Memory Lane

THE latest Worcestershire and the War section included an update on the fundraising effort, which had so far been successful.

The Messenger also reported that the first of the new service battalions of the Worcestershire Regiment had left at full strength for its training station.

The regiment now had nine battalions, each of which was 1,000 strong.

There was also about 800 men at the regiment depot at Norton Barracks, in training - 70 having been recruited that week.

AT Birmingham Police Court Fritz Eppine, a German, was brought on remand, charged under Section 22 of the Alien’s Restriction Order, under the 1914 Act of the same name.

Mr Eppine had been found without a permit, 14 miles from his registered place of address in Bromsgrove.

Mr Whadcoat, appearing for the prosecution, pointed out Mr Eppine was the first alien to register in Birmingham, showing he was aware of the laws of the country.

After being refused a permit to travel to Birmingham at Bromsgrove Police Station, he had later been arrested and charged in the city.

Representing Mr Eppine, Norman Birckett argued his client had been doing everything he could in an exceedingly difficult situation.

The Stipendiary said Eppine was guilty of a technical offence, but not a serious one.

He added aliens must be extremely careful in carrying out provisions of the Act.

Eppine was ordered to be bound over in his own recognisance of £25, and to find one surety of £25, or go to jail for one month.

50 years ago. August 28. 1964.

BECAUSE of a dispute involving day shift workers, around 300 night workers at the Austin factory had been sent home.

An Austin official said he did know what the trouble was, but they had to be sent home because there was not enough work.

This led to a lightning strike being called by workers.

Workers were claiming for a £3 a week increase, having been offered 14s.

The deliveries of minis and 1100 car bodies to the Longbridge factory had stopped because of the strike.

THE Messenger published a letter by a town resident on the plans by British Railways to close Bromsgrove and Barnt Green railway stations.

If the closure went ahead, people from those areas would be forced to travel to Birmingham by car to get a train.

The letter, by M Houghton, had been sent to the Minister of Transport Mr Marples.

She wrote: “Over the past 15 years I have seen Birmingham’s system of transport change from narrow roads, confusion, to wide roads, less confusion and more efficiency.

“Now the minister plans to change all this.

"He wants to put Birmingham back 15 years to super congested roads in rush hours.

“All that scheming and planning will have been wasted when the minister gets to work on his plans.”

25 years ago. August 31, 1989.

A GRUESOME find in Droitwich had sparked a murder search.

The coroner was informed as a skeleton was found with sword injuries to the skull and right arm.

Experts agreed the victim met a violent death more than 1,600 years ago.

The skeleton was one of 24 found during excavations in Vines Lane.

The find had excited historians, who were building up a clearer picture of Droitwich’s role as a pre-historic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon site.

BROMSGROVE’S Primrose Hospice was attempting to raise nearly £1 million in a move that was likely to secure its future for the rest of the century.

The plan was to move the hospice to a new location that could offer a 10-bed ward.

The hospice had opened in 1987, helping scores of patients with cancer at its site at Hill Top Hospital in Rock Hill.

AFTER complaints about the state of the town centre after shops had closed, the council was now considering spending £2,300 a year on cleaning the town up.

One of the problems identified was that rubbish was left in High Street on Saturday afternoons and overnight, not being cleared up until Sunday mornings.

Memory Lane is compiled from the papers dating back to the Messenger's first edition in 1860. The papers are free to view at Bromsgrove Library, in Stratford Road.

For more information call the library on 01905 822722.