100 years ago

I CANNOT compliment the directors of the Assembly Rooms on their latest departure...I am informed that there is to be a new drop scene, but the form it will take cannot be commended.

The present drop scene - representing a view of Eastnor Castle - has done duty for a long time, but now that it has seen its day, surely there are other beauty spots around Malvern which could be painted as a substitute and which, I am sure, would be more pleasing to the eye than an indiscriminate array of advertisements. To have a drop scene of the nature I have described seems to be reducing the Assembly Rooms to the level of a travelling penny show. Malvern Gazette, April 5, 1901.

AT the "egg service" for children held in Dymock Church last week, twenty-four and a half dozen eggs were given by the little ones who attended. These were distributed as follows: Ledbury Cottage Hospital, five and a half dozen; St Lucy's, Gloucester, 11 dozen; Royal Bar Hospital, three dozen; Boys' Home for the Incurables, five dozen. Ledbury Free Press, April 9, 1901.

50 years ago

CRITICISM of the lack of amenities in the Link in spite of high rates was made at the annual meeting of the Malvern Link Electors' Association last Thursday by the retiring chairman, Mr T. McCarry.

Reporting that the past year and "not been a particularly wonderful one," for the association, Mr McCarry said they still had no library, no welfare centre and no meeting hall. Malvern Gazette, April 6, 1951.

Owing to unforeseen circumstances, Ledbury Amateur Cine and Dramatic Society have decided that they can put on their new play, A Man About the House, for only two nights instead of three, as originally announced. It will therefore be even more necessary for those who wish to see it to make certain that they secure seats for the production. Ledbury Reporter, April 6, 1951.

25 years ago

ONE very small cheer was Malvern's reaction to the Budget. And one needed to be sharp of hearing to catch it.

It was not a day for caps to be thrown in the air. The best news for the town came in the shape of assistance for small businesses which should mean that some which were in danger of going under can now survive. Malvern Gazette, April 8, 1976.

Local inn-keepers paid a striking tribute last week to Mr Tommy Townsend, licensee of the Trumpet Inn, Pixley, who is retiring in June after 38 years in the licensed trade. The occasion was the annual banquet of Ledbury, Bromyard and District Licensed Victuallers Association at The Feathers Hotel which was attended by 130 licensees and guests. Ledbury Reporter, April 8, 1976.