From the Advertiser archives - January 14 edition

January 15, 1916

A fire which, but for the promptitude of two soldiers might have assumed disastrous proportions, broke out at Messrs Lines’ drapery shop in High Street on Tuesday. Driver Kirk and Pte Webb endeavoured to open the shop door but it was locked for the dinner hour. Kirk broke the glass and saw a large quantity of fabric on fire. They did their best to beat out the flames before firemen arrived. The cause of the fire is a mystery, but Mr Lines suggests it may have been spontaneous combustion of celluloid combs on the counter or some paper round the electric bulbs.

January 14, 1966

The waiting list of telephone subscribers in Rugby stands at 300 and some of these have been waiting for six months. Endeavours are being made to reduce it to two or three months. The 60 per cent increase in subscribers over the last five years has resulted in a shortage of equipment. But major schemes in Hillmorton, Clifton, Dunchurch Road, Bilton, Newbold and the northern part of town will be completed by the end of this year.

January 10, 1991

Rugby will not be getting a new library. Instead the present run-down building will be patched up to service the town for the next five years.

The cherished dream of the new library was dashed at a meeting on Tuesday when county councillors said there was enough money for a £2 million building, but not enough to keep it running. First voiced 28 years ago, the prospect of a new library had recently become a real prospect.