Bill Elerihouse used Your Questions to ask: "What is Worcester most famous for?"

THE ANSWER

Candidates so far have been the world famous Worcestershire Sauce, which is still made at a factory in Worcester, Royal Worcester, external porcelain, which sadly isn't and the city's glove industry.

The last battle

The first and last battles of the English Civil War took place in Worcester.

The first took place on the 23 September 1642 - though the Battlefield Trust , externalsay it could "probably be better described as a skirmish".

Royalist cavalry, under the dashing Prince Rupert, routed a Parliamentary force.

Nine years later there was a far bigger battle at Worcester, external, as a largely Scottish army commanded by Charles II came up against the New Model Army, under the generalship of Oliver Cromwell.

Image source, Google

The royalists lost the battle, and King Charles had to flee the city, beginning his famous escape to France via an oak tree.

The house he fled from is still standing, and is known as The King Charles House.

Image source, Google

The importance of the battle is shown by the fact that in 1786 two future American presidents - John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - made a special pilgrimage to the city, visiting Fort Royal (pictured), the capture of which led to the Parliamentary victory.

In a speech in the city John Adams, the second president, even took the country to task for not properly commemorating the battle.

Image source, Worcester City Council

A plaque commemorating their visit stands, appropriately enough, on the wall of the White House Hotel in Foregate Street.

The trusts running hospitals in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are to get a share of extra money promised by the chancellor in the budget.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which has been in special measures since 2015, is to get £920,000.

The trust was placed in special measures in December 2015 by the Care Quality Commission watchdog, which raised safety concerns over A&E, paediatrics, maternity and gynaecology departments.

The trust running hospitals in Herefordshire is to get £749,000.

The department of health says the money must be used "to meet the 95% standard of admitting, transferring, or discharging patients within four hours".

Both trusts have consistently failed to meet A&E waiting-time targets.  

Local politicians and councillors have been at one of Worcestershire's congestion hot spots as they try to persuade the government to spend tens of millions of pounds sorting it out. 

Worcester's Carrington Bridge currently only has one lane each way and there are calls for it to have more or for a Northern Link road to be built to reduce the number of cars needing to cross it.

Image source, Google

BBC Politics

A snap election called for 8 June risks leaving many would-be voters unregistered.

BBC News explains how to fix that.

More than 750 homes in the WR8 postcode area of Worcester are without power at the moment.

Western Power Distribution says it hopes to have supplies restored by 17:30.

BBC Sport

British Basketball returns to the BBC this evening with two teams just off the top. 

Worcester Wolves and Sheffield Sharks go into their final two games in third and fourth respectively, both on 38 points, along with second-placed Glasgow Rocks.  

Wolves are on an 11-game winning streak in the League and Sharks won the last meeting between these two sides by just two points.  

Coverage is live from 19:30 across the BBC Sport website, app and selected Connected TVs. You can learn more about the BBC's coverage of the BBL and WBBL here.

Image source, BBC Sport

Tim Race
Producer, BBC Hereford & Worcester

The fire service says it will be carrying out re-inspections of the site of the massive warehouse fire in Worcester every four hours, and will do so for the next 24 hours, checking for hot spots.

The fire investigation is ongoing, alongside West Mercia Police, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service says.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Up to 100 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze at the building, operated by delivery company ArrowXL, on the Blackpole East Industrial Estate in Worcester.

The fire broke out just after 08:30 yesterday.

Access to Blackpole estate is now back to normal, a spokesman said. 

A midwife in Worcestershire is hoping to set up a sanctuary for lambs born with abnormalities to their necks.

Jess Bason might be swapping babies for lambs, but she's on familiar territory as part of a farming family. 

She was inspired after the birth of sheep nicknamed Crooky eight years ago.

Crooky needed constant care just to survive and even now has to feed kneeling down.

Worcester News

A married couple from Malvern Link have been ordered to pay £1,200 in fines and costs after allowing two trees to be cut down illegally, external.  

Like many soldiers who served in WW1, Thomas Porton never spoke of his experiences, despite being awarded the Military Medal, according to his grandson, Mat, who's from Barnt Green.

He and his father will be making their way to Belgium for the special ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, which claimed an estimated 250,000 British and Commonwealth casualties.

Image source, Porton family

Mat still has several artefacts from his grandfather’s service including his spoon, stamped with his regimental number with one side flattened from being scraped along the bottom of billy cans, as well as Thomas’ Princess Mary Christmas gift box, a brass tobacco tin given to all serving soldiers at Christmas 1914.  

Thomas Porton served on the Western Front from August 1914 to July 1918, making it back home safely to his family.   

Alex Winter
BBC Radio Northampton sport

All change at Worcester with three wickets in 10 balls for Andy Carter, playing here for his sixth county.

