NOSTALGIA: Health authority boss retires in 1993
This photo shows members of the West Suffolk Health Authority bidding farewell to their retiring chief executive, John Melleney, in April 1993.
Mr Melleney, 59, was retiring as West Suffolk and east Suffolk health authorities merged to form Suffolk Health Authority.
In an emotional speech at Thingoe House, Bury St Edmunds, he said: “I am truly overwhelmed by the number of people who have come today.”
Guests included former bosses, GPs and consultants, members of the West Suffolk League of Friends and the Mayor of St Edmundsbury Ted May.
HEADLINES FROM THE PAST
10 YEARS AGO
A picturesque 16th century pub in Icklingham lost a third of its thatched roof in a blaze on Easter Sunday.
A fire broke out in the thatch of the Red Lion pub after its open log fire was lit ready for 60 lunch bookings.
The Greene King-owned pub had reopened but was likely to be under temporary tarpaulin for some time as the brewery said there was a waiting list for thatch repair.
Assessors were looking into the full extent of the damage but quick-thinking landlady Liz Mason, who spotted the fire, said the pub was lucky not to have come off worse.
She said: “We were told by firefighters that had we phoned them 10 minutes later there would not have been a building left.”
25 YEARS AGO
The creation of up to 200 jobs was on the cards for Stowmarket lawnmower factory Atco after its parent company Blue Circle announced the closure of its Derby site.
Michael Murry, managing director of Blue Circle garden products, said the company intended to consolidate its operations on one site following two difficult years and the current recession.
He said: “This is very, very sad news for the employers at the Derby site and our first thoughts are for them, but it does mean a more positive future for the Stowmarket site, provided we work together and take advantage of the opportunity – we won’t get an opportunity like this again.”
100 YEARS AGO
A letter from W Bayliss, D Co 8th Suffolk Regiment, to the Bury Free Press, said: “We are still engaged in defeating the common enemy. It is our earnest desire to crush once and for all the meddlesome and atrocious Prussian, with the other Central Powers, and thus helping in the regeneration of the world at large, because I believe Germany as a country has forfeited all friendliness with neutral countries, as a consequence of their barbarous methods of warfare.
I am confident of victory for the allies. Our Ally, the French soldier, has and is proving a formidable individual to the enemy. I am still going strong and live in hope of seeing Bury St Edmunds in the near future. I still receive your paper weekly ...”
