THIS WEEK IN 1959:

AN onlooker was injured yesterday when six pounds of dynamite blasted the foundations of the 120ft chimney of Dent’s former glove factory. For 80 years the chimney has been one of the city’s familiar landmarks, standing on the riverside near South Quay.

George Mehew, a bill-poster aged about 40, of Victoria Avenue, London Road, Worcester, was among a crowd of about 200 people milling about St Andrew’s spire, watching the operation as three two-pound charges split the base of the chimney.

Bricks flew in all directions amid a dense cloud of mortar dust, and Mr Mehew, who with other spectators was thought to be well outside the safety limit set up by a police cordon, had his leg broken by one piece of debris which must have sailed at least 200 yards to reach him.

He was rushed to the Royal Infirmary where he is detained. A swan on the Severn was also killed when its neck was broken by flying debris. Staff of both the police and fire stations craned from windows and flinched as a resounding clap like thunder rent the air. It is estimated that the chimney was built of 50,000 bricks and weighed about 140 tons. It broke into two as it collapsed into a sea of dust. Dent’s factory is being demolished to make way for Worcester’s new Technical College.

THIS WEEK IN 1969:

ADVERTISEMENT. Bobbys of Worcester request the pleasure of your company at its week-long centenary celebrations, starting with an official launch by the Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Joyce Brown.

The events will include fashion shows, hair-dressing demonstrations, exhibitions of fashions and a Royal Worcester porcelain demonstration.

It was in 1869 that a small drapery shop opened in Worcester High Street under the name of Simes with a total floor space of only 750 square feet and a staff of three. After 10 years the business had expanded and two further shops were acquired. Later, large additional premises were erected in Bank Street and eventually Simes became one of the largest and most important retail establishments in Worcester, occupying an imposing block at the corner of High Street and Bank Street.

By the turn of the century it had more than 100 employees. The store continued as Simes until 1943 when it became part of the Bobby Group which, in turn, belonged to Britain’s largest retail organisation, Debenhams.

THIS WEEK IN 1979:

A WARNING by oil distributors that the county council will receive only 75 per cent of its usual quota this winter means that schools, colleges and evening classes throughout Hereford-Worcester are threatened with restricted hours or total shutdowns in December and January.

Officials at County Hall are drawing up contingency plans for all education premises relying on oil heating. That’s at least 335 county schools and colleges which normally use a total of 3,500,000 gallons of fuel each year.

THIS WEEK IN 1989:

WORCESTER City Museum’s highly successful touring exhibition Spitfire, which has been on display in county library branches since October last year, has returned to the city.

It highlights the work of the Malvern Spitfire Team and its research into the Mk I Spitfire R6644 which crashed near Malvern in 1941.