A BEGGAR was sentenced to hard labour after assaulting the landlord of the Navigation Inn in Stoke Prior. William Hurt, a fitter from Walsall, was sentenced to 21 days' hard labour for begging a penny for a pint of beer and another 21 days for assaulting landlord Thomas Wright. Hurt grabbed hold of his whiskers and threatened to knock his head off. The sentences were to run concurrently.

100 years ago

April 1, 1899

A BEGGAR was sentenced to hard labour after assaulting the landlord of the Navigation Inn in Stoke Prior. William Hurt, a fitter from Walsall, was sentenced to 21 days' hard labour for begging a penny for a pint of beer and another 21 days for assaulting landlord Thomas Wright. Hurt grabbed hold of his whiskers and threatened to knock his head off. The sentences were to run concurrently.

AN inquest into the death of Stoke Works man John Walker, who was knocked down and killed by a train, returned a verdict -- without hesitation -- that he had been accidentally knocked down. The 64-year-old labourer, who was employed by Salt Union Limited in Stoke Works,was knocked down by a train which was shunting in a Great Western siding at Stoke Works railway station.

AN American organ was placed in the parish church of Belbroughton as a memorial to the late Mrs H Parkes, of Yew Tree House, Belbroughton. A brass tablet fixed to the organ read: ''Presented to the rector and wardens of Belbroughton for the use of the church, by Henry Pershouse Parkes, of Yew Tree House, in memory of this beloved wife, 1898.''

DROITWICH Spa boys George Abbott and Sydney Price, both living in The Vines, were charged with throwing stones in Bays Meadow, contrary to the by-laws.

Labourer Samuel Hill spoke to the boys after he saw them chasing sheep and they began to through stones at him. The bench sitting at Droitwich Borough Petty Sessions said it was loathed to convict the boys and, with respect to Price, the case would be adjourned for two months to see what this behaviour was like in the meantime. If it was satisfactory the case would be dismissed. Abbott was to receive the same treatment.

LANDLORD of the New Rose and Crown Inn, Mr Lander, of Lickey, was granted a licence to sell refreshments from a tent in a field opposite his house on Easter Monday, by Bromsgrove magistrates.

50 years ago

April 2, 1949

THE vacant factory premises and the housing needs of Finstall were the main subjects under discussion at the Stoke Prior annual parish meeting.

FORMER Lickey councillor Albert Henry Freckelton, of High House Drive, Lickey, died following a nine-year illness. He was a member of Birmingham Police for 25 years and moved to Lickey on his retirement. He helped to form the Ratepayers' Association and in 1934 and 1937 was returned unopposed to Bromsgrove Urban District Council as a nominee of the association. His funeral took place at Lickey Church.

AN indignant protest against the condition which prohibits the use of Finstall Village Hall for political meetings was voiced by Mr L Eveson at a meeting in Stoke Prior Village Hall. He said it was a stupid and short-sighted policy to make a rule, or allow a rule to remain, prohibiting the use of a village hall for political purposes. It was later explained that Miss M Albright, the donor of the hall, made it a condition in the trust deed that it should not be used for political or sectarian purposes.

THERE was point-to-point success for first-time rider Sheila Heard on her mount Offchance II. Sheila, the younger daughter of Mr W Heard, of Hollowfields Farm, Hanbury, won the adjacent Hunt Ladies' Race at the Golden Valley Point-to-Point races.

25 years ago

March 29, 1974

BROMSGROVE'S new MP, Hal Miller, was on the warpath as to why ''toddler-teaching'' in the town was so bad. Angry mothers had asked the Tory MP to investigate why they were being forced to teach youngsters at home due to space shortages at primary schools. Mr Miller launched an intensive investigation.

REDNAL man Eric Robinson, of Meadvale Road, was among those who received Royal Humane Society awards. While on holiday with his wife and friends at Torpoint, Cornwall, the 57-year-old helped to form a human chain and rescued a man and four children after their small boat capsized in rough seas.

A 24-HOUR Midland Red bus strike took place in Redditch because crews claimed they were being paid £3 a week less than their Bromsgrove colleagues.

MESSENGER bosses made a front page apology to readers and advertisers after the paper was reduced in size at short notice due to industrial action by the National Graphical Association.

THE Bromsgrove branch of local hardware firm John Dyer and Sons, in St John Street, was to close in June after ten years.