100 years ago

On Monday afternoon, Robert Lennie, coachman to Mr Greaves of Granta House, Graham Road, was admitted to the rural hospital suffering severe injuries to the face and back. Early in the afternoon, Lennie and Wm. Jones, groom, also in Mr Greaves's service, were out with the trap and, when in Priory Road, near Cleveland House, the horse became restive and started kicking. The coachman asked Jones to get out and hold the horse's head, and as he did so, the horse made a dash . . . Jones saw that the coachman had been thrown out of the trap and was lying insensible on the ground. Malvern News, May 1, 1903.

The passage of motor cars through the town is causing a new excitement. To many old Ledburians, the arrival and departure of a motor car forcibly reminds them of the arrival and departure of the old mail coaches of half a century ago. Ledbury Free Press, May 6 1903.

50 years ago

Many Malvernians conveyed their hearty congratulations to Mr Ernest Barber, Worcester Road, Malvern Link, on the attainment of his 80th birthday last Monday, when his party at tea included his only sister, also a local resident. Mr Barber has been closely identified with St Matthias' all his life - first as schoolboy, then as chorister, afterwards in the church, and in the last half century as bellringer. There was a tower full of ringers for the evening service last Sunday, the eve of his birthday. Malvern Gazette, May 1, 1953.

The merit of our electoral system lies in its free, democratic nature. Do we value this privilege sufficiently? Suppose the right to vote was taken away and we were ruled by dictators. This would be foreign to our British traditions but the mere supposition illustrates how much we should lose in personal freedom if that situation came about. And yet on previous occasions not nearly half of the electors in this town went to the poll. Ledbury Reporter, May 2 1953.

25 years ago

The skateboarding craze which has swept the country for the past year could be coming to an end, Malvern Road Safety Committee was told on Friday. Area road safety officer Mike McKnight said there had been a steep decline in the use of skateboards nationally and locally in the past few months. Malvern Gazette, May 4, 1978.

A delegation from Ledbury is travelling to London today to present the town's case for a by-pass to the Minister of Transport, William Rodgers. The party, led by Leominster MP Peter Temple-Morris, includes the Mayor of Ledbury, Doug Isaacs, county councillor Frank Cooney and representatives of Ledbury and District Society and By-pass Action Committee. Mr Temple-Morris said: "This has, to a large extent already been done in Kington and now we must do the same for Ledbury . . ." Ledbury Reporter, May 4, 1978.