Memory Lane

IN the Worcestershire and the War section, a letter was published from Colonel Ronald Holyoake of the Royal Engineer.

It had been written to his dad, Frank, of College Road.

The colonel wrote: “A very funny thing happened in one of the 16th Brigade trenches on Christmas Day.

“One of our fellows held up a white flag and a bottle of rum at the same time, and asked the Germans to come out and have a drink.

“About six of our chaps and some Germans got out and had a drink together between the trenches.

“They then started coming into our trenches and our chaps went into theirs, but when they had the order to go back two Germans refused point blank to go.”

An extract from an open letter by the Major General R Haking was also published.

The letter praised the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment, which he said had won a reputation which would never leave it so long as its soldiers in the future are ready to train.

The major wrote: “I am anxious to convey to all ranks of the battalion an appreciation of their distinguished service during the present campaign.”

IT was reported that over the festive period the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families’ Association had held a Christmas celebration.

There was entertainment, food, and presents were given out to 250 children who attended.

HAROLD Palmer was summoned to appear at Bromsgrove Petty Sessions over the charge of having no light.

The defendant was seen riding the bicycle without a light.

Police Sergeant Lyes proved the case and the defendant, who did not appear, was fined 2s 6d and 7s 6d costs, or seven days imprisonment.

January 15, 1965.

A 10 wheeled lorry got into a skid and ended up on the front lawn of a Lickey End property.

The lorry uprooted two hedges and a No Waiting sign before ending up on the lawn and depositing 13 tons of coal onto the front garden of Rosedene, in Birmingham Road.

The driver was a little shaken but unhurt.

A car had also crashed through the window of a large grocery store in Bromsgrove High Street.

It scattered the tinned goods and displaced two cash desks, before coming to a rest.

No one was seriously hurt.

THERE had been strong protests to the county council’s decision to erect a five-storey block of flats at the new Bromsgrove Fire Station being built in Windsor Street.

Bromsgrove Urban District Council had argued the flats should be no higher than three storeys.

Mr Harvey, chairman of the planning committee, said the county council should not be attempting to force its views on the elected representatives of Bromsgrove.

January 18, 1990.

ONE of Bromsgrove’s leading travel agents had been forced to shut down because of falling holiday sales.

WHSmith Travel, which had been based in High Street for more than three years, was set to close within four weeks due to a nationwide downturn in the travel industry.

STRIKING Bromsgrove ambulancemen and women went back to work, despite union opposition.

The dispute was over a 6.5 per cent pay offer, that was turned down by the unions who had been negotiating.

The offer had been increased to nine per cent over 18 months, but there had been deadlock.

Financial pressures, loyalty to the public, and frustration at the deadlock were the reasons given by staff for returning to work.

THE bottle banks of Bromsgrove had been slammed as a disgrace and an eyesore.

Brends Cox made several trips to the bank at the Gateway car park in Market Street, but had to return home with the bottles as it had not been emptied over the Christmas period.

Bottles had been dumped on the ground next to the overflowing bin.

The council blamed the problems on their private contractors – a Doncaster firm which was promising to empty the banks “as soon as possible”.

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.