THE curious charge of "furious driving" never fails to amuse me whenever I come across it in local magistrates' court cases reported by Berrow's Journal 100 years or so ago.

But no, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the modern phenomenon of "road rage," but was simply the wording of the summons for driving "fast" and without due care and attention to pedestrians and other road users.

And we're not only talking about automobiles but also vehicles pulled by the original and genuine horse-power.

For instance, the Journal for this week exactly a century ago reported that one James Jones, farmer of Grimley, had been fined 10 shillings at the City Police Court for "furiously driving a horse and carriage at the Cross, Worcester.

"Witnesses stated that he had been driving at 12 miles an hour, and several people were nearly knocked down."

The same edition of 1903 also carried the following case from the Worcester County Petty Sessions Court, under the heading "Motor Car Driver Heavily Fined".

"Albert Charles Glantworth, chauffeur of Bredon's Norton, was summonsed for driving a motor car at an excessive speed of more than 12 miles an hour at Eckington. PC Stanford said defendant drove a little over a-quarter-of-a-mile in 45 seconds, but when stopped, denied that he had been driving furiously or at more than regulation speed.

"PC Stanford said he had been standing in the middle of the village with stop watch in hand, waiting for Glantworth, as there had been several public complaints about the defendant's driving.

"William Vincent Thornton of Eckington claimed Glantworth had driven at 20 mph through the village, which he considered very dangerous as children were leaving school at the time and were all about the road. John Young, coachman, of Pershore, said the motor nearly frightened his horse to death.

"The Bench found the defendant guilty and learned that he had a previous conviction for furious driving at Tewkesbury just a few weeks earlier. He was fined £10 with £1.5s costs and was much astonished by the heavy penalty, complaining that it would mean him losing his job."