25 Years Ago, February 4, 1983

3:57pm Monday 4th February 2008

GIANT chemical company Bayer agreed to delay the building of a new warehouse on four of their 90-acre site at Stoke Works until a meeting with worried residents could be arranged. Many feared Stoke could become another Flixborough.

50 Years Ago, February 8, 1958

3:56pm Monday 4th February 2008

FORMER postman Alfred Taylor, from Highfields, Bromsgrove, celebrated his 102nd birthday and revealed he had just received his first ever demand from the taxman. He wrote back saying he only has his pension and a small one at that. He recalled that as young postmen they could earn good conduct' stripes for their uniforms if they went five years without a complaint being made against them. This entitled them to an extra 1/- a week. When he retired his wage was 30/- a week.

100 Years Ago, February 8, 1908

3:55pm Monday 4th February 2008

THE reliance growers in Bromsgrove and district placed on a good strawberry crop to pay their bills was highlighted by the sad story of William Manning, a market gardener from Catshill, who went bankrupt owing £61. Ten years before he had been a nailmaker and farm labourer who had sought to better himself by purchasing four acres of land from the county council for £157/10/0. He told the debtors' court he had suffered a disastrous strawberry crop, which had been compounded by losses on a small shop he had opened on the insistence of his wife.

	We’re all here sir!
	9:25am Tue 29 Jan 08
	THE boys of class 2A at Watt Close County Modern School in 1954 line up for register call in this week's look down Memory Lane, writes Pete Lammas.

25 Years Ago, January 28, 1983

9:24am Tuesday 29th January 2008

THE painstaking task of lowering the ten bells70 feet from the bell chamber to the floor at St John's Parish Church in Bromsgrove was continuing. They were being removed to allow the old timber beams on which they hung to be removed and replaced by a new steel frame. Once complete the bells themselves, some of which weighed a ton, would be refurbished. But this was likely to cost £700 per bell. It was hoped that the work would be completed by Easter.

50 Years Ago, February 1, 1958

9:23am Tuesday 29th January 2008

THE Squire of Bentley, Lt Col LG Gray-Cheape, was host at the annual Rent Audit dinner for his 40 tenants, at The Golden Cross Hotel in Bromsgrove. The dinner was an occasion for setting the rents and for the squire to update tenants about his plans for the vast estate. In his speech he said estate management was becoming a business, but he hoped to be able to continue to foster a family feeling' between himself and them. After the meal, the diners were entertained by can can girls and other female dance troupes, including one calling themselves The Glamourettes.

100 Years Ago, February 1, 1908

9:21am Tuesday 29th January 2008

AS usual the annual Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital fundraising ball in the Drill Hall attracted the cream of local society. The hall was lavishly decorated with white, yellow and green muslin and Chinese lanterns. A special fabric cover was used on the dance floor. Additional stoves and lavatory facilities were laid on for the 113 or so who attended.

25 Years Ago, January 21, 1983

2:07pm Thursday 17th January 2008

RETIRED school teacher Eric Drury stepped down from the Bromsgrove magistrates' bench after 18 years. Looking back on his term he said: "Only a sadist would enjoy administering punishment, but someone has to do it."

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.

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