The Stroud News and Journal has launched a new feature where we take a look back at news from bygone years. This week, Stroud Through the Years focused on the news in the SNJ from mid April in 1965, 75, 85, 95 and 2005. Reporter Jane Leigh delved into the archives.

 

THE way news is reported may have changed over the decades but the stories featured are often variations on the same theme.

Take the SNJ of April 18, 1985. The lead concerned proposals for a large supermarket on the Union Street site in the middle of Stroud.

The site is still at the centre of controversy, with a potential proposal for development under consideration while Stroud District Council’s meeting were mulling over three other supermarket applications.

Ten years on and it was the turn of plans for a massive housing development at Standish to hit the headlines, with a call to battle against ‘the beast of development’.

Stonehouse county councillor David Drew was a fierce critic of the four options being proposed .

A look through five decades of advertising in the SNJ revealed how life has changed with the cost of goods, in particular, bearing no comparison to today’s prices.

Back in 1965, for example, a second-hand Austin Mini Countryman from Taylors of Gloucester was being sold for £479.

And if you fancied a night in, in 1985, you had a choice of no less than five TV channels – BBC1, BBC2, Central, HTV and Channel 4, from which to pick a show – and no chance of using iPlayer if you missed your favourite.

 

1965

  • COTSWOLD Players were gearing up for their production of This Happy Breed by Noel Coward to be performed from April 27 to May 1.
  • More than 350 entries had been received for the Cotswold Horse Show at Minchinhampton. Pat Smythe was one of the world-class competitors who signed up for the event.
  • A semi-detached cottage in Randwick, offering hall, sitting room, living room, kitchen, landing room, two to four bedrooms and a garden, was on offer for - wait for it - £1,650.

1975

  • NEARLY 300 people attended the inaugural meeting of the Stroud and District Ratepayers’ Association, with half of them being enrolled as members.
  • The first seat for use by the public in Avening was handed over to the Parish Council. The seat, in Rectory Lane, was a gift from the local Women’s Institute, marking the 45th anniversary of the founding of the branch.
  • David Seed from Nupend was the first engineer to complete his apprenticeship with Stroud Extrusions of Lightpill. The 22-year-old received his indentures and a gift of a set of engineering books from company chairman Marshall Kaye.
  • The BBC’S Down Your Way team visited Painswick to interview local residents for the popular Radio 4 programme.
  • VIPs including Stroud MP Anthony Kershaw enjoyed a tour of the town’s brand new leisure centre at Stratford Park, which featured a swimming pool, squash courts, a large central hall, and a sauna bath area.

1985

  • STROUD was to have one of the first ‘phone cards’ in the country. The pre-paid cards, the latest in modern technology, were designed to be used instead of coins in phone boxes.
  • Retired postwoman Gladys Hillier from Cranham was officially immortalised by the Ordnance Survey. The spot where she regularly jumped a three-foot stream on her delivery round was named Gladys’ Leap in her honour.

1995

  • NAILSWORTH celebrated its new twinning status with a party of 50 residents travelling to Leves in France for the official signing ceremony. The town’s mayor Cllr John Cross led the trip across the Channel.
  • VILLAGERS in France Lynch remained ‘resolutely unshocked’ by the racy goings-on in A Village Affair, a tv drama starring resident actress Sophie Ward. One of the regulars at the King’s Head in the village said: “She’s a lovely girl, not your big-headed celebrity type.”
  • GEORGE the singing collie, who regularly entertained visitors at Prinknash Abbey, was reported missing: it was feared a visitor might have taken him home, thinking he wasn’t cared for.
  • KING’S Stanley was gearing up for a royal visit after Prince Michael of Kent accepted an invitation to join the 50th anniversary celebrations of the village’s Royal British Legion branch.

2005

  • A COUPLE from Stroud accepted an invitation to the golden wedding celebrations of Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of Cape Town. Brian Oosthuysen made friends with the South African when the two were students at King’s College, London. With his wife Carole, Brian was looking forward to the trip to South Africa.
  • THE 2005 General Election was confirmed for May 5, and the SNJ of April 13 carried statements from candidates Neil Carmichael (Conservative), David Drew (Labour), Peter Hirst (Lib Dem), Edward Noble (UKIP), and Martin Whiteside (Green).
  • Powercuts affected nearly 6,000 homes in Stroud. Customers at the Prince of Wales pub in Cashes Green Road had their viewing of the Chelsea vs Bayern Munich match interrupted, but they were able to keep up with play as the chef, listening on his battery-powered radio, sent regular updates from the kitchen.
  • A MEMBER of the public was treated in hospital after being injured by an armed robber in Minchinhampton. The robber, brandishing a meat cleaver, entered the M&B Stores at 7am and grabbed cigarettes and cash, and the have-a-go hero was hurt when he tried to intervene.

See this week's SNJ for the full Stroud Through the Years