BBC Antiques Roadshow expert Henry Sandon of Worcester has told me of a highly amusing incident witnessed on Pitchcroft about a century ago.

"Henry Charles Bright, an accomplished Royal Worcester gilder, was nicknamed The Colonel, by colleagues and friends because he was a member of the Volunteers, a locally-recruited mounted regiment," says Henry, in setting the scene.

One day, the Volunteers - probably the Worcestershire Yeomanry - were ordered to take part in a big parade on Pitchcroft, but some of them, having no horses, had to hurriedly borrow sturdy steeds.

"Sounds a bit like Dad's Army," quips Henry.

"The problem was that Bright chose to borrow the Co-op milk-round horse which a spectator in the crowd was quick to spot. This chap knew too that if you shouted 'Milk-o,' the horse would promptly stop, which, of course, it did when he let out the cry.

"The crazy thing was that the horse would only re-start with a special signal from his roundsman, and he had to be fetched hastily before the parade could start!