THE summer season is definitely upon us - and soon enough we'll be discarding the thermals of winter for the floaty fabrics of summer. And to accompany any outfit is the make-up range to match. Whether it's lip gloss, nail enamels, eye liners or mascaras
IT is surely safe to say that we are a nation of sandwich-lovers but, believe it or not, the humble jam sandwich could soon join the list of children's forgotten favourites. It seems that the once-loved jam sandwich no longer packs a punch in the playground
THESE days we're much more health conscious about the food we buy and many consumers actively look for the low-fat labels. But in reality not many of us question how healthy these foods are. Does a low- fat biscuit have more fat than a 90 per cent fat-free
IT took a while to start the old word machine going for this week's File. More often than not, an idea occurs and the rest just happens. Fingers on keys... not a problem. But occasionally, anger and revulsion stem the flow. This can block the creative
MY remarks last week about the growing number of cameras focusing their electronic squint on us provoked a swift reaction from Councillor David Clark. I had pondered as to why "safe" Worcester seemed to need so many of the things. Coun Clark, who is part
WHERE would the county be without good old "Auntie" and the wireless? BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester is to record a concert in Worcester Cathedral this Thursday as part of the Beeb's determination to promote "live" music. Not that the concert will
PETER Luff had a spring in his step in the Commons this week. The Mid-Worcestershire Tory MP and former chairman of the Agriculture Select Committee had received a double whammy of praise. The Economist carried a piece on the decline of Parliament as
BRIAN Sedgemore MP could be forced to make a grovelling apology to Kidderminster Harriers. The Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch sits on the influential Treasury Select Committee. It recently discussed proposed new members of the Monetary Policy
A FRIEND of mine was lamenting the other day about her wasted school days. She is now an extremely successful, bright, innovative career woman and so it came as a bit of shock to me to discover that her school record did little to represent these traits
Saturday, May 6, 2000 KIDDERMINSTER Harriers and Altrincham both said farewell to the Nationwide Conference after Saturday's goalless draw at Moss Lane. While Harriers had already clinched promotion to the Third Division the deadlock meant Altrincham
HARD times but happy days living among the poor of Worcester's Hylton Road and Tybridge Street area between the wars and in the 1940s are remembered vividly by 78 years-old Bill Weston. Occasionally prompted by Joan, his wife of 55 years, he recently
WORCESTER'S new multiplex cinema centre, between Friar Street and the City Walls Road, is partly occupying the site where a one-time Mayor of the city was in business for 30 years. H.J "Bert" Evans owned and ran the County Magneto firm at various locations
DINERS ordering their favourite dish in a restaurant may be forgiven for not even considering trout. Although fish is popular among consumers many forget the appeal of trout. But this week sees the British Trout Association launch National Trout Week.
THEY may be perceived as the final port of call after a long night out on the town, but Indian restaurants have got an appeal all their own. Tandoori magazine has published its annual survey for the first time in the Tandoori Business Directory 2000,
MAY, seemingly the only month that appears on the folk singer's calendar, must surely be the most celebrated time of all. It has been lauded down the centuries in poems and prose, and little wonder. For this is the time when the earth bursts with regeneration
UNCLE Norman's death came abruptly without warning one grey, cold Friday afternoon a year last February. He was in his late 70s, yet it still came as a shock. My Auntie Lena found him collapsed on the kitchen floor -- she'd just popped out for some groceries
IT'S the same every springtime. The first bright day with real heat in the sun's rays and off goes old Phillpott, his eyes set hard on the horizon and mind racing with schemes. I suppose it revolves around the fact that I haven't taken more than three
THERE are plenty of opinions flying about in the wake of the Rover debacle, not least the serves-them-right school of thought. The sight of a greying Red Robbo on the television the other day no doubt reminded many people of the bad old days at British
KNIGHTWICK is a tiny hamlet which is most notable in a geological sense. It is situated at the point where the River Teme suddenly abandons its logical north-south course down the Malvern axis to flow east towards Worcester, cutting across the hills to
As everybody knows, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, and died there in 1616. Without such a catalyst it is highly unlikely that an attractive but unremarkable Warwickshire market town would have become a tourist honeypot attracting
