THIS week exactly a century ago and also, by sheer coincidence, 50 years ago, readers of Berrow's Journal with a wanderlust were invited to start new lives in Canada.

Invitations to emigrate to this North American nation were published in the Journal of 1903 and also 1953 in the form of large public notices.

The one this week 100 years ago offered "160-acre farms in Western Canada FREE" and told readers that delegates from the Canadian Farmers' Association and a Canadian Government Agent were coming to Worcestershire to meet "any persons desiring to consult on the prospects and to secure more information about Canada".

Moving ahead half-a-century, the public notice in the Journal of 1953 declared: "Emigrate to Canada! Representatives of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian Settlement Office will visit Worcester next Friday to interview persons wishing to settle in Canada. Apply to Winwood Travel and Shipping Ltd in College Street."