1802: A considerable trade is being opened up between this country and Japan - a nation which is stated to be the richest in the world for gold, spices, silks and silver. The Emperor is, fortunately, well disposed towards England.

Mr Edmund's first Subscription Concert at our Town Hall (the Guildhall) on Monday evening deservedly attracted a very numerous and genteel assemblage. The performance, as might be expected, gave universal satisfaction. The fashionable entertainment by the singers and musicians was much more respectable than has hitherto been known here.

To be disposed of - a fine six years-old Mule, perhaps not to be excelled for the saddle and for carrying. It is very gentle and will trot 14 miles within the hour. Enquire of the Printer of this Journal.

1902: John Field, shop assistant of Droitwich, was fined 18 shillings - a shilling a mile - at the Worcester County Petty Sessions for furiously riding a bicycle at 18 miles an hour at Holt Fleet.

On Thursday, Frederick Workman (36), employed at the Webb's Horsehair Factory in Birdport, got his arm entangled in some machinery and had it mangled. The machine had to be broken before his limb could be disengaged. He was taken to our Infirmary where his arm was amputated by the surgeon Mr Fenn. Mr Workman is now making satisfactory progress.

Worcester Board of Guardians has been warned by Dr Braine Hartnell, the Superintendent, that owing to the extremely over-crowded state of Powick Mental Asylum, especially on the female side, he can only receive acute cases at the present time.

1952: Twenty-two years old Able Seaman Lionel Charles Buckland, whose home is in Abbey Road, Pershore, is serving on board HMS Tracker which recently took part in the British atomic tests.

Lady Burnham, the Chief Commissioner for England, declared at the annual conference of the Worcestershire Girl Guides Association in the Shirehall: "We hope and pray that none of us, not even the youngest, will ever see another Coronation after that next year of Queen Elizabeth II. We want to make this important to children. It is a very serious thing - the dedication of one young woman's life to the service of her people."

Worcester's Mayor, Councillor W.F Holloway, has opened a local fund as part of the nationwide appeal to have a national memorial to King George VI.