December 28 to January 4, 2010 (From Worcester News)

December 28 to January 4, 2010

10:42am Monday 4th January 2010 in

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THIS WEEK IN 1959:

THIS Christmas has been one of plenty – plenty in the shops and plenty in people’s pockets to spend. In Worcester, for example, it has been described as the most prosperous post-war Christmas. City shopkeepers and managers report tremendous demands having been made on their stock by the liberal spending public in the hectic run-up to Christmas Day.

In the days leading up to Christmas, patients and staff at Powick Hospital were busily engaged in transforming the wards into veritable fairylands. The Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Joe Williams, visited the hospital on Christmas Eve and enjoyed the Christmas time entertainments and activities which included dancing, square dancing, singing groups and indoor games such as whist, draughts, darts, crib and dominoes.

There were performances too, by the Worcester Police Male Voice Choir and the Len May Concert Party, and visits were made around the wards by the hospital choir and the Grove Singers.

THIS WEEK IN 1969

WORCESTER Royal Infirmary is to be fully converted from solid fuel to oil-fired heating by next August at a cost of about £32,000. The conversion should have been carried out during the summer ready for this winter but the Regional Hospital Board could not afford the outlay owing to sheer pressure on its finances. However, there has been mounting concern for some time over the condition of the infirmary boiler plant which has deteriorated considerably through old age.

● The new Horseshoe Bar in the Blackfriars Shopping Precinct at Worcester was officially opened in the runup to Christmas by England and Worcestershire cricketer Tom Graveney.

The name adequately describes the shape of the bar which is divided by split level flooring into three distinct sections. The Horseshoe Bar is the latest pub to be opened by the giant Whitbread-Flowers brewery chain, and it is hoped it will be well used and popular with shoppers.

THIS WEEK IN 1979:

THE controversial film, Life of Brian is not to be vetted by city councillors nor banned from Worcester cinema screens. The decision was taken resoundingly by the city council’s amenities committee despite a plea from the Bishop of Worcester for them to view the film and in the face of a petition signed by hundreds of “local Christians”. The majority of committee members felt that if local Christians feared they might be offended by the film then the simple remedy was for them not to go to see it. The Bishop, the Rt Rev Robin Woods, urged the committee to see the film because he believed there was “every reason to feel concern about its impact”.

● Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society has something to look forward to in the new year – a new home base. From January, rehearsals will be held in fresh premises behind the old Motor Taxation building in Sansome Walk where the society will have plenty of room for stage rehearsal and storage space for scenery, props and wardrobe, plus a kitchen, committee room and even a lounge for social events. For the past 30 years the society has leased the Friends Meeting House in Sansome Walk.

THIS WEEK IN 1989:

A SPATE of burglaries over the Christmas period marred an otherwise quiet time for Worcester police, with thieves netting about £2,000 in cash and goods.

The biggest haul came from the Colston Bakery in St John’s just two days before Christmas when thieves forced open a rear door at night and stole more than £1,000 in cash. There were also two burglaries in the city on Christmas Day – at the Worcester Arts Workshop where various items were stolen, and at the Trend clothes shop in Friar Street where thieves netted six bottles of beer and costume jewellery. And on Boxing Day, a flat in Drake Avenue, Dines Green, was raided by thieves who made off with the TV, video and tape recorder.