100 years ago.

It was a great shock to many of the theatre-going public in Malvern to learn that Mr Laurence Irving and his talented wife, Miss Mabel Hackney, had gone down in the distressing shipping disaster on the St Lawrence River. Mr Irving was one of the leading lights of the English stage. He was a worthy son and successor of one of the greatest actors who ever graced the English stage. Many of my readers will remember the visit to Malvern of Mr Irving and his wife only a season or two ago, when they presented "The Lily" and "The Unwritten Law". Those who saw them little dreamt of the tragic fate which they were to meet, and which they appear to have met with the utmost fortitude. The sympathy of all lovers of the drama will go forth to Mr H B Irving in the bereavement he has sustained by the tragic death of his brother, and no doubt when he comes here, as he is announced to do very shortly, he will have warm and sympathetic reception.

Malvern Gazette, June 5, 1914.

50 years ago.

Freak thunderstorms over the weekend - the worst in recent years - caused "complete havoc" to the services of the Midland Electricity Board, whose engineers had to work round-the-clock to restore supplies to many Worcestershire villages as lightning struck overhead line networks in several places. Worst-hit areas on Saturday night were Guarlford and Madresfield, which were without electricity for about eight hours - and when fresh storms begun on Sunday, the supplies to Kempsey, Callow End and Whittington were disrupted for considerable periods. According to an MEB spokesman, nearly all villages around Malvern and Worcester were without electricity at one time or another over the weekend as lightning caused "havoc and widespread damage to our lines". At the Jockey Inn, Baughton, near Upton, three electric lamp-holders and their bulbs disintegrated before the fuses blew when lightning struck an overhead supply line.

Malvern Gazette, June 5, 1964.

25 years ago.

The man who, at his own expense, rebuilt the Beacon Cafe is now challenging the Department of the Environment's ruling that the cafe, burnt out by fire earlier this year, cannot be replaced. Mr Archie Ballard and his wife ran the cafe for 16 years with Ledbury man Mr Charles Green. in 1969 it was handed over to Malvern Hills Conservators Mr Ballard says there is a solid case to challenge the ruling that there is no specific power in the Conservators' Acts to allow expenditure on building. And, he says, the preamble to both the 1924 and 1930 Acts contain the justification for that rebuilding. He said: "The Acts state that the prosperity and development of the district depend upon the preservation of amenities. The Conservators are there to maintain amenity, not to destroy it. I offered to restore it at my cost. This offer was accepted and I took over a derelict wreck and completely altered it, all under the eye of the Conservators, Malvern Urban District Council and the planning authority at Worcester."

Malvern Gazette, June 9, 1989.