THIS WEEK IN 1991:

THE Black Death may well have wiped out an entire village on the southern edge of Worcester six centuries ago. At least this is one of the theories suggested by five experts working on archaeological excavations at a site just below Crookbarrow Hill, better known locally as Whittington Tump. The dig is taking place on land required for M5 widening and the experts have discovered the remains of a village that seems to have mysteriously disappeared about the year 1300. The Domesday Book records Crookbarrow as having a population of 50. The finds on the site have included post holes for buildings, pottery, flint heads, metalwork and large ditches.

Crookbarrow Hill is thought to be man-made and to have been a huge pre-historic burial mound.

THIS WEEK IN 1981:

FOR many years before and after the Second World War, Tom (Tommy) Jones, who has died aged 85, was the dominant figure in shaping the pattern of the local press in Worcestershire. Great energy and drive and a vast optimism were the outstanding characteristics which furthered his ambitions in the newspaper sphere, for many years as head of Berrow’s Newspapers encompassing the Evening News and Times, Berrow’s Journal and weekly newspapers in Malvern, Evesham, Hereford, Kidderminster and Droitwich. He was in turn managing director and chairman during a continuing expansion of the Berrow’s Group. He also served on Worcester City Council for a time and was responsible for restarting horse racing on Pitchcroft after the war.

THIS WEEK IN 1971:

FROM the Jottings column of Berrow’s Worcester Journal. Dogs vastly outnumber postmen in Britain – by nearly three million to 97,000 in fact. But, despite the overwhelming odds, only 3,000 postmen a year are snapped at and of these cases only about 300 are bad enough to interfere with the postmen’s work. If your hound is one of the naughty 300 take heed of what may happen, according to a new Post Office handout. When a postman is threatened, bitten or kept from the door by a vicious dog the owner is to be warned that unless his pet is kept under control it will be impossible to deliver the mail. If the owner does not comply, he will be told to collect his mail from the area postal centre. And if he refuses to do this, the mail will be treated as undeliverable and returned to sender – stamped “Once bitten …”.

THIS WEEK IN 1961:

WITH about 60 per cent of children immunised against whooping cough, deaths from that source have diminished remarkably in recent years. With the adoption more recently still of a combined whooping cough and diphtheria vaccine, children are being afforded even greater protection against these two child killing diseases. Now the NHS is to introduce what is called a “triple vaccine” designed to eliminate the risk of youngsters falling victim to diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.