April 28, 1900

100 years ago

April 28, 1900

ABEL and Leo Jelfs, from Catshill, appeared before Bromsgrove magistrates charged with assaulting their other brother, Heber. The three were involved in a brawl on Heber's Horse Course allotment in the village after a disagreement over the land. The bench dismissed the case against Leo but fined Abel 1s (5p) with 10s 6d (52.5p) costs.

LARGE crowds turned out to watch a cavalcade of motor cars as they passed through Bromsgrove en route to Edinburgh from London at the statutory 12 miles per hour. The event was organised by the Automobile Association to promote motoring. The Messenger said the drivers and passengers looked very much the worst for wear. Their clothes and goggles were covered in a thick layer of dust and all had that "half starved" look as well they might having driven into the teeth of a north-westerly gale all day.

THE body of William Goodman was recovered from the canal near Chapel Bridge salt works in Droitwich Spa by George Harrison and James Price on Friday morning. Goodman, an ostler at the Barley Mow Inn, was thought to have fallen in after passing through a doorway which led from the pub to the towpath. He was barely alive when he was rescued, but died soon afterwards.

GEORGE Penny, aged five, from Bewell Head, in Bromsgrove, was recovering from a broken thigh in the Cottage Hospital after being run over by a horse and cart as he played in Stourbridge Road.

THE most serious rick fire in the district for may years saw five stacks, a threshing box and outbuildings at Hill Farm, Bournheath, destroyed. A rider on horseback galloped to Bromsgrove to summon the brigade which soon discovered there was a shortage of water to fight the blaze. The nearest supply was a brook half a mile away down a hill which resulted in the hose producing a feeble trickle.

50 years ago

April 29, 1950

BROMSGROVE residents woke up on Tuesday to a four-inch blanket of snow. Throughout the week, sub-zero temperatures were accompanied by strong winds and sleet showers.

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THERE was concern that Cofton reservoir, which was set to be sold by auction, might be converted into a lido. The parish council planned to hold a meeting to see if it could be bought by public subscription.

STOKE Works would be ablaze with colour in a few years thanks to factory owner L G Harris. The Stoke-based brush manufacturer had agreed to buy some flowering trees which would be planted along roadsides. The cash-strapped county council said it couldn't afford to do the work.

RUBERY boy Derek Townsend, aged 11, of the Avenue Annexe, was taken to Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital after the track of an Army gun, driven by 77-year-old Norman Raybould, of Broad Street, Bromsgrove, ran over his foot. It happened during a Territorial Army recruitment drive in Rubery staged to coincide with the opening of a new Drill Hall in the village.

DROITWICH Town Council was to ask two firms to tender for the supply of 100 prefabs to ease the Spa's housing shortage. They would be erected at St Peter's Crescent Estate.

BROMSGROVE Fire Station held an open day as part of a campaign to set up an auxiliary service, as was happening elsewhere in the country. The volunteers, men aged over 30 and women over 18, would train for four or five hours a month with the regulars.

25 years ago

April 21, 1975

UNSIGHTLY shop signs and plate glass associated with chain stores was ruining the market town atmosphere of Bromsgrove's town centre, the district council decided. Only a handful of shops, including Brighton's, in High Street, and Willis's butchers, in Worcester Street, had not been altered.

RATEPAYERS in the Bromsgrove area proposed to stand for the county and district council elections next year. They were fed up with the continued rise in rates.

KEN Burns, a FIFA and Football League referee, presented Fred Hurst, the president of Bromsgrove and District Referees' Association, with a new chain of office. The ceremony at Garrington's staff canteen marked Mr Hurst's long service to the association.

THE chairman of Hagley Parish Council, Cllr Geoffrey Bache, hit out at West Mercia Police for ordering a fleet of BMW patrol cars costing £5,000 each. He said he was appalled at the decision because the economy of the Bromsgrove district depended heavily on the car industry.

HANBURY couple Harold and Margaret Merry were involved in a gruesome mix-up. They dashed to Oxford when told their son, Malcolm, a student, had been badly injured in a car smash. They spent three hours at his bedside before it was discovered the patient, whose face was obscured by a mask, was not Malcolm. It appeared the injured man had stolen his car, a fact not known to police at the time.