On This Day

Fifteen Years Ago

Cricket was suspended for more than 18 minutes in mid-afternoon at the County Ground, Cleobury, while ground staff battled to remove from the field of play veteran streaker Ernest Piddock. Advancing steadily on two sticks, Piddock had taken up position close to cover point some five overs before being spotted by hawk-eyed assistant umpire Sid Scoggins in the course of a routine check on player-numbers positioned about the ground. That the pitch invasion had passed unnoticed was put down to a combination of low crowd attendance (in the region of 7 spectators, not including Piddock) and a brief spell of bad light at the Crematorium End.

Twenty Years Ago

Residents in the picturesque Cotswold village of Little Appening awoke to find their prize-winning village green disfigured by a series of molehills, four in all. As local historian Daphne Mildew pointed out, the green had three times in the previous fifty years carried off the title of Best Village Green in the Appenlode Valley (south-eastern quarter) and once been runner-up. Whilst a volunteer force set to work on clearance measures, a committee was formed in the village with a watching brief for future incidents.

Ten Years Ago

Birding enthusiasts from around the country flocked in their thousands to the Norfolk village of Weeting in the hope of sighting a rare visitor only twice before seen in mainland Britain. The Bearded Siberian Hedgefarter, said to have been blown off course in recent storms, failed to put in any further appearance after its initial identification on Weeting Heath. However, a single sound-recording of the bird, made in the vicinity of a tall-hedged garden belonging to Mr Trevor Letts, was sent on to experts in Cambridge for further analysis.