This week in 1992:

A £700,000 appeal has been launched to save Pershore Abbey from partial collapse. The money is needed for the critical first stage of a £1 million repair programme for the centuries old building where nearly 800 services were held last year. Urgent work is needed to prevent the collapse of the south transept where the south wall is moving outwards and a vertical split has appeared.

l A thousand balloons will be filling the air at Ronkswood on Monday in tribute to all the volunteers helping people in the Worcester community. The aim is to heighten public awareness of volunteering and the opportunities it presents, but the true number of volunteer workers in the area probably runs into several thousands, says Sally Ellison of the Worcester Volunteer Bureau.

This week in 1987:

Worcester's Swan Theatre may have to re-think some of the realism in a forthcoming play to prevent the possibility of there being a public outcry.

Non-smoker 15 years-old Kristian Holland was all set to light up his first cigarette - in the interests of art. But the thought of a teenage non-smoker being taught to smoke has horrified the Worcester District Health Promotion Unit. Kristian, a pupil of Nunnery Wood High School, has been chosen to play a leading role in the Swan's production of the play Our Day Out. His part is that of a rebellious teenager with a number of bad habits including smoking.

l A 200-year-old tithe barn has taken on a new lease of life in the Worcestershire countryside. John Walker-Smith has taken over the historic building at Hadley, just off the dual carriageway near Ombersley, as the headquarters for his kitchen design business. The barn was originally sited at Shipston-on-Stour but was moved to Hadley in 1938 and used for some years as the base for an antiques business.

This week in 1977:

A last-ditch battle is about to be waged by Worcester Civic Society to save the Countess of Huntingdon Chapel in Deansway from the bulldozer. The city council is currently advertising its intent to seek Whitehall approval for the demolition of this historic listed building. It would go to make way for car parking. But the Civic Society is appealing to the council to reprieve the chapel for at least 18 months to give them and other groups and individuals the chance to co-operate with the Guildhall in exploring ways to rescue the chapel.

Nicholas Worsley, the Civic Society chairman stressed: "Informed historical and architectural opinion places the chapel, with its virtually unchanged, galleried, pulpited early 19th century interior, its Victorian stained glass and its 1840 organ by J Nicholson of Worcester, among the gems of its kind.

"Sir John Betjeman's praise of the building is also often quoted."

This week in 1967:

A major change of plan affecting the redevelopment of Worcester's Blockhouse clearance area is now being considered by the city council.

More than 360 crumbling houses are being pulled down in this forgotten area and it was originally planned to provide at least 30 new factory sites on the land.

Now, however, it may be that only 14 factory sites will be developed and that the rest of the valuable 20 acres near the city centre will be given over to new housing for quite a large population.

This week in 1957:

TWO young men from Powick near Worcester, who believe there are better opportunities for them in Australia than here in England, have decided to emigrate to Queensland.

Both aged 26, they are Geoffrey Jones of the Bowling Green, Powick, and Edward Reeves of Colletts Green.

They set sail for their new life Down Under on Monday aboard the SS New Australia.

The pair are travelling by the assisted passage scheme whereby they pay £10 down a and a further £2, which is held by the Australian authorities.