Malvern achieved a brief moment of fame in 1957 as "the town ruled by women" after an illustrated magazine published a feature about the ladies who ran the town, dominating its political, civic, cultural and business life.

Now we find that the story spread across the Channel. Mr Donald Tomlin has kindly lent us pages from a Swiss magazine dated August 1958, carrying a lavishly-illustrated article on "une ville anglaise rgie par des femmes".

The piece featured leading citizens of the time such as theatre director Stephanie Davison, Isobelle Harrison, the council's first female chairman, and leading hotelier Eileen Stevens, as well as "le Malvern Ladies Luncheon Club".

The top photo shows Maria Lloyd-Foulkes, "professeur de chant" rehearsing a scene from Cavalleria Rusticana with Ngaire Benton (left) and Mary Thoms (right). The other was taken at the office of the Malvern Gazette, where editor Joyce King inspects the work of two "redacteurs de sport".