THE charms of Malvern were praised in the Gazette's pages 100 years ago by none other than Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Prime Minister of the day.

Sir Henry spent Whitsuntide in the town, staying in the Imperial Hotel, now Malvern St James.

Although he meant to stay for some time, he was obliged to return to London on urgent Government business.

Nonetheless, he found time to visit sights such as the Priory and pay visits to Earl Beauchamp at Madresfield Court. He also visited Mis Harcourt of West Malvern, sister of the late Sir William Vernon Harcourt, a colleague of his in several Liberal administrations, The Gazette's editor asked Sir Henry for an interview, which he was unable to grant, but he sent the following words of praise for the town.

"The pure air, the lovely country, the variety which your range of hills give to the landscape, the opportunities they offer for healthy exercise the number of places of interest in the neighbourhood, the singular healthiness of your vegetation, the tidiness of your town - here are seven points in which Malvern is unsurpassed in the whole of England; and I doubt if there is any place which combines them in the same degree.

"I do not see any room for a recommendation; Malvern recommends itself."

However, Sir Henry was far from being a happy man; he had just endured his wife's death, and had less than a year to live himself, passing away in Downing Street on April 22, 1908.

Sir Henry is remembered as the first man who was given official use of the title Prime Minister.