Memory Lane

WORK had been underway to convert Rubery and Hollymoor Asylums as hospitals for soldiers.

The War Office had been given permission to convert the institutions, and the process was entrusted to the Rubery Asylum Sub-Committee, which was becoming known as the War Hospitals committee.

The asylums were being transformed into fully equipped hospitals and once complete they would provide accommodation for 1,300 wounded patients.

AT Bromsgrove Urban District Council, it was reported an enquiry had been made as to whether the old Labour Exchange could become a recruiting office.

The chairman of the council agreed to the full request, including to remit the rates.

THE Messenger commented that Rubery should be proud of the patriotism displayed by its football club, as 15 of its players were serving.

Secretary of the club Ernest Duffill said he felt proud at the number who had answered the country’s call.

AT Bromsgrove Petty Sessions, James Reynolds of Westfield Road, Catshill, was charged with using obscene language in Stourbridge Road.

PC Hayes proved the case and Reynolds was fined 7s 6d.

IN the Worcestershire and the War section it reported Private Frank Wheeler, of Broad Street, Sidemoor, had been killed in action.

His father Henry had received the telegram informing him of the death of his son, who was a member of the 10th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

June 11, 1965.

A SCHEME to build 24 houses alongside Hartle Lane in Belbroughton, to help meet local housing need, had led to a difference of opinion between planners and road builders.

One of the issues was the junction of the estates road with a narrow winding lane, which some felt needed improvement.

The County Planning Committee was to be asked to settle the issue.

THE new clock that had received a lot of praise in the Messenger after it was put up at the front of the Golden Cross Hotel, had “lost its way” shortly before publication.

Despite makers claiming it would never vary by more than 20 seconds a month, the clock had failed and time had stood still at 10.10pm on a Thursday evening.

The makers sent one of their Birmingham staff to get it ticking again, but after examining it the fault was a mystery.

But there was good news as a week later the clock had now been repaired, the makers blaiming a short in one of the clogs.

JAMES Dance marked 10 years as Bromsgrove MP with a party at his home at Moreton House, with members of the constituency Conservative Association attending.

June 14, 1990.

A MULTI-purpose care centre designed to help young children, families and elderly people looked set to be built in Bromsgrove.

The ambitious plan had been thought up by Orrell Battersby, a minister of the Bromsgrove Church of Christ.

Mr Battersby said the plans would enable child to play in a community centre that would be safe surroundings.

The minister was awaiting the final approval from the county council’s social services committee.

COUNCIL plans to introduce taxi ranks in Bromsgrove had received a mixed response from town cabbies, as some said they did not go far enough.

The council’s licensing sub-committee set a target of 15 rank spaces on sites including The Strand, Watt Close, Market Street, the bus station and New Road in Rubery.

But they turned down sites in High Street and the car park near ASDA, which upset taxi drivers.

BROMSGROVE District Council had called for a report following fears local egg producers were not abiding by laws designed to wipe out salmonella.

Councillor Trevor Porter expressed concern few egg producers were registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

A £200,000 all weather pitch for Bromsgrove School would also be open to the public, once the district council had backed the plans with a £35,000 grant.

The cost to members of the public was expected to be £25 a match – a price Rover’s chairman Chris Lloyd praised.

Memory Lane is compiled from the papers dating back to the Messenger's first edition in 1860. The papers are free to view at Bromsgrove Library, in Stratford Road.

For more information call the library on 01905 822722.