Black Country gets Rough press

Black Country Museum - photo by Pete

An article in last week’s Black Country editions of the Express and Star reveals that a new 1,015 page edition of the respected Rough Guide To England dismisses the entire Black Country region as:

“that knot of industrial towns clinging to the western side of Birmingham”.

The Express and Star continues:

“Before going on to wax lyrical about the likes of Stratford-upon-Avon, the Guide says: “This area has found it difficult to re-route itself through the maze of post-industrialisation and more amply fulfils the negative stereotypes once attached to Birmingham.”By contrast the guide devotes 48 pages to The Lake District, an impressive 55 pages to the Costwolds and even Birmingham gets 11 pages with a glowing description of the city’s regeneration.But a glance at the index gives no indication that Wolverhampton, Walsall or Dudley even exist. There is no mention of the Black Country Living Museum or Dudley Zoo and Castle, home to some of the world’s biggest, rarest and most exotic creatures. Nor do Dudley’s 18th-century Himley Hall with its 180 acres of grounds designed by Capability Brown or Walsall’s renowned Leather Museum get a look in”.

How disappointing that even respected publications like the Rough Guide allow themselves to dismiss a huge area of important industrial heritage and rich culture in such a demeaning and dismissive way.

Maybe the editors of the Rough Guide ain't so rough after all?

Maybe the original vision of Rough Guide founder Mark Ellingham went with him when he left the company last year? A vision of creating an alternative type of travel guide to the bland, commercialized or over-intellectualised publications that were only available to him as a traveling student a couple of decades ago.

Clearly the objectives and the audience of the so-called Rough Guides has changed completely over the years. Famously authored by condescending middle class intellectuals on eternal gap years, the current writers certainly remain keen to out-impress one another with their 'slumming-it' anecdotes about Marakesh, Istanbul and the Australian Outback, but when it comes to the realities of working class life in Britain they are completely unable to hack it. Perhaps because there’s no British Consulate to run to when the going really does get rough?

Oh yes, the Rough Guiders can sniff out the cheapest beach based cocktail bar on Lesbos, but ask them to find a Banks’s pub in Cradley Heath and they’re up the cut without a paddle. Best traditional mamma’s home made pizza café in the Sardinian foothills? Not a problem when you’ve got an American Express card in your ruck-sack. Cup of tay and a baco sarnie in Upper Gornal? So far out of their comfort zones it’s like asking them to write a guide to nude beaches in North Eastern Siberia.

Rough Guide bloody failures if you ask me and it does make you wonder just who the Rough Guides are written for these days doesn’t it?

With such a fantastic opportunity to stray from the well-trodden tourist path of 10 million other contemporary tourist guides to England, to really tune into the rich working class culture of Britain, instead the authors of Rough Guide England have sunk into the prevailing stereotypes and easy generalisations that betray either their own privileged backgrounds or their complete lack of originality as researchers. Yes, all West Midlanders will agree that Stratford is a fantastic place to punt along the river on a midsummer’s afternoon in late August followed by an evening at the theatre, but was this really a gap in our knowledge that only the Rough Guide can fill?

Far from investigating the hidden gems and back roads of our maligned little corner of planet earth, the authors of Rough Guide have become as dismissive and culturally elitist as the travel writers who originally inspired Ellingham to set up this alternative genre in the first place.

As Brum based author David Lodge says of the fictional city of Rummidge in his novel Nice Work :

“environmentally, it has nice and nasty parts, and the ugliness of the nasty parts is a product of the wealth-creating work that goes on there. The amenities of the university campus are indirectly funded by dirty factories on the other side of the city”

Maybe the Rough Guide should just re-brand itself …the Soft Guide?

Well I Never! Spaghetti miscellany

Did you know...

Singer/song writer Joe Jackson, famous for the 1978 chart hit Is She Really Going Out With Him? was born in the West Midlands brewing town of Burton-on-Trent?

Well I never!

Bedworth Society focus on Astley Castle restoration

The restoration of Astley Castle is the subject of the latest meeting of the Bedworth Society.
The illustrated talk by Caroline Stanford of the Landmark Trust will offer the chance to find out all about the moated castle's history.

The castle dates from the 13th century and was devastated by fire in 1978. It is a site of national importance, being associated with three queens.

The talk will be in the school room of The Old Meeting church, off Leicester Street in Bedworth on Monday, May 19, from 7.30pm.

Entry is £1 for society members and £2 for visitors.

