THIS WEEK IN 1990:

THE Bishop of Worcester has attacked the courts and the British legal system for sending more people to jail than any of its 22 fellow members in the Council of Europe. The Rt Rev Philip Goodrich accuses magistrates and judges of “taking the line of least resistance” and ultimately costing the country millions of pounds because of prison riots last year, brought about in part by staggeringly poor conditions. The Bishop writes: “It is not that we have more crime but we are sending more to gaol, resulting in serious overcrowding in cells and in exercise areas.”

THIS WEEK IN 1980:

WORLD-famous rock drummer John Bonham made his final journey in Worcestershire on Thursday amid tributes from family, friends and members of the rock world. But there was no lavish send-off for the man who set the music business alight with Led Zeppelin. His widow Pat and his family chose a quiet service at Rushock, the village he loved, followed by cremation at Worcester.

During the service, the rector, the Rev Norman Atty said John Bonham would be “remembered by millions of people in so many different ways.” John was born in Redditch and lived at Old Hyde Farm, Cutnall Green.

He died at just 32 through inhaling vomit after a drinking session. Outside Worcester Crematorium scores of wreaths were laid from friends and the pop world, many symbolically recalling Led Zeppelin’s song Stairway to Heaven.

THIS WEEK IN 1970:

FROM the Crowquill’s Jottings column of Berrow’s Worcester Journal. I am not a very impatient driver but I just cannot understand why some motorists persist in travelling between 25 and 30 mph on the open road, completely oblivious, apparently, of the long tail of vehicles behind them. I get kind of mad at them and have to use restraint to avoid glaring when it eventually comes my turn to pass. It wouldn’t matter if the average speed of traffic was as low as 25-30 but surely these crawlers realise that 50-60mph is the average driver’s cruising speed these days, and an obstruction of this kind invariably causes hazardous passing?

THIS WEEK IN 1960:

BLOCKHOUSE slum clearance plan. The compulsory purchase by Worcester City Council of all properties in Carden Street, Portland Place, Little Charles Street, Spa Gardens, Spa Row, South Street, Foundry Alley and part of Foundry Street has been fully endorsed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government.

● Changes in the social pattern, adding up to something which made for an easier and better life for women, were the subject of a talk given by Miss Lovell Burgess to the Worcester branch of the Women’s Gas Federation. She suggested that “elbow grease” was hardly ever necessary now by women. Kitchen tables tended to have laminated plastic tops, instead of having to be scrubbed.

Fabrics needed less and less ironing and the mending of wool garments grew rarer.

Little household soap, apart from toilet soap, was used, and detergents had revolutionised washing and other household work.