THE new issue of a popular history magazine published by the Bromsgrove Society has gone on sale.

The Bromsgrove Rousler's latest edition features interesting articles and images that bring the stories to life.

This year the magazine's cover article is about the famous deaths of railwaymen Thomas Scaife and Joseph Rutherford, when the Surprise engine exploded at Bromsgrove Station.

The article has been written by rail enthusiast Neville Billington and takes a fresh look at the explosion in 1840.

When the men were buried in St John’s churchyard in Bromsgrove their gravestones included famous verses one of which starts “My engine now is cold and still”. The gravestones were restored by craftsman Michael Ford and re-erected earlier this year.

Richard Churchley writes on the rise and fall of the cloth trade in Bromsgrove, while Connie Swann explores Droitwich's turnpike roads.

There is also an article on Isaiah Burnell and the Bromsgrove Musical Club, the American Rehabilitation Centre in Bromsgrove, and how Catholic families kept their faith alive in the aftermath of the gunpowder plot.

In the magazine's introduction, magazine editor Jenny Townshend thanks the contributors who submitted articles for the publication that, she says, has made for a "varied and interesting edition".

The Rousler has again been published in time for Christmas, priced at £2.50.

It is available from several town outlets including WHSmiths, Oxfam Book Shop and Foto Factory in Bromsgrove High Street, Willowbrook, Burcot and Rowberry's garden centres, Array Foot Farm, Banner Foods, Blackwell Stores, Kennedys Mica Hardware in Rubery, and Stoke Prior and Fairfield Post Offices.

It is also available from Grace Cards and Books in Droitwich.

The Bromsgrove Society does stock back issues of the Bromsgrove Rousler, although certain years have sold out due to popularity. Where copies are available they can be obtained from society president John Weston by calling 01527 873483.

For more details on Bromsgrove Society visit bsoc.co.uk.