THIS WEEK IN 1960:

HERBERT Drinkwater, a pioneer of the Socialist movement in England which he joined in 1899, has died at his home in Bevere Lane, Worcester, aged 83. After a life devoted to the movement, Mr Drinkwater will be not only be well remembered in Worcester, where he was formerly chairman of the Labour Party, but also throughout the Midlands. One of his greatest achievements was as chief officer of the Labour Party for the 10 Midland counties for more than 20 years. He helped to found many of the important Labour branch parties and supervised election contests in 83 constituencies in seven successive general elections.

He founded and edited for 25 years the Labour Organiser, the party’s national journal on political organisation. In 1938, after 40 years as an active Labour Party member, Mr Drinkwater retired and set up business in Deansway, Worcester as a tobacconist, finishing in 1944.

THIS WEEK IN 1970:

THE Government’s creation this week of Britain’s first ever Ministry for the Environment – and with Worcester MP Peter Walker at its head – has been given a tremendous welcome, particularly in Worcestershire. G Howard Heaton, chairman of Worcestershire Council for the Preservation of Rural England, was “absolutely delighted” at the setting up of the Environment Ministry with Mr Walker at the helm.

THIS WEEK IN 1980:

FROM the Crowquill column of Berrow’s Worcester Journal: “Do Worcestershire’s county councillors really believe that their official protests about increased bad language and violence on TV will have any effect? I’m sure they won’t. It would take Parliament and a Lord Chamberlain to bring about any marked change. I have yet to see or hear anything on the box that has really shocked me. I feel that if the characters in an underworld drama or a saga of modern soldiery are to be realistic they must use dialogue laced with what are commonly called ‘obscenities.’ Violent scenes in modern England are, of course, a different matter.

But we live in a violent world and must accept the fact that much of the brutality which crops up in plays and films is true to life. In times long past, newspapers like Berrow’s Journal tended to exaggerate and use overcolourful language to describe tragedies and crimes but I doubt whether a single reader complained about the gory stories of hangings.”

THIS WEEK IN 1990:

MORE than 680 television licence cheats across Worcestershire have already been caught this year – and a fresh offensive against dodgers is about to begin.

The Post Office has once again launched its nationwide crackdown against evaders with fleets of vans and men with handheld detectors expected to begin checking addresses in the county this week. Over the past two years, purges on non-payers have resulted in a 200,000 increase in licenses with the number of households paid up now standing at 19.6 million. The cost of an annual licence for a colour TV set is now £71 and £24 for black and white.