December 24, 1898

100 years ago

December 24, 1898

BUTCHERS in Droitwich Spa and Bromsgrove had been busy preparing their shop window displays for the annual meat shows staged in both towns. Sides of beef, pork, mutton and poultry of all descriptions occupied every inch of space as butchers prepared for their busiest and most profitable time of the year.

AGNES, the wife of labourer George Hemming, of Winnetts Lane, Droitwich, was hauled before Spa magistrates charged with stealing 3d (1p) worth of coal, the property of merchants Messrs Burcher and Giles. But in court the partners' manager was unable to say for sure that the particular lump in question was one of theirs.

THE chairman of Bromsgrove magistrates was so shocked to hear the foul names Annie Vale had called her neighbour during a heated row he was heard to remark: ''It's worse than what we hear from Catshill.'' Vale, of Station Street, Bromsgrove, had threatened Lucy Caldwell when the latter had gone to fill her kettle in a communal washhouse. Vale was bound over to keep the peace or spend seven days in jail.

MR Shirley, from Stoke Prior, had picked a bunch of primroses from his garden and violets were reported to be in bloom at Little Slideslow Farm, Bromsgrove. Both evidence of the extremely mild season.

THE plan to build a permanent isolation hospital at Hill Top would be hurried along. The £10,000 cost would be shared between Bromsgrove and Droitwich residents who faced a halfpenny rate increase to meet the bill.

50 years ago

December 25, 1948

RESIDENTS living in the the Wychbold almshouses all received gifts of firewood from Mrs Boulton, who lived in the village, and coal from the trustees of the Corbett charity.

BROMSGROVE resident Mr A Ford, aged 85, from East Road won a £1 prize offered by a magazine for his neat copperplate handwriting.

POLICE in Bromsgrove vowed to crack down on drivers who continued to flout the new no parking laws in the town. Some motorists refused to pay parking charges on the new car parks as a matter of principle, claiming Bromsgrove was the only town in the Midlands to impose charges.

THERE was little evidence of Christmas cheer in Bromsgrove as many shops ran out of stocks of cigarettes, alcohol and other traditional festive treats. Even the Glastonbury thorn in Tardebigge churchyard, which usually obliged by flowering now, looked set to fail this year.

BROMSGROVE Cricket Club held its annual dinner at the Golden Cross Hotel in Bromsgrove where 70 members and supporters sat down to a splendid meal presided over by Sir Hugh Chance. The season had not been good for the town, a lack of practice and poor batting were the chief causes, it was said.

25 years ago

December 21, 1973

DRACONIAN measures announced by the Government in a bid to minimise the problems caused by the trouble in the coal and power industries meant Bromsgrove faced a gloomy Christmas and New Year.

To save precious coal stocks, areas would be zoned for power cuts on a rota basis and factories were to go on a three-day week. Householders were urged to switch off unnecessary lights and turn down heaters, deep freezers and fridges.

THE former Regal Cinema in Bromsgrove's Worcester Ro-ad was to undergo a £7,000 facelift to convert it into a Calvary Church. Originally a Baptist Chapel, in 1910 it became the Playhouse Theatre for the next 24 years. In 1934, it was re-named The Regal only to close 27 years later as cinema-going declined.

BROMSGROVE Rovers' new manager, ''gentleman''Joe Wainwright, had little cause to celebrate his return to the club after a seven year absence -- his team lost 3-0 to AP Leamington. It was Joe's second stint in the manager's hot seat. He had been hastily brought in by chairman Charlie Poole to replace Keith Smith who resigned a week ago.

TORIES on Bromsgrove council were angry at a proposal by the ruling Labour group to ban estate agents and those engaged in property sales from local government service.

A spokesman claimed it could give rise to conflict between their public and private responsibilities.