WILLIAM Starfield, a tramp, appeared at Bromsgrove police court charged with refusing to break his allotted 13 hundredweight of stone in return for a night's board and lodging at the town's workhouse. His excuse was that he was too cold and hungry, the amount of food he had been given he said was not enough to "keep a spider alive." Magistrates were told tramps were given a hammock and two blankets and that the ward was heated to the regulation 56 degrees F. He had also been given the customary ration of eight ounces of bread for his supper. He was sentenced to 14-days' hard labour at Worcester Jail.

THE Messenger reflected on events in 1902 that had impacted on the local scene. The King's illness had brought much sorrow to inhabitants of Bromsgrove and Droitwich but the coronation had been one of the highlights. The end of the war in South Africa had been greeted with great joy, as had Bromsgrove MP Austen Chamberlain's elevation to the cabinet. Hill Top Hospital had finally opened and looking forward, work would soon start on a new asylum at Barnsley Hall in Bromsgrove.

THE popular penny and halfpenny dinner scheme for the poorest youngsters in Bromsgrove was to be revived next week thanks to the efforts of generous churchwoman Miss Sanders from Oakdene, Kidderminster Road. They would be served in the coachhouse at the back of the Metropolitan Bank in Crown Close. Around 150 children usually enjoyed the cheap, nourishing meals.

THE poorest inhabitants in Droitwich living in the Almshouses were not forgotten over the festive period, thanks to two Spa worthies. Dr Corbett and MP Mr Martin generously donated coal, tea and warm clothes for the adults and toys for 100 children. At the Workhouse, paupers had enjoyed their traditional Christmas dinner of roast beef and plum pudding.