From the Herald archive - armed raid at a Snitterfield home and Stratford’s World Heritage status bid
8th April 1999
THE Snitterfield postmaster and his wife were the victims of a terrifying raid when three masked men burst into their home almost a year to the day that their bungalow was hit in a carbon copy attack.
The couple, of Park Road, were tied up and left in the lounge of their home after the raiders forced their way in and demanded the keys to the adjoining post office.
The three men, one of them brandishing a wooden baton, burst into the bungalow at 9pm and forced the husband to hand over the keys to the building and safe. They then punched the postmaster in the face, leaving him with cuts and bruises, and bound him and his wife with neck-ties before going into the post office where they opened the safe and stole a large amount of cash.
Police investigating the raid believe the masked men then escaped on foot to a nearby car.
STRATFORD could take its place among the greatest historical sites in the world following a nomination to include the town in an “Ivy League” list of heritage spots across the globe.
The town could join the likes of the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and Stonehenge on the World Heritage list following a nomination by the government.
Stratford is among 25 sites across Britain put forward by the Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, for inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s list which already contains 17 UK locations.
10th April 1964
A SPEED-UP in the industrial development of Stratford is foreshadowed by the demand for corporation sites in Masons Road.
Many applications have been received for sites for the establishment of new factories. In sifting them, the town council is trying to ensure that they will provide a high proportion of skilled and semi-skilled jobs.
The council is anxious to avoid an undue increase in the amount of unskilled work offered by the new undertakings; it could bring a serious setback to the growth of the borough’s prosperity and the improvement of balance in its rates economy in a time of slump or severe trade recession.
A primary aim of the selection policy, too, is a widening of the scope of opportunity for school-leavers through apprenticeship to skilled crafts.
11th April 1924
MR N Simner, from the Ministry of Health, opened a public inquiry on Tuesday morning at the Poor-law Institution to ascertain the truth, or otherwise, of certain allegations that had been made at the audit of accounts of the Stratford Rural District, for the years 1922 and 1923, of over-payments to contractors and other irregularities of a serious nature in connection with the erection of council houses under their assisted housing scheme.
The allegations included over-payments to builders and the over-ordering of supplies – such as bricks and lumber.
