From the archives - October 11, 2007

10:33am Monday 22nd October 2007

100 Years Ago October 12, 1907 IT is possible at the present time to get a pleasure boat from Evesham up to Bidford without much trouble, if the difficult piece of navigation between the old Fish and Anchor and Harvington weir be excepted.

The construction of a low weir on the site of the old one and some small work of dredging and reed-cutting would obviate this at little expense. Above Bidford further expensive works would be required, but the whole river would be made navigable for pleasure boats without any large outlay. The main obstacle to the carrying out of a scheme lies in the fact that no public body has effective control of the river, and we very much doubt whether the Board of Trade would confer powers for pleasure purposes only.

75 Years Ago October 8, 1932 IN order to cope with the heavier railway traffic of the present day type, the Great Western Railway Bridge which spans the River Avon at Evesham, near the common bathing place, is being reconstructed.

Already the dismantling of the bridge has been going on for five months, and before the rebuilding feat is completed, many more months will have elapsed. The present bridge, built approximately 60 years ago as an improvement on the old timber construction, was naturally not intended for the heavy class of record-breaking locomotive which nowadays conveys passengers many miles in a comparatively brief period.

Rather it was erected for the ancient "puffing Billy" of a mere sixty tons - not the two-hundred ton giant which rules the great steel road today.

50 Years Ago October 11, 1957 WEST German civic leaders who visited Evesham and Stratford-on-Avon at the weekend as part of a 10-day programme in the Midlands were deeply impressed with the many aspects of social, industrial, horticultural, commercial and civic life to which they were introduced. So much was crowded into the visit, a return gesture by civic leaders who went last year to Germany, that the Germans had not sorted out their impressions in detail when the time came to return home, but they were unanimous in their general appreciation and praise for Biritsh achievement and hospitality. They were welcomed to Evesham by the Mayor and Mayoress (Coun and Mrs W G Beckley) and members of the council.

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