Source - Coventry Telegraph http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/

Condors talk for Nuneaton Birdwatchers Club

CONDORS, casinos and canyons in the USA will be the subject of a talk at a meeting of the Nuneaton Birdwatchers Club. The speaker will be Su Gough who will talk about her work with the British Trust for Ornithology.

The meeting, at the Hatters Space in Upper Abbey Street, next Thursday, starts at 7.30pm and is free to members and £2 to non members.

NORTH ARDEN LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

REPORT: MEETING APRIL 2008

St MARY’S CHURCHYARD, HANDSWORTH

Paulette Burkill, of the Handsworth Historical Society was the guest speaker at the April Meeting of the North Arden Local History Society on 10th April where she presented a very interesting and well illustrated talk on the historic Saint Mary’s Parish Church of Handsworth its Churchyard and many of the graves contained therein.

BACKGROUND:
Paulette explained that the work and information that she would be telling us about originated in the 1980’s as an exercise done by members of the Handsworth H.S. at the request of the Birmingham and Midlands Society for Genealogy and Heraldry. This was part of a plan originated by the Federation of Family History Societies to record the monumental inscriptions on gravestones and memorial plaques in churchyards and inside churches throughout the country. Even at that time the lettering on many of the stones was becoming difficult, if not impossible to read, largely the result of the action of atmospheric pollution (acid-rain) on the softer stone used for many of these (often local sandstone). 25 years later this situation is even worse as a walk round your local churchyard will quickly show; it is just as well that the records this survey provided are now available otherwise the information would have been lost for all time. (Records for the inscriptions at St Mary and St Margaret’s Church, Castle Bromwich were transcribed at the same time by the local Women’s Institute: the North Arden LHS does have a copy).

The earliest parts of the Church itself date from the 12th Century and there are other (‘Decorated Style’) features from the time of Edward III (1327-1377); as with most Churches there was also well meaning (if misguided) restoration work done by the Victorians. It was the only ‘Parish’ Church in an extensive area that covered a region extending from Sutton Park to the A34 at Witton (‘Aston Manor’) and then included Great Barr and Perry Barr and abutted West Bromwich in the east. It did not become a part of Birmingham until 1911. It was mainly comprised of heath-land, ground very much like the present day (remains of) Hodgehill Common that was little used for agriculture; in 1600 it supported a widespread population of about 200 persons that by 1800 had expanded to 2000. By the time it was taken over by Birmingham there was a recorded population of 85,000 thanks to the expansion of trade and manufacturing industries in the 19th Century.

Paulette used a number of slides that were copies of paintings that the Handsworth H.S. has on loan from relatives of the artist, Beatrice Bullock, these showed that the Handsworth of the past bore little resemblance to that of today. Then it was much more rural with several, named, large 19th Century houses that had been built by the wealthy (industrialist) families, some of these houses have survived to the present but are no longer the homes of a single family with servants to look after their needs!

THE CHURCHYARD:
To begin our tour of the Churchyard we first saw a picture of a funeral in progress where the mourners, all in strictly formal (black) suits and dresses were on foot in a procession and, almost unknown in 21st Century, everyone was carrying their own floral tributes: this was thought to have been taken at sometime in the 1920’s but was very much a carry-over from Victorian days when people tended to be obsessed with death. The Churchyard merges into the area taken up by Handsworth Park and the boundary demarcation has become very indistinct over time. Fortunately work is now well under way to clean up and renew this boundary from funds derived from a Lottery Grant that is aimed at renovating the park and an organisation – ‘The Friends of St. Mary’s Churchyard’ has been formed with the soul objective of making it a special place for the respect that should be accorded to the souls of the dead many of whom still have relations who visit their graves. It is a closed graveyard that does not now accept any new interments and what appears to be a vacant area in the southern corner actually contains numerous unmarked graves of paupers who are only remembered in the Church Register, - no coffins or grave markers.

