NEWS that a new secondary grammar school to accommodate 646 pupils was to be built in Bromsgrove came as quite a surprise. It would be built on land between Alcester Road and Burcot Lane. Other new schools in the pipeline were planned for Lickey and Charford. The town's first secondary school had opened at the Institute in 1905 with room for 105 students. In 1912 a secondary school was built in the old park off Stourbridge Road, which in 1937 was revamped and enlarged to take 400 pupils.

DARE-DEVIL Edgar Foster, of Ried Cottage, Belbroughton, fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he dived more than 80 feet from the deck of the liner the Queen Elizabeth into New York harbour while returning home from a trip to the USA. He had done other daring dives in the past, including one from a 90 foot rock into the Mediterranean.

LITTLE Susan Yates, daughter of Airman Derek Yates, whose parents lived in Stoke Road, Aston Fields, and his wife the former Ann Lee of The Flats, was christened on board the aircraft carrier Ocean just before she set sail for Korea. The couple had lived in Malta for two years.

THE Bishop of Worcester, Dr Wilson Cash, dedicated an extension to St Mary de Wyche churchyard at Wychbold. The land had been donated by George Jackson.