NOSTALGIA: Pupils bold as brass with masterclass

This picture from 2008 is of trumpet soloist Mark Kesel, centre, filling Stowmarket Middle School’s gym with the sound of music, with help from youngsters at the school.

Pupils got the chance to listen and watch him play, as well as join in with him. Were you one of those students? Liz Elstone, head of music at the school, said: “He performed in front of all our Year Five pupils, which fits entirely into their curriculum, where they are learning about the instruments of the orchestra. Plus, he performed to all those who take instrumental lessons.” The event was funded by the Stowmarket Concert Club and the school’s friends’ association.

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HEADLINES FROM THE PAST

10 YEARS AGO

Suffolk Police helicopter AA99 looks set to keep flying, but it will cost £1.38 million to replace the current aircraft, which does not meet new safety standards.

Suffolk Police Authority is hoping to buy a replacement helicopter to meet night-time flying safety standards which come into force in March, 2010.

The new machine is quieter and will also carry automatic number plate recognition capability.

Members are today due to discuss four options: to purchase the EC135 P2 costing £1,377,990; to provide air support by leasing in airborne services; to continue with the current aircraft but only until 2010; to close the Air Operations Unit immediately.

25 YEARS AGO

A new corporation will be launched in Bury St Edmunds next month, with an estimated turnover of £6.7 million in its first year and an aim of providing the best in post-16 education.

On April 1, West Suffolk College becomes a corporation, managing its own £4.5 million grants budget, two-thirds of which will be awarded by the new Further Education Funding council.

The college has grown out of the original Evening Institute, which was founded in 1935, and the Bury Technical Institute, which ran from 1948, to provide education across West Suffolk.

More than 13,000 students of all abilities take part in a variety of courses run by the college.

100 YEARS AGO

Albert Mills, grocer’s porter, Melford, was charged with theft of a quarter pound of baking powder on February 9.

Mr T Spicer, grocer and draper , said he had missed several articles, and on Saturday morning he watched the defendant go to the warehouse and saw him in the act of putting a tin of baking powder in his pocket. Inspector Nunn stated the defendant said: “That’s the first thing I’ve taken,” and his mother said he had never brought anything home. The prosecutor said the lad’s weekly wages were 14s. 6d, and sometimes he gave him sixpence or a shilling more.

The bench dismissed the case on payment of costs and placed the lad on probation for 12 months.