100 Years Ago June 17, 1911 Campden Parish Council had two very important matters before it on Tuesday. They first discussed the desirability of petitioning the county council to do away with the system at present in vogue by which Campden is divided into three wards for the purpose of electing a parish council. It seems to us absurd that a place as small as Campden should be so divided and we are in agreement with the majority of the council in attempting to put an end to a system which is cumbersome and unnecessary. The second matter was public lighting which for a very long time failed to give complete satisfaction to the council or the ratepayers, Mr Ashbee has been to considerable trouble in collecting information as to the cost of laying down a petrol gas light plant. In a scheme of such magnitude the council acted wisely in referring the whole question to a committee.

75 years Ago June 113, 1936 IN his annual report to members of the North Cotswold Rural District Council, the chief sanitary inspector (Mr J E Busfield) said on the formation of the new district a consulting engineer was engaged to prepare a comprehensive scheme for a large part of the area. A considerable amount of investigation work was carried out and many sources considered, including the possibility of the use of river water. Eventually an option was obtained for a spring in Blockley yielding about 1,000,000 gallons per day. From this source it was intended to pump water to a service reservoir situated off the Five Mile Drive above Blockley, whence the supply would be taken to Stow, Bledington, Bourton-on-the-Hill, Bourton, Condicote and Donnington, and a main taken through Campden to Mickleton. From this latter main it would be possible to link up Aston Subedge, Weston Subedge, Saintbury and Willersey.

40 Years Ago June 17, 1971 Gloucestershire County Council is to have another go at trying to provide a pedestrian crossing in High Street, Moreton. Its last attempt, over a year ago, foundered because of complications over siting and loss of parking spaces on either side of the street. A petition signed by several hundred residents has been sent to the Department of the Environment drawing attention to “the complete lack of adequate crossing facilities”. The flow of traffic on the Fosse Way, the petition says, is considerable and increasing and constitutes a direct danger to pedestrians. Replying to a letter from Moreton Parish Council, the county surveyor, Mr R A Downes, says the proposed crossing is extremely difficult to resolve because of the use of the car parking areas by the Showmen’s Guild for the twice yearly fairs which in turn created problems of road safety.