Back in the day: We delve into our archives to see what was going on 10 years ago, 25 years ago and 50 years ago this week
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10 years ago – May 21, 2015
Taking its toll
An inquiry to establish whether people crossing Whitchurch Bridge will have to pay a 50 per cent toll increase was held this week.
The Whitchurch Bridge Company, which owns and operates the privately-owned structure, has applied to increase its Class 1 Toll from 40p to 60p to help cover the costs of repairing the 113-year-old structure.
The bridge closed for reconstruction work in October 2013 but a series of setbacks delayed the project by nearly a year. The cost of the work spiralled from £6.4m to £8.7m.
25 years ago – May 18, 2000
Centre up for sale
A popular community centre in Stroud Green is to go up for sale, leaving a playgroup, a parish council and several hundred voters stranded, as well as creating an opportunity for developers to move in.
St John Ambulance Brigade said that it is being forced to sell the hall on Greenham Road because of high maintenance costs, and the users are having to look for alternative accommodation.
The head of public relations at St John Ambulance, Berkshire, Gavin Sheppard, said: “We are having to write off Newbury as we don’t use the building to its full capacity and it is in quite a state.
“It is literally crumbling and we just don’t have the funds to refurbish it.”
50 years ago – May 29, 1975
Work shortage
A major jobs crisis is confronting hundreds of youngsters in the Newbury area who will be leaving school in the next three months.
Berkshire Careers Service are so concerned about the increase in unemployment among young people that they are now appealing to any employer who might consider taking on school-leavers to come forward.
The average number of teenagers out of work in the Newbury area is now more than double that for the same time last year.
Miss PJ Marks, area careers officer, explained that there had been an overall cut-back in recruitment by employers and the number of vacancies open to summer term leavers had been severely cut.
Employers, faced with economic uncertainty and a lack of confidence, were opting for a cut in recruitment rather than redundancies, she said.
She said that recently she had been in touch with 100 employers but this had yielded only seven or eight vacancies.
In May there were only 57 unfilled vacancies in the Newbury area compared with 210 last year and only one in five of expected summer school leavers are known to have found jobs so far.
As a result of the jobs situation, many teenagers are thinking twice about leaving school this term.
“Youngsters going back to school will simply swell the number next year and this is just postponing the problem,” Miss Marks said.