Though not so dramatic as the Malverns, the gentle green hills just to the north are equally beautiful. Whereas the Malverns are formed from granite, their smaller neighbours are limestone, which develops nutrient-rich soils capable of supporting a lush
This is a most beautiful walk in one of the lesser-known parts of the count, just north of Kidderminster. It's sandstone country where, as on the more famous Kinver Edge nearby, there used to be a tradition of carving homes out of the soft rock. You can
MUCH of north-east Worcestershire is now so urbanised and so blighted by major roads and motorways that it's hard to find any unspoilt, peaceful countryside to enjoy. One exception to this rule is the well-wooded area of gentle hills just to the north-west
BREDON HILL, that picturesque feature of the South Worcestershire countryside, was apparently hit by an earthquake this week 200 years ago. Berrow's Journal of 1800 reported: "A chasm of great length and several yards in depth has, within the last few
THE RELIEF of Mafeking and an assassination attempt on King George III were the historic events which captured the headlines in the World's oldest newspaper this week exactly a century ago and 200 years ago. Berrow's Journal of May 26, 1900, was packed
ARGUABLY THE greatest British statesman of the 20th Century spoke in praise of Berrow's Worcester Journal exactly 50 years ago this week. Winston Churchill was at the Guildhall to receive the Freedom of Worcester and had just been driven through a vast
AMIRACULOUS near-miss averted what could have been a disastrous crash between a packed passenger train and an RAF jet at Defford this week exactly half-a-century ago. Berrow's Journal reported on the remarkable incident of May 1950: ''The driver and fireman
NO FEWER THAN 11 men were sentenced to death on just one day at the Worcester Assizes held in the Guildhall exactly 200 years ago this week. All were hanged at the County Jail within days. Berrow's Journal listed the unlucky prisoners as Benjamin Jones
THIS particular hack raised an eyebrow after seeing that the Tories had secured all the plum jobs on Worcester City Council last week - at least the ones that count on paper. Yet the Blue Brigade is going to rely on the support of the Association of Independents
LAST Thursday's meeting of the full county council may have been a historic occasion, but it sure wasn't an exciting one. The topics on the agenda were stern enough: altering the council's structure; increased pay for members; asylum-seekers. But the
TRYING to keep abreast of political correctness is no mean feat these days, in an age when some people are ready to be outraged at the drop of a hat. Take David Barlow's comment to the full city council about his party's nomination for deputy Mayor, Nazrul
TONY Blair is not planning a U-turn on the big N question. He won't be wimping out of changing baby Leo's nappies. The Prime Minister and proud father told the nation he had fulfilled this duty within hours of the birth of his fourth child at the weekend
WORCESTERSHIRE pupils performed a play on the "Our Town" theme in the Dome on Tuesday - the day its chairman Bob Ayling was forced to resign. David Lock, Wyre Forest MP and Minister in the Lord Chancellor's Department, watched the Worcestershire school
THE Countess of Mar has come to the rescue of the thousands of homeowners, shopkeepers and drivers incensed by utility companies digging up roads. The peeress, who lives at Great Witley, intervened during a Lords debate on roadworks. "Does the Minister
SUPPORTERS of troubled Elbury Mount Primary School have continued to level criticism at the Local Education Authority this week, following the news that it has been taken off Special Measures, writes Paul Stammers. The school had been given until October
REGULAR readers of this page will be well aware of a drive to ensure that all schoolchildren in Worcestershire continue to receive free milk. The benefits of ensuring children, especially those in less well off areas, exercise their right to this daily
In generations past, dyslexic children could all too often easily be spotted in the classroom - they were the ones sitting in the corner wearing the dunce's cap. Thankfully, education has moved on since then, but understanding of dyslexia remains patchy
THE headteacher of Dines Green Primary School Marlene Cooper is what I call a "tracksuit manager" and I don't just mean that she wears the school's polo shirt instead of a suit, but also in her hands-on approach. Mrs Cooper joined the school in September
THE consuming passion of recent years for John Houghton of Colletts Green has been collecting photographs taken down the decades in and around the villages of Powick and Callow End. It has meant regularly meeting up with local historians and old postcard
ADMIRAL Sir William Tennant, a famous son of Worcestershire and a great naval hero, played a key role in the Dunkirk evacuation of exactly 60 years ago. He was Beachmaster at Dunkirk, spearheading the operation which resulted in the "miracle" rescue of
LANNIE has been the name synonymous with ice-cream in the Worcester area for the past century - and to many, this family brand has always been a lick above the rest! The popular local ice-cream dynasty was founded about 100 years ago by Italian, Francesco
