By Saul Cooke-Black

SNJ reporter Saul Cooke-Black delves into the archives.

1965

EASTINGTON Parish Council was desperately seeking to improve doctor’s services in the village.

With no resident doctor and no evening surgery, residents were being forced to make a three mile trek to Stonehouse or face a three-hour round trip to Frampton-onSevern to make an evening visit to their doctor.

The council agreed to ask a doctor in Frampton-on-Severn if he would start an evening surgery in the village on a Tuesday and Thursday.

A LONG-SERVING office worker retired after more than 50 years of service.

Harold Gazard, from Rodborough, joined cloth firm Strachan Co. in 1915 as an office boy and stayed ever since.

Mr Gazard was also a well-known member of the Gloucestershire County Scout Council and had been involved in scouting for nearly 50 years.

MISERDEN was presented with the Bledisloe Cup as the best kept small village in Gloucestershire.

Phillip Ractcliffe, chairman of the parish council, received the trophy on behalf of the vilage.

Minchinhampton almost won the trophy as the best kept large village but was pipped at the post by Moreton in the marsh.

1975

PENSIONERS from terrorised parts of Belfast were given a holiday in Stroud as part of a church project.

Twenty-five Roman Catholics and 20 Protestant pensioners enjoyed a ten day stay in Stroud as part of the Stroud Valley Church Belfast Project.

The pensioners stayed with families of different denominations and the £1,500 cost of the project was met by public subscriptions.

COMMUTERS in Stonehouse were celebrating after the railway station in Burdett Road was saved from closure.

British Rail had announced the station would close on October 6 due to the cost of redevelopment.

However, the parish council said it could contribute £13,500 towards the cost while a grant from the Department of the Environment would provide the rest of the cash.

1985

AN APPEAL for £1,000 was launched by the Meningitis Support Group in the hope of finding out why Stroud had been plagued with the brain disease for nearly five years.

The group (now called Meningitis Now) were aiming to raise the cash to buy a piece of specialist equipment for a Manchester-based research team investigating the disease.

It was hoped the research could lead to a vaccine for group B type 15 strains of Meningitis.

KIND-HEARTED workmen from the County Highways department retrieved a cross which had fallen down a drain in Stroud.

Ann Richardson contacted county highways after the silver and blue cross and chain slipped out of her cassock pocket as she was leaving her car.

After retrieving the cross, the county highways even delivered it to Ms Richardson’s home in Valley View Road.

1995

MERRYWALKS shopping centre had a new owner after it was purchased for £4 million.

New owner Bill Wrather, of Manchester-based Streetlands Limited, said he would make a number of changes to bring the complex back to life.

He planned to provide more variety of shops and improve the entrance to the mall as part of the changes.

A STROUD girl proved she was the best in the country when it came to biology.

Deborah Watson, from Stroud High School for Girls, was awarded a prize for achieving the highest marks of any candidate in the summer 1995 Examinations Syndicate.

She was awarded the UCLES prize for biology at a ceremony at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

2005

A PENSIONER from Stonehouse was recognised for showing courage in the face of troubles at an awards ceremony at Shire Hall.

Les Pugh, who battled cancer in 2001was burgled three times in a year before his wife, Peggy, died at the age of 66.

The 90-year-old was put forward for the Gloucestershire Medal of Courage by Stonehouse Town Council.

Although he was not selected for the medal, he received a certificate of recognition at the ceremony.