" of a lot of factory hands was an
event to be chronicled in _Aris's Gazette_, whose scribes duly noted the
horses and vehicles (not forgetting the master of the band, without whom
the "gipsy party" could not be complete), and the destination was seldom
indeed further than the Lickey, or Marston Green, or at rarer intervals,
Sutton Coldfield or Hagley. Well-to-do tradesmen and employers of labour
were satisfied with a few hours spent at some of the old-style Tea
Gardens, or the Crown and Cushion, at Perry Barr, Aston Cross or Tavern,
Kirby's, or the New Inn, at Handsworth, &c. The Saturday half-holiday
movement, which came soon after the introduction of the railways, may be
reckoned as starting the excursion era proper, and the first Saturday
afternoon trip (in 1854) to the Earl of Bradford's, at Castle Bromwich,
was an eventful episode even in the life of George Dawson, who
accompanied the trippites. The railway trips of the late past and
present seasons are beyond enumeration, and it needs not to be said that
anyone with a little spare cash can now be whisked where'er he wills,
from John-o'-Groats to the Land's End, for a less sum than our fathers
paid to see the Shrewsbury Show, or Lady Godiva's ride at Coventry. As
it was "a new departure," and for future reference, we will note that
the first five-shilling Saturday-night-to-Monday-morning trip to
Llandudno came off on August 14, 1880. The railway companies do not fail
to give ample notice of all long excursions, and for those who prefer
the pleasant places in our own district, there is a most interesting
publication to be had for 6d., entitled "The Birmingham Saturday
Half-holiday Guide," wherein much valuable information is given
respecting the nooks and corners of Warwick and Worcester, and their
hills and dales.

~Executions.~--In 1729 a man was hung on Gibbett Hill, site of Oscott
College, for murder and highway robbery. Catherine Evans was hung
February 8, 1742, for the murder of her husband in this town. At the
Summer Assizes in 1773, James Duckworth, hopfactor and grocer, of this
town, was sentenced to death for counterfeiting and diminishing the gold
coin. He was supposed to be one of the heaviest men in the county,
weighing over twenty-four stone. He died strongly protesting his
innocence, On the 22nd Nov., 1780, Wilfrid Barwick, a butcher, was
robbed and murdered near the four mile stone on the Coleshill Road. The
culprits were two soldiers, named John Ha