First, Moeen Ali drove a touch loosely to one brought back in towards him and then Tom Kohler-Cadmore shouldered arms fourth ball.

Moeen never quite looked in full control, with several plays-and-misses through his innings. But he did play two straight drives of note and an extra cover drive to make the crowd purr. A half-century to begin his season, but his side in a spot of bother, with Ben Cox also gone, caught behind in Carter's next over..

Image source, BBC Sport

Ledbury Reporter

North Herefordshire Hunt Point-to-Point scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) at Hereford Racecourse has been called off, external.  

Ged Scott
BBC Sport

Moeen Ali marked his return to County Championship duty with Worcestershire by hitting an unbeaten 42 on the opening morning against Northamptonshire at New Road.

The England all-rounder, playing his first Championship match for almost 12 months, looked in good touch as Worcestershire reached lunch on 92-3 from 28 overs.

Image source, Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Having opted to bowl after an uncontested toss, Northants struck early when Mohammad Azharullah found Brett D'Oliveira’s (pictured) edge for 5. 

But Moeen then put on 62 with Daryl Mitchell (30) before the former became the first of two lbw decisions just before lunch, Tom Fell (5) following cheaply. 

You can hear ball-by-ball commentary on the game on BBC Hereford & Worcester's 738AM frequency and online. 

At lunch Worcestershire are 92 for 3 in the four-day Championship match against Northants.

Moeen Ali, back in the side after being on England duty, is not out on 42.

You can hear ball-by-ball commentary on the game on BBC Hereford & Worcester's 738AM frequency and online.

Image source, Getty Images

Nick Clitheroe
BBC Midlands Today

On Midlands Today this lunchtime we'll be hearing of the many tributes being paid to the Midlands footballer Ugo Ehiogu who's died. 

Image source, Getty Images

He was 44 and played more than 200 games for Aston Villa. 

Tributes have been paid from across our region and I'll have more from 13:30.

Bill Elerihouse used Your Questions to ask: “What is Worcester most famous for?”

THE ANSWER

Candidates so far have been the world famous Worcestershire Sauce, which is still made at a factory in Worcester, and Royal Worcester, external porcelain, which sadly isn't.

That's handy

Between 1790 and 1820 there were more than 150 glove manufacturers in Worcester, employing up to 30,000 people.

Fashions change though, and the industry gradually died out - but its fame was sufficient for these gloves to be included in the BBC list of the history of the world in 100 objects.

The importance of the industry to Worcester is commemorated in the popular name for the spire of St Andrew's church in the city centre.

The body of the church was demolished in the late 1940s, but the spire is still a distinctive landmark, known locally as The Glover's Needle.

In our final part we'll look at why two American presidents made a pilgrimage to the city to remember the Battle of Worcester.

Kidderminster Shuttle

Police officers from across the West Midlands competed in a charity rugby match in Bromsgrove this week - one month on from the Westminster terror attack, external.  

Farm land owned by Herefordshire Council and estimated to be worth £40m goes on sale on Monday. 

The land previously generated about £400,000 a year for the council, and the agents responsible for selling it say they're expecting interest from a range of buyers.

Image source, Getty Images

The council has previously said that although it is "committed to our duty of care to the local community and to tenants" it needs to find "alternative ways to fund the statutory services we have to provide".

Bill Elerihouse used Your Questions to ask: “What is Worcester most famous for?”

THE ANSWER

That is a big question, but let's narrow it down to a sauce, pottery, gloves and a battle.

Let's get saucy

Like it or loath it, almost everyone has heard of Worcester sauce - the pungent brew that can be added to everything from cheese on toast to Bloody Marys.

It's so famous it was included in the BBC's list of the history of the world in 100 objects.

The only problem is, most people have got the name wrong - look closely at the bottle and you'll find that the most famous product of the Lea & Perrins factory in Worcester is actually called Worcestershire Sauce.

The famous sauce was first created by the Worcester chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, and first went on sale in 1837.

According to the Lea & Perrins website, external only "a lucky few" know the exact recipe, but the sauce has been matured for 18 months to get that distinctive taste.

Priceless porcelain

You could of course serve your Worcestershire sauce-enriched cheese on toast on a Royal Worcester porcelain plate.

The porcelain factory was established in the city back in 1751, and got its royal endorsement for the quality of its work in 1789.

Sadly, Royal Worcester is no longer made in the city and the old factory has been turned into flats.

The Museum of Royal Worcester, external is still in the city though, where you can see many of the finest pieces created at the works.

Coming up - how the city's famous glove industry gave a church spire its name, and the battle that two American presidents made a pilgrimage to Worcester to mark.

Hereford Times

Officers received a report of an incident yesterday from the Waterfield Road area regarding the poisoning of a cat, external.