THIS WEEK IN 1969:

MARL Bank, the substantial house in Rainbow Hill, Worcester, where the city’s most famous son, Sir Edward Elgar spent his final years, is now being demolished.

Extensive damage has been done by vandals since the property became vacant early last year. Elgar, by then a widower, moved to Marl Bank in 1929 and died there on February 23, 1934. Marl Bank, originally a farm house, was bought last year by the Hawkwood Building Company and planning permission has been given by the city council for the construction of up to 40 flats on the site.

Ken Russell’s magnificent TV film on the life of Elgar included some scenes taken at Marl Bank and devotees of the great composer are up in arms at the tearing down of the house. One of them, Victor Cornick of Stratfordupon- Avon, recently sent a telegram to the Queen stating: “I implore you to intervene to save this national inheritance.” (The pulling down of Marl Bank was one of the worst cases of civic vandalism in Worcester of the 1960s. Elgar had set up in the grounds sections of the original Worcester Bridge, removed during the widening of the span in 1931. He would go down to the parapets in the evening at Marl Bank and gaze over his “beloved country” – Worcester and its Cathedral across to the Malverns. If it had been preserved, Marl Bank would surely have made the ideal location for the national Elgar Museum) THIS WEEK IN 1979:

AN alarming rise in the Worcester rat population has brought sharp words of warning from city environmental health officer John Hartley. His latest annual report reveals a 30 per cent increase in city rat infestations with his department handling nearly 400 cases over the past year.

Mr Hartley believes the public is partly to blame for leaving accumulations of food and rubbish lying around.

he says: “Rats are prolific breeders given access to food, with accumulations of rubbish, and to drain defects.”

● Spending on the library service in Hereford- Worcester per 1,000 head of population is now the lowest of the 37 English counties and at the bottom, bar two, of all 119 library authorities in England and Wales. This warning is being sounded by county librarian Ann Barnes who stresses too, that despite the lower levels of service, the public is making increasing demands on libraries throughout the county.

THIS WEEK IN 1989:

THE Worcester-based English String Orchestra is putting its latest recording to work against Aids. All royalties from its performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations on compact disc are to be donated to the National Aids Trust. Also adding their royalties to the fundraising effort are the disc’s sponsors, Legal and General, and its producers, Nimbus Records. All involved are confident the recording will be a great success and will generate at least £25,000 for the Aids charities.