Prefabs could cause more harm than good

Higher rents could lead to people struggling to pay for food, December 13, 1945 Extracts taken from past columns of the

Rider thrown from horse

ON Thursday evening last Mr Welch, of the Bear Hotel, Hungerford, was returning home on horseback, and when near the Standen coach-road the horse became restive and threw his rider, stunning him and inflicting severe injury.

Mr Welch would probably have remained in this position for some hours had it not fortunately happened that one of his own flys was ordered to take a party from Standen-house, and the driver on passing the spot, much to his surprise and consternation, discovered his master lying in a state of unconsciousness.

Placing Mr Welch in the fly the driver returned home and subsequently proceeded to Standen to fulfil his engagement. The horse with saddle and bridle escaped and was met with on the following day in Savernake-forest, and was recovered.

Mr Welch, we are happy to state, is progressing favourably.

125 years ago

December 12 1895

Ancient cross restored

ON Saturday was effected a restoration which will cause Lambourn parish, already rich in ecclesiastical art, to possess a feature which now-a-days is seldom found in our country parishes.

The Ancient Parish Cross which for many centuries has stood in the Market-place, was restored to its pristine beauty and now stands as it stood when first erected.

The Calvary, which consists of seven steps of stone, has been taken down, and after careful repair has been replaced, only new stone being inserted where the old was too shattered and broken to be used again.

Upon the ancient shaft, there was remaining some small portion of the foundation of the Cross. After a careful study of these remains, the Architect, Mr Doran Webb, of Salisbury, drew a plan, which as near as can be is a reproduction of the ancient work.

Upon the Eastern face is the crucifix, with St Mary and St John, on either side of the cross. Upon the Western face is produced the seated figure of Mary and the Holy Child and in a most excellent manner the new work has been built up.

At the north-end under a canopy is the figure of a Saint, of which the largest part is original, the head only has been added in completion.

At the south-end the figure of St Michael, the Patron Saint, to whom the Parish Church is dedicated, has been placed under a similar canopy.

100 years ago

December 6 1910

Whiskey case unproven

A PROSECUTION for alleged overcharging for whiskey against Mr Frank Hill, the licensee of the Railway Hotel, occupied the attention of the Borough Magistrates on Friday, but, after listening to the evidence, it was the unanimous opinion of the bench that the was case was not proven, and accordingly dismissed.

Two inspectors called at the Railway Hotel for a drink. One had whiskey and the other a Guinness, and in consequence of being charged for the whiskey a price they considered to be in excess of the maximum allowed, they brought a case forward.

The case all turned upon whether a sixth or a fifth of a gill was served and in regard to this the evidence was of a contradictory nature.

The inspectors said that 6½d was charged for the whiskey, and when they asked for it to be measured, it did not quite come up to the top of a sixth of a gill measure.

This was denied by Mrs Hill, the wife of the licensee, who said that it overfilled the sixth measure, but did not quite fill

the fifth.

The reason for this she explained was because in pouring it from measure to glass, and back again to measure a small quantity would be lost.

75 years ago

December 13 1945

Prefab rents too high

WHEN Newbury Corporation fixed the rent of their prefabricated houses now in building at the top of Craven Road, two Labour councillors voted against the recommendation, protesting this amount was far too much. The question of adequate accommodation for the elderly in our new Housing Schemes is important, but there is another aspect which should come before all others if one of the gravest and most insidious menaces to public health is to be avoided. The evidence of the evil effects upon health of bad housing is overwhelming; the death rate in the Manchester slums in 1931 was double that in the city.

And yet we may do harm by moving the lower wage groups from slums to good houses. At these income levels there is only one item on which money can be saved, and it is invariably on food, and this hits hardest those who consume most in proportion – the children.

The old saying that rent should not exceed an eighth of income is still true, so that, at the present cost of living, a couple with three or four children on a wage of say £3 10s should not pay more than 10s if malnutrition, inadequate clothing and the strain of poverty are to be avoided.

Yet local authorities are being constrained to plan for a rent of 16s which will give a disastrous portion.

50 years ago December 10 1970 Miracle escape

NEWBURY Rugby Club secretary Tony Boyer was recently one of two men who had a miraculous escape when an articulated lorry hit a lamp post and overturned outside Gowring’s garage in London Road on Thursday.

The lorry, loaded with seven tons of frozen turkeys for Cardiff, crashed on top of Mr Boyer’s car and another driven by 26-year-old Richard McGill, of East Challow. They scrambled from their wrecked cars with only a few scratches.

Mr Boyer’s vehicle was sandwiched between the lorry cab and trailer.

Mr McGill’s escape was even more remarkable. The trailer crunched down on his car a bare two inches behind the driver’s seat, squashing the rear part of the vehicle into a mass of metal about two feet high.

Newbury firemen were called. One of them said “If these two had been a fraction of a second later they would both be dead.”

25 years ago

December 7 1995

11 arrests in dawn raids

OPERATION Christmas Cracker delivered a surprise blow to the criminal fraternity on Tuesday as dawn raids were carried out in Newbury and in hundreds of other towns.

While most folk were asleep, police officers gathered at Newbury police station for a dawn briefing about their contribution to the nationwide Operation Christmas Cracker. Twenty-six detectives, uniformed officers and a drugs dog handler were split into teams and assigned to addresses in Newbury and one in Mortimer.

People were either caught in their beds or eating their breakfast when the raids took place. An Aladdin’s cave of property was seized. Electrical equipment, clothes, cameras and other valuables were found, together with drugs paraphernalia and small quantities of methadone and heroin.

10 years ago

December 9 2010

Homes plans take shape

MORE details about the potential future housing at Newbury Racecourse have prompted a mixed reaction from residents. Last weekend, more than 100 people took a glimpse into the future of Newbury Racecourse as two exhibitions showcasing the likely layout for the first phase of the development went on display. The exhibition showed several changes from the outline planning permission for 1,500 homes granted in January, with the number of homes planned for the western area reduced by three to 432.

However, the chairman of Greenham Parish Council, Tony Forward, said that he still had serious reservations over traffic and pollution levels.

Mr Forward said he was also troubled by the grouping together of affordable housing at the site, which was contrary to the “pepper-potting” around the development that he claimed West Berkshire Council favour. Newbury town councillor and Greenham parish councillor Phil Barnett expressed concern and said he was concerned for people backing on to the development. He said: “They are starting to wake up to the fact their quiet lives in that area of Stroud Green are going to be over when these big buildings start sprouting up overlooking their houses.”