ARGUS ARCHIVE: Cross Keys boy found shot dead on Machen mountain (From South Wales Argus)

ARGUS ARCHIVE: Cross Keys boy found shot dead on Machen mountain

2:30pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in News

100 YEARS AGO

● PONTYPOOL market hall was crowded in a demonstration in support of the the Bill for the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Church of England in Wales.

● People were evacuated from Machen and district following rumours of an explosion at Bedwas New Pits.

● A 16-year-old Cross Keys boy was found shot dead on Machen mountain.

● Newport Harriers were confident of success in a series of meetings after the cross-country season officially opened.

50 YEARS AGO

● Monmouthshire was hit by high winds, The Gaer estate being one of the worst-hit areas with a number of roofs damaged.

● Three men and two 12-year-old boys spent a night adrift in a damaged catamaran in the storm-swept Bristol Channel.

● The first pets’ service was held in the diocese and people from all over Monmouthshire gathered in Christchurch Hall, where the Archbishop of Wales blessed their pets.

● A brewer’s lorry carrying a £500 load of liquor and cigarettes was hijacked in daylight from Turner St, Newport. It was later found abandoned near the Glebelands.

25 YEARS AGO

● A plan for a new shopping centre between Commercial Street and Kingsway was unveiled by Burton Property Group. The plan included a Debenhams superstore and 40 smaller shops.

● A new report revealed that Gwent motorists were falling prey to shoddy workmanship, cornercutting and dodgy practices in the car-servicing industry

● It was claimed that school meals in Gwent were creating generations of Billy and Bessie Bunters with sticky cakes, crisps and sugary drinks dominating menus.

● Crisis cuts were planned by Gwent Health Authority with hospital wards looking set to close following an overspend of around £500,000 in the first five months of the financial year.