KEITH HAMILTON looks through past editions of the Echo and reviews the issues which made the headlines

50 Years Ago Householders in Southampton were urged to save newspaper, as there was a severe shortage of waste paper.

"Housewives can help by tying paper together or by putting it in a separate sack by the side of the dustbin,'' said a Civic Centre spokesman.

40 Years Ago Hampshire farmers were busy harvesting after being hampered by recent heavy storms.

A spokesman for the local agricultural industry said two weeks of fine weather were needed if substantial progress was to be made in the fields by the combine harvesters.

30 Years Ago Southampton was being used as a test bed for a proposed new style of telephone directory.

Amateur dramatic group Southampton Student Players were holding auditions for men and boys for their next production, the play about football, Zigger Zagger.

20 Years Ago Eighteen of the world's fastest craft on water roared off from Cowes, Isle of Wight in power boating's Grand National, to Torquay and back.

Hampshire police launched a crackdown on vehicles parked illegally on pavements, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road.

10 Years Ago A poltergeist was making the lives of a Netley family so miserable a priest was called in to carry out a blessing on their home.

The troublesome ghost had turned on gas and electricity, conjured water out of the air and tampered with the telephone lines in the house.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.