WHILE fishing in the brook in The Shrubbery, Bromsgrove, angler Mr E Vale hooked a trout measuring over 20 inches long. The 2lb 10oz specimen took 20 minutes to land, Mr Vale finally bringing it to the bank with the aid of a riddle.

DESPITE good weather and the absence of the usual tempest storms, Bromsgrove's annual Midsummer Fair Day on June 24 was dismal. Saturday was an awkward day for visitors from the Black Country, who were noticeable by their absence. The numbers of animals for sale at the horse fair too were down on previous years. It prompted the Messenger to ponder if the fair would soon be one of the institutions that had passed into history.

A LATE wire to the Messenger office revealed the new vicar of St John's Church, in Bromsgrove, was to be The Rev H Noel Patterson. He would succeed the Rev E Vine Hall.

WORCESTERHIRE County Council was getting to grips with a new act requiring it to feed any undernourished school pupil. But, there was concern the act did not recognise the neglected children of widows or illegitimate children. A list of children who would benefit from the act was being compiled and it showed that there were two in Catshill and nine in Lickey End.