SNJ reporter Saul Cooke-Black looks back at news from across the decades.

1966

THE work of Stroud and District Water Board came to an end after 27 years.

It came after the board was wound up and taken over by the North West Gloucestershire Water Board, under the orders of Whitehall.

Mr G H Bullock, vice chairman, said: “It is sad because looking back over the years we notice the tremendous amount of work this body has done and the valuable work of its members.”

A DANCE group from Stroud travelled to Swindon for a TV audition for the return of the programme Staneasy.

The Rosary School National and Country Dance Group impressed the producer of the TWW School programme, which was due to return to the screens in 1967.

1976

A SPECIAL award was presented to a man who had made 75 donations of blood in 33 years.

William Sansom, of Belle Vue Road, Stroud, was presented with the award at the South West Regional Transfusion Centre at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, by a consultant surgeon.

Mr Sansom’s sons, Peter and Michael, had also given 30 and 15 pints of blood respectively.

OFFICES at Tricorn House in Stroud were being advertised after work to complete the building at the Cainscross roundabout was finished.

An advertisement in the SNJ read: “Just four miles from the M5 Junction 13, Tricorn House offers an excellent working environment in its first class offices.

“Two lifts, close carpeting and full central heating are provided. Ample car parking facilities.”

Around 18,000 of the 28,000 sq. ft. of the building were already reserved.

1986

AN OUTBREAK of a virus led to the closure of Stroud General Hospital to all but emergency cases.

Several patients and staff on the female ward went down with viral enteritis, leading to the closure of the hospital for several days.

Keith Hale, administrator at the hospital, said the illness caused diarrhoea and vomiting but that there was no danger to life or serious after-effects.

1996

BUS drivers in Stroud looked set to vote on strike action in a dispute over new pay and conditions.

Union bosses at the Stroud and Cirencester depots of Stagecoach recommended their drivers reject the firm’s controversial new pay and conditions offer.

Union boss Des Trehearne said drivers were not prepared to accept the offer which he said was a 50 per cent reduction in conditions.

Stagecoach managing director Andrew Dyer said drivers’ wages would not be cut, just frozen.

2006

A TV and video production company brought snow to the capital and set a new Guinness world record.

Snow Business International, based in Ebley, covered 12,462 square metres of ground along a mile-long stretch of London’s Bond Street to set a new benchmark for the largest area to be covered with artificial falling snow.

A coach load of 35 people travelled from Stroud to the capital to transform the exclusive shopping street.