THE Vicar of Bromsgrove said the conditions working men lived in were an obstacle to religion.

100 years ago

November 10, 1900

THE Vicar of Bromsgrove said the conditions working men lived in were an obstacle to religion. "There are cottages in Bromsgrove in which no human being ought to live," he said. Poor conditions might lead working men to "the horrors of a drunkard's death."

A ROW was in full flight in Bromsgrove over the site for a new market hall. A public debate in the Drill Hall was attended by 500 people who argued the merits of the various sites for three hours. "It is perhaps fortunate that the South African War, the Chinese Crisis and the General Election have already had a good innings in the newspapers, or they might have found it hard to compete as topics of public interest with the knotted Bromsgrove Market Hall question," the Messenger said.

TWO men appeared before Droitwich magistrates after one claimed the other had stolen his money when he fell asleep drunk in a field. Ernest Cottrill, a shoemaker, from the Vines, was charged with stealing 25s (£1.25) from George Bateman, a labourer, also from the Vines. The defendant had agreed to pay the money back in 5s (25p) instalments, but in court testified that he stole nothing. The trial was adjourned.

EAST Worcestershire MP Austen Chamberlain, who represented Bromsgrove, was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury. The post would pay him £2,000 a year and was seen as the first step to a cabinet position.

A TEENAGER from Belbrough-ton was fined 5s (25p) and 10s (50p) costs for game trespass in a field in Blackwell. PC Poyner spotted Arthur Tandy, aged 16, armed with a shotgun in a field belonging to John Harlesworth, disturbing four partridges. The defendant's employer said he had picked up the gun to shoot a magpie, not realising who the field belonged to.

50 years ago

November 11, 1950

AN old man was injured when he was hit by a motorbike in Wychbold. Herbert Horbach, aged 77, was pushing his bike across the main road to Henbrook Cottage where he lived when the accident happened. He was taken to Worcester Royal Infirmary where he was treated for a fractured ankle and pelvis, and concussion.

THE district medical officer identified tuberculosis as the major threat to health in Bromsgrove and said that "appalling conditions of overcrowding" and "failure to provide adequate hospital facilities" added to the hazard. He reported that the town's population stood at 27,430. It was a slight increase and better than the national figure.

HOUSING shortages forced many people to live in caravans and Bromsgrove Urban District Council was struggling to regulate the sites. Magistrates over-ruled its objection to two Austin workers living on a site in Rednal Hill Road, Rubery. The council planned a site in Blackwell for 20 to 30 caravans which would have proper sanitation.

STOKE Prior residents complained at their parish council meeting that there were not enough sewage and refuse workers. Bromsgrove Urban District Council had said the job was unpopular. Parish councillors said the pay should be increased.

CHILDREN crossing Rock Hill, in Bromsgrove, to reach St Peter's Roman Catholic School were in danger, claimed Bromsgrove Urban District Council. Mr Hudson said a pedestrian crossing was needed.

25 years ago

November 7, 1975

TWO women were setting up a branch of the European Movement to promote the EEC in Bromsgrove. Marjorie Anthony, of Cognells Road, and Joyce Brown, from New Road, Rubery, decided to improve grass roots contact with other European countries after they visited a seminar at the European Academy, in Otzenhausen, West Germany.

THE nation's biggest fans of radio soap The Archers, Gordon and Joy Preston, from Brixham, Devon, visited Stoke Prior as part of a BBC prize to spend a week in Archers Country.

A BUILDER offered to construct the proposed new general hospital on his own land and lease it to the health authority to resolve wrangles about its location. But Walter Raggatt, chairman of Bromsgrove District Council's planning committee, said Trevor Edmund's site, at Gorcott Hill Farm, on the A453, offered few advantages.

HISTORIC Mere Hall, in Hanbury, was set to go under the auctioneer's hammer after 600 years of family ownership. The Grade I listed building, one of the finest half-timbered houses in the county, needed restoration work costing nearly £25,000.

A COUNCILLOR attacked lenient sentences given to vandals. Cllr Maurice Broomfield said people who damaged trees and cemeteries in the town should be taught to leave other people's property alone.