Cycle path danger

Blind, deaf and elderly people are at risk from cyclists charging down tracks in Cassiobury Park, a Watford environmental group has warned. A new order published this week by Watford Council mirrors plans first released last year to slice the park’s main footpath in two, with one side for cyclists and the other for pedestrians. Plans had to be shelved last year after council officials overlooked objection letters from residents. Mr Stephen Dolley, vice chairman of the Friends of Cassiobury Park, said: “The cycle route will please only one section of the public to the dissatisfaction of other members of the community.”

[August 7, 1998]

What a scorcher!

Summer finally arrived for thousands of Watford schoolchildren this week when temperatures soared into the 80s. Crowds of youngsters descended on parks and swimming pools to enjoy the long-awaited sunshine. Ice cream sellers, pub landlords and cricketers, who had previously reported the worst summer in years, were all delighted.

[August 7, 1998]

24-hour supermarket

30 jobs will be created as night fever hits Tesco supermarket, in Lower High Street, Watford. The Watford branch of the supermarket chain has been open all hours since Monday, allowing shoppers to purchase their favourite goods all day and all night. A spokesman for the food giant, which extended the opening hours of 36 other stores nationwide on Monday to 24 hours, said: “Customer research shows that more people are working round-the-clock and need the convenience of shopping through the night. Tesco is meeting the lifestyles of Britain’s shoppers in the 21st century.”

[August 14, 1998]

Town’s first night shelter

The first ever permanent night shelter in Watford will put a roof over the heads of the many homeless people living on the streets of the town. Lives will be saved and Watford made a safer place according to Watford New Hope Trust, which is responsible for opening the shelter. Those sleeping rough will be housed in the Salvation Army’s former citadel, in St Mary’s Road.

[August 14, 1998]

Electronic voting could be way ahead

The new century could see the end of wooden booths and pencils attached to bits of string as a means of casting your vote. The future could be electronic voting, mobile polling stations or entire elections by postal vote, according to the Government’s recent White Paper on local government. “Anyone active during the reign of Queen Victoria would find nothing has changed in the way we vote,” said Watford Council leader Vince Muspratt. “It’s time to move on. We are approaching a new century and it’s time to think creatively about making it as easy as possible for people to exercise their right to vote.”

[August 14, 1998]

Something fishy going on

Pollution experts were left scratching their heads after a mystery phenomenon killed hundreds of fish along a stretch of river in Watford. Despite extensive tests to the water alongside Riverside Road, officials from the Environment Agency failed to establish exactly what was responsible for wiping out the scores of fish, including chub and perch. Even more mysterious was the fact that the mystery pollutant failed to kill off small fry such as gudgeon and roach. An agency spokesman said: “We are baffled by it – whatever caused the pollution has been so diluted that we are unable to identify it. It could be anything.”

[August 21, 1994]

Hornets’ mascot set for TV wedding

Billed as the wedding of the year, Harry the Hornet is getting hitched before Watford Football Club’s Sky televised clash against Wolves tonight. The club’s mascot for the last 10 years, Harry is a popular figure at home matches. His bride-to-be, Harriet the Hornet, will now accompany her husband to all of Watford’s first-team games. Mr Binal Sawjani, the club’s corporate sales executive, said: “While keeping in with our family image, we thought it was only right that Harry got hitched.” When asked if baby Hornets would soon follow, Mr Sawjani said: “Watch this space.”

[August 28, 1998]

What was happening in the world in August 1998?

• Rebel forces revolt against President Laurent Kabila’s government in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, starting the Second Congo War. 3,900,000 people are killed before it ends in 2003, making it the bloodiest war since WWII (August 4)

• The American spin-off ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ debuts on ABC (August 5)

• In China the Yangtze river breaks through the main bank and kills 12,000 (August 7)

• The bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, kill 224 people (August 7)

• The Omagh bombing is carried out in Northern Ireland by the IRA, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles (August 15)

• US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an ‘improper physical relationship’ with Monica Lewinsky (August 17)

• North Korea reportedly launches its first satellite (August 31)