100 years ago.

Considering how much has been done by private and philanthropic effort for the Belgian refugees, of whom there are now a hundred in different parts of Malvern, it was natural to expect that the council would be willing and anxious to do its share in rendering any assistance it was possible to get. It therefore decided on the suggestion of the chairman to grant free supplies of gas, water and coke, and to remit the District Rate in respect of houses occupied by wounded soldiers and refugees, and the premises of the Red Cross Society, which is also doing excellent work in connection with the war. The concession is one that will meet with public approval. It was a sign of the times that the Library Committee decided at their last meeting to take in daily a copy of L'Independence Belge. It is perhaps a fact which the general public has failed to grasp, that we already have among us something like a hundred Belgians, and the Committee performed a very graceful act towards the representatives of that gallant little country when they decided to provide a copy of the Belgian paper for their especial benefit.

Malvern Gazette, November 6, 1914.

50 years ago.

The litter problem will exercise the Hills Conservators at their annual meeting on Monday, following a discussion at their last meeting of the lands committee. Last month 29 man hours were devoted by the Conservators' staff to removing litter from our Hills and Commons, an expensive and unproductive chore! As Mr A Ballard has said, litter comes about in three ways - through discarding of paper wrappings, peel, bottled and other items by the public; by the dumping of old cars and scrap; and the appearance of refuse dumped by households living near commons and hills. The ranger has used literally dozens of different ways of clearing up the mess, and certainly new ways of tackling the problems are not lacking. Mr W S Brettell has been impressed by the way Lakeland authorities appeal to people's better nature, although he, like Mr G R Lissimore, think the public need to be educated. Mr R W Green and the ranger fell that standards of tidiness on the hills are not too bad.

Malvern Gazette, November 6, 1964.

25 years ago.

Malvern Meals on Wheels volunteers rose to the challenge of providing meals for 150 local people after the Women's Royal Voluntary Service car, bought with money from Malvern Carnival, was stolen and vandalised on Tuesday night. The van, which is so new that the WRVS logo has not yet been put on the side, had a broken wing mirror, a mashed rear quarter light and the wiring ripped out of the dashboard. It was found abandoned behind Holloways garage, Pickersleigh Road, Malvern Link, on Wednesday morning. Organiser Mrs Jenette Davy expressed her anger ad frustration at the attack, saying: "The van has stickers on it saying WRVS Meals on Wheels, and there can have been no doubt that it was used by a voluntary body. There are no words strong enough to express the frustration and annoyance I feel about this." The incident is the second this year, following an attack on the service's van in January.

Malvern Gazette, November 10, 1989.