October 20, 1900

100 years ago

October 20, 1900

A NOVEL performance was set to take place at Bromsgrove's Drill Hall. A military drama, entitled For the Colours, would feature 14 Zulu chiefs and warriors brought over especially to England to appear in the main scene -- The Defence of Rorke's Drift.

BROMSGROVE Cricket Club, with 150 members on its books, continued to flourish the annual meeting was told. Some 26 members had joined last season. It was compared with the Rovers football club which was suffering from a lack of support and cash, leading to it being in a somewhat "shakey" condition the paper said.

BROMSGROVE council's plan to ask parishes to chip in towards the cost of buying and maintaining a new steam fire engine got off to an uncertain start. Stoke was reluctant to bind its residents to the £10 annual cost. If the cash was not forthcoming, the Messenger observed, it could lead to the appliance not being sent to deal with fires in the Stoke area.

THE Messenger came out in sup

port of a suggestion that the curfew bell should continue to be rung every night in town. The custom had begun at the time of the Norman Conquest when it was the signal for householders to extinguish their fires.

WALTER Jones, an army deserter from Worcester, was hauled before Droitwich magistrates charged with stealing a pair of boots worth 9/6 that had been hung outside Mr Harford's shop in High Street. His guilty plea landed him in jail for a month's hard labour.

MR J BRIDGMAN of the Golden Lion pub, in Bromsgrove, was on business in the Hewell area when his horse shied and bolted while still attached to the spring cart it was pulling. The crazed animal galloped through Finstall back to Bromsgrove where it crashed into the front of the Home and Colonial shop. The horse suffered cuts and the cart was smashed but thankfully no one was injured.

50 years ago

October 21, 1950

AN unusual animal had been spotted near Battlefield Brook which Woodcote naturalist Fred Fincher had identified as an otter. He said they were occasionally seen in the Bromsgrove area and one had been shot not long ago at Sugarbrook.

THE chairman of Bromsgrove District Council, Mr F Clements, took the opportunity to defend the authority's stance on making motorists pay to use the town's car parks when he gave a speech to the Court Leet dinner at the Golden Cross Hotel. Traders said the charges were driving shoppers elsewhere.

ONE of Bromsgrove's best known farmers, who was also an excellent judge of animals, Albert Webb, from Red Cross Farm, died in hospital after suffering a seizure.

He was 69. Mr Webb was also an accomplished ploughman with a pair of horses and his neat, straight furrows were a joy to behold.

SIX hundred workers at the Austin Motor Co, in Longbridge, enjoyed a trip to the Motor Show at Earls Court, in London. Special trains and coaches were laid on for the party.

A FOUR-DAY sale of furniture at Westwood Park, in Droitwich Spa, the former home of Lord Doverdale, got off to a good start. On Monday, items including Chippendale furniture and works of art helped push the proceeds up to £3,500.

On Wednesday it was mostly linen which came under the hammer with double sheets averaging £2.10s (£2.50) a pair.

25 years ago

October 17, 1975

THE Rt Rev Laurence Brown, Bishop of Birmingham, praised the parents of children at St Andrew's Church of England School, in Barnt Green, who had raised £3,000 to pay for a new classroom.

BROMSGROVE District Council was to embark on an economy drive to save £200,000 to prevent a huge 15 per cent rate rise next spring.

Among the measures being considered was a 5p increase in parking charges and the early closure of the town's swimming baths and toilets.

FEARS Bromsgrove may become part of the West Midlands as part of the Boundary Commission's plan to reduce the number of local councils in Hereford and Worcester prompted town MP Hal Miller to pledge his opposition to the move.

RADIO 1 DJ Emperor Rosko was welcomed by young fans when he opened a disco at Bromsgrove Baths on Monday. He signed autographs and gave away records.