NOSTALGIA: Holiday fund-raising in 1982
This week’s photograph appeared in the Bury Free Press on March 19, 1982, and shows committee members of the Mildenhall branch of the Royal British Legion during a weekend of fund-raising.
Sick and disabled ex-servicemen and women were to benefit from a weekend of activities organised by the branch, which was aiming to provide a summer holiday for ex-service people.
The activities included a youngsters’ disco at the town’s community centre and a Spring fete.
Pictured, from left, are Sydney Harrison, John Lamb, Doreen Brown, Albert Baillie, Eric Pryer and Hilda Wright.
HEADLINES FROM THE PAST
1O YEARS AGO
Sadness greeted the news that 250 people were to lose their jobs after Del Monte announced it would be closing its Methwold factory.
An exact closure date had yet to be confirmed but all jobs were to be axed after bosses decided there was no alternative.
The Del Monte site, which specialised in the production of prepared salads for supermarkets and restaurant chains, was the largest employer in Methwold.
In February the company said it was consulting staff about the future of the plant, which bosses said had been losing money since they acquired it in 2002 following the collapse of the Albert Fisher Group.
UK MD Peter Miller said: “We are very sad to come to this decision.”
25 YEARS AGO
Pubs and restaurants in Bury st Edmunds looked set to be allowed to expand without paying tens of thousands of pounds towards town centre car parking after a change of heart by council planners.
Pressure from small businesses had forced the council to reconsider a controversial commuted car parking scheme introduced in 1990 to pay for new multi-storey car parks at £8,250 per space.
Many had been unable to extend their premises and even faced closure because they had refused to pay charges of up to £80,000 per business, calculated according to the size and use of the premises.
Cllr Michael Brundle, a businessman, said it was ‘morally wrong’ to ask for such large amounts of money.
100 YEARS AGO
Intimation has been received by Mrs Thurston Petch, of Bury Road, Thetford, that her husband, Private Arthur Thurston, who joined the 11th Rifle Brigade on September 2, 1914, has been killed in action in France.
He was a well-known Thetford man, and previous to joining the Army was for fourteen years employed at Messrs James Fison’s.
Writing to Mrs Petch, the Rev Basil Churchyard states: “Prvt Petch was killed by a shell on March 24. He was killed instantly, and did not suffer.
He was orderly to Captain Banbury. They buried him in the shelter of a cemetery on the bank of the Yser Canal. “
Deceased, who was a son of Mr and Mrs Petch, of St Gile’s Lane, has two other brothers in the Forces.
