THE swallows were unusually late departing for warmer climes, correspondent E Humphreys, from Rock House, Bromsgrove, observed. He wrote to the Messenger to say he had seen several near his house only last week. It raised the question, he said, of whether the birds actually hibernated in England during the winter during the cold months.

W BATEMAN was unable to appear before Droitwich Petty Sessions on a charge of being found drunk in Grantham Road, his wife told the bench. It appeared that since his arrest he had fallen over and broken his wooden leg leaving him unable to stand. He was fined 2/6 (12.5p) with 5/6 (27.5p) costs in his absence.

THERE was good news for job seekers in the district. Alfred Padgett, a salt proprietor from Cheshire, had bought two five-acre fields near the Midland railway line at Sugarbrook in which he intended to drill for brine. The Salt Works at Stoke was a large employer, but trade could be better and any expansion of trade was to be welcomed. It was not clear how close to Bromsgrove the subterranean brine lakes extended, however bore holes at Fringe Green had resulted in it being found there.

THE 21st birthday of Other Windsor-Clive, son of the Earl of Plymouth, was celebrated at the family's country seat at Hewell Grange near Bromsgrove and at their extensive estates in Shropshire and Wales. Despite the fact that the big celebrations would take place at Hewell in December, the 300 estate workers were treated to a day they would long remember. The men sat down to a sumptuous dinner, while the womenfolk and their children were treated to afternoon tea.