“A common joke among the schoolboys of Evesham, possessing a mischievous disposition,” the Journal reported 100 years ago, “is for one lad to deposit himself on all fours immediately behind another and then for his companion to approach the intended victim, and with a vigorous push send him flying backwards over the human obstacle at the rear.”
The report of 1908 continued: “While watching the outside show of Wadbrook’s electograph on Tuesday evening, Arthur, the 12-year-old son of Mr A Ball, of Windsor Road, had this trick played upon him, and the result must have made his youthful tormentors sorry for their foolish action, for on falling he sustained a badly contused elbow, which necessitated the attendance of Dr G E Harthan.”
