Memory Lane

BROMSGROVE Rural District councillors discussed a tender that had been received from South Staffordshire Waterworks Company to provide and fix two fire hydrants in Romsley.

The price quoted was £6 10s and £6 5s.

Councillor Mr Cox said it was much higher than previously paid, which was due to the high price of materials.

It was agreed to defer the matter until the end of the war, when materials might be cheaper.

IN the Worcestershire and the War section it was reported Lieutenant Gilbert Walter Lyttleton Talbot had died on July 30 while leading his platoon into action in Flanders.

He was the youngest son of the Bishop of Winchester and Mrs E Talbot – the sister of Lord Cobham.

It was also reported Rifleman Dennis Corbett, of South Road, Aston Fields, had been killed in the Battle of the Aisne.

The 20-year-old was reported to have been lying in an open field with his company when he got up to look around him, and was killed with a single bullet.

A list of the latest honours was also included which featured Sergeant AE Ince, of 3rd Worcesters – who lived in Worcester Street, and Sergeant Pardoe of 5th Worcesters – who lived in Chaddesley Corbett.

Both received a distinguished conduct medal.

August 6, 1965.

GOLD rings worth more than £1,000 were stolen during a raid on Bromsgrove jeweller’s store, Cupitts, in the early hours of a Thursday morning.

The wedding rings had been on display in the window of the High Street shop.

It was believed a concrete kerbstone had been used to smash a window to gain entry.

It was the third smash and grab raid at the store in four years with jewellery worth more than £4,000 taken and not recovered.

PLANS to rebuild the Methodist Church and Sunday school in Golden Cross Lane, Catshill, had been announced.

The plan would be costing £40,000 and, if it went ahead, the scheme would see an open courtyard in front of the church, while the Sunday school would have a hall that featured seating for 200 people.

Trustees were anxious work should begin as quickly as possible - hoping it would start in 1966.

In the sports section the Messenger reported Johnny Barrass, a player for Garringtons Baseball Club, had been selected to represent his country.

Barrass was the only Midlands player to be chosen to play for England in a match against Holland, at Crystal Palace’s football ground.

August 9, 1990

OUTRAGED Barnt Green residents had heard of plans to build a 69 acre village including several hundred houses on their doorstep.

The development included plans for a health centre, supermarket, leisure centre and swimming pool and a new school.

The new village was proposed to be built on green belt land between the village outskirts at Sandhills Green, and the M42.

FIVE people were injured in a 12-car pile up, after a major grass fire brought chaos near Bromsgrove.

A two-acre road adjoining the M42 westbound with the M5 at Catshill had to be closed off while firemen from Bromsgrove tackled the 15 acre blaze, the pile up happening as a result.

SCRIBBLERS on books borrowed from Bromsgrove Library were being warned they could face prosecution.

Staff looked set to get tough on bookworms who had written their own comments and altered words and spellings in the margins of printed pages.

Librarian David Drewitt described it as an irritating problem that had got worse.

A HOSPITAL for patients with mental issues in Bromsgrove had been earmarked for residential development.

The plan was to close the Lea Hospital, in Stourbridge Road - a former Second World War hospital – by March 1992, resettling most of the patients elsewhere.

Outline planning permission for housing on the 13 acre site had been approved by planning chiefs.

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.