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Scroll down for 100, 50, and 25 years ago this week
The week in history
1906 100 years ago
THE Tring show was declared a ‘grand success' this week.
A report read: “All roads led to Tring on Thursday on the occasion of the sixty-seventh annual show of the Tring Agricultural Society, and the crowd throughout the day was an enormous one, rivalling even the huge gathering a couple of seasons ago.”
It added: “The day was an ideal one; the conditions were favourable, and as the management was of the smartest possible character, and the methods quite up to date, visitors from all parts of the country spent a pleasant and profitable day.”
A HORSE show in Hemel Hempstead was marred by the arrests of four suspected pickpockets.
The Gazette reported: “Unfortunately the successful horse show at Hemel Hempstead on Bank Holiday was not without its ‘shady' aspect, a band of pickpockets from London getting on to the ground and engaging in pilfering the pockets of many people, watches, jewellery and money being lost. Foresight on the part of the secretaries had been the means of having detectives upon the ground, and with the help of another London detective who happened to be on holiday with his friends at Hemel Hempstead, four arrests were made.”
It added: “It is at least a compliment to the authorities that an end was put to the most undesirable element of the day's proceedings.”
1956 50 years ago
A RAIN-soaked Hemel Hempstead carnival still managed to draw 5,000 people.
The Gazette reported: “The carnival that nearly did not take place - that is how Hemel Hempstead's big Bank Holiday Monday event will go down in local history. After the organisers had been tossed around for hours in a whirlpool of indecision and doubt, because of the rain, the carnival was granted a last-minute reprieve - and it was on with the show.”
The carnival attracted around half as many people as the previous years but organisers were prepared for the financial losses.
The report added: “It cost £1,100 to stage. In April it was insured against rain for £300. The premium was £60. To collect the insurance 0.1 inches of rain had to fall between 9am and 5pm. In fact .65 inches of rain fell. The carnival realised £750 which left the organisers with a deficit of £250. Luckily the committee were guaranteed against a loss of up to £550.”
AN advert demanded: “Examine your furs now! Are they fashionable? Why not have them skillfully restyled for the autumn. Remember you fur coat can be renovated, cleaned, re-dyed, altered or re-fashioned.”
Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead Co-operative Society was holding a consultancy for one day only with “expert London furrier” Dr Victor Segall.
THE motoring matters column revealed an interesting fact about the British car industry. It read: “With so much talk about Britain's motor-car industry and its troubles in the export markets, it is surprising to find that Britain is still the largest exporter of vehicles in the world - with a lead of 10,000 on the nearest rival West Germany, in the first half of the year. The industry exported more than a quarter of a million vehicles, worth £208 million. The total of 4,200 sent to the United States in June is a new record.”
1981 25 years ago
VILLAGERS in Bourne End were hoping to fight the danger being caused to them by heavy lorries travelling along Bourne End Lane.
A report read: “They decided at this week's Village Association meeting to apply for a weight restriction order banning heavy lorries from using the lane.”
The association was planning to organise a petition signed by everyone in the lane and the village said secretary Valerie Perris.
A HEMEL Hempstead bus mechanic had a lucky escape this week when the bus he was driving ran out of control and smashed through the brick wall of a house.
Ronald Dempsey a mechanic at the Two Waters Garage was making a test drive after brake adjustment work on the bus.
The Gazette reported: “The force of the accident smashed the windscreen - gashing Mr Dempsey's hand - and crushed the front of the bus leaving him trapped by his legs and feet.
“The alarm was raised by Kay Pullen who dialled 999 after rushing from a neighbour's house to find the London Country bus in her garden.”
As well as knocking down the wall and the coal bunker, the bus flattened a length of oak fencing and a hedge before coming to a stop among the roses in the back garden.
Attempts to move the vehicle with two recovery cars failed and the 15 tonne bus was finally lifted out of the garden with a crane.
THE Community Health Council revealed that the number of dentists willing to take on NHS treatment had dropped ‘alarmingly' in the previous three years.
The Health Council was urging people to vote with their feet and contact them to find out what was available.
A report added: “Technicians' fees are costly for complex work and dentists claim it is not financially viable to do the work for the NHS.” | 