Memory Lane

HANNAH Bridgman, of Townsend Mill, appeared at Bromsgrove Petty Session charged with allowing two pigs to stray on the Birmingham Road in Marlbrook.

PC Stafford proved the case, while the defendant’s son said the pigs had got out while they were travelling.

Bridgman was fined 5s.

AT Droitwich Borough Petty Sessions Harry Ellis, of Ellen Street, Birmingham, was charged with riding a motorcycle in a manner dangerous to the public in Worcester Road.

Sergeant James stated the defendant rode at a speed of 30mph.

The defendant said he was not going at that speed, and was only going at 14mph, but pleaded guilty.

The bench fined Ellis 15s.

AN extract from a letter written by Private W Wallace, of the 8th Worcesters Territorials, was published in the Messenger.

He had written to his relatives at Spadesbourne House.

Pte Wallace wrote: “We have seen a little bit of warfare the last few weeks.

“We have been in the trenches a little over a fortnight now.

“I often think of the happy Sunday nights at chapel.

“I must tell you now that we are all in the best of health and strength at present.”

June 18, 1965.

BROMSGROVE was to have special Christmas lighting in High Street that year.

Following an agreement the Chamber in Trade was to cover costs, and the council approved a scheme to cover the main shopping area.

The cost of the equipment was estimated to be £1,000.

THE Bromsgrove Passenger Action Committee, which had been fighting against the proposed closure of the town’s railway station, was still fighting for rail users while waiting for news of the station's future.

The committee had launched a campaign against the rescheduling of the 8.18am, train from Bromsgrove to Birmingham, in summer timetables.

The committee said the train at 8.18am was convenient to businessmen, and it caused resentment bringing the train forward by 25 minutes.

No one from British Railways had commented.

A FIRE at the site of Crowfields Farm, in Fockbury Road, Dodford, had gutted an outbuilding containing a small amount of hay and straw.

A vacant horsebox parked nearby was also gutted.

The fire had broken out just before midnight on a Sunday evening, and Mr Lammas of Forest Farm Dodford was the first one to spot the blaze.

He said the flames must have been 40 feet high.

Firefighters managed to get the fire under control after half an hour. A police spokesman said the cause of the fire was unknown.

June 21, 1990.

BROMSGROVE binmen were to strike after voting 41-1 in favour of industrial action.

The council, which only a few weeks previous had described them as the best, had drawn up a contract which reduced their regular bonus by £20 a week.

A spokesman for the refuse collectors said they had received rotten treatment from the authority.

BROMSGROVE planners were proposing a £55,000 scheme to enhance the town’s car parks.

The plan included £5,000 being set aside to add greenery to the car parks, and money would also be used to resurface them.

The town’s station at Aston Fields could also get an extended car park as part of the scheme.

DROITWICH Private Hospital chiefs had given the go ahead to build an extension on the existing building.

Town councillors voted unanimously to grant permission for Compass Healthcare Limited to build the one-storey extension onto the hospital in St Andrew’s Road.

Members heard part of the building was to be used as a knee clinic and dentist surgery.

THE county council looked set to give the green light to plans for a multi-purpose community centre.

Local minister Orrell Battersby had drawn up the ambitious plans for the centre, which would allow children to play in safe surroundings, and the town to have a facility where parents and elderly people could meet.

The county council’s social services committee was supporting the proposal in principal, with the final go-ahead expected to be given by the full council.

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.