The earliest marked graves, many of which are barely decipherable date from the late 1700’s with simple inscriptions such as “In memory of Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Smallwood, died 3rd September 1773…..” The Smallwood family has survived to the present day and are in regular contact with the Church. As many Churchyards around the country exhibit there are far more funereal and elaborate monuments from the Victorian and Edwardian eras surviving with quite legible inscriptions, but as is often the way in this day and age many of these examples of the monumental masons art have been subjected to vandalism (headless angels, collapsed crosses and such like). Many incorporate carvings of symbolic items such as Ivy that signifies fidelity, Edelweiss, Lily of the Valley, upwards pointing index fingers (towards heaven); it is said that one grave incorporates a Swastika which, before its evil association with Nazi (National Socialist) Party, was said, in mythological terms to represent the heart of Buddha and in Chinese, abundance. Handsworth is no exception and contains some very interesting monuments to prominent (in their lifetimes) citizens and very often the inscriptions contain details of their addresses such as a house number/name and the road name; an example was given as ‘Rosehill House’ at the junction of Villa Road and Soho Road and is now occupied by King Edwards Grammar School for Girls.

CAUSES OF DEATH: PLACES OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
Some inscriptions are a source of the cause of death of the occupant of the grave and give us an insight into social conditions prevailing at the time: Amy Green died of Bronchitis in 1869, William Jones of ‘Black Water Fever’ in South Africa in 1910, Thomas Spittle aged 20 died from injuries received whilst playing football in 1889, his descendants still live in Handsworth in the 21st Century; Charles Duncan was accidentally drowned in Java; Charles and Florria Tongue were killed in a railway accident in Philadelphia in 1890. Many other examples were given such as ‘fell off a ladder’, ‘thrown by a horse’ it looks as if life in the Victorian years were as equally hazardous as they are today. The number of former Handsworth residents who died overseas and are commemorated in the churchyard is also rather surprising but goes to show that travel or emigration overseas was more widely practised that we may have thought. On the other hand there are graves for people from abroad who had the misfortune to end their days in Handsworth, such as Jacques Sulzberger from Switzerland, Richard Taylor of Illinois, Friedrich Willehelm Otto Dieter Bauer in 1885, Fredrick Beck of Adelaide and Sergius Spellengrable in the service of the States of Holland in the East Indies who died in 1770 who is described in the Registers as a Sales Rep for Matthew Boulton.

These records only go to show that movement around the United Kingdom, the Continent and Empire where more common place than one may imagine; the Introduction of the Turnpikes facilitated travel by coach and wagon and the coming of the railways from the 1840’s onwards increased this ability for most classes, Paulette told us that one of the objectors to this freedom of movement was the Duke of Wellington who thought it a retrograde step and “would allow the working classes to move about!”

INFANT MORTALITY AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS:
Large families were common place in the Victorian era (a safeguard against the workhouse and poverty) and are a factor apparent from studies of the gravestone inscriptions in St Mary’s Churchyard. This can be put down to two factors, the high rate of infant mortality and almost complete lack of birth control/contraception. [The writer’s own great grandfather (born 1846) was one of 10 children some of whom, from census returns, appear to have died in infancy]. Mrs Burkill went on to give us some statistics on these factors: in 1800 two out of every five babies born alive died before they reached the age of 5; by 1840 the average age at death was only 29! It was not unusual for a brother and sister to be born a generation (30 years) apart and even only 50 years ago a fifth of all births recorded in the UK were to women over the age of 35: in the later 19th Century it was not unusual for grandmothers to give birth. Of course we must not ignore the prevalence of ‘killer diseases’ that were around in those days such as cholera, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever many attributable to the quality of drinking water and unsanitary living conditions amongst the poorer working classes – many of these are substantiated by gravestone inscriptions and entries in the Parish Burial Registers. Paulette amplified these facts by quoting actual entries from the Registers that gave all the gory details – many diseases that are easily curable one hundred or so years later. Another factor was death in childbirth and examples are recorded and were read out to us where both mother and child passed away.

NAMES AND SENTIMENTS:
It was obvious from numerous inscriptions that the Victorians and Edwardians were not the died in the wool unemotional and strictly formal attitude personalities that they are so often depicted as, and indeed as they appear to be in the posed portrait photographs of the period. We were given examples of terms of endearment from inscriptions such as, ‘Poppy’, ‘Dear Little Jack’, ‘Darling Little Freddie’ ‘Toddy’ and ‘Fairy’. Dedications tended to be a little more formal such as a simple ‘Aurevoir’; World War One casualties were ‘Duty Called, He Answered’, ‘Suffered Patiently, Submitted Willingly, Died Peacefully’, ‘They’re Calling Me’. One actually quoted four verses of an Alfred Tennyson poem that ends ‘I hope to see my pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar’ and another had a simple ‘Living, Loved, Lost, Lamented’

There are also many Christian names recorded on the monuments that you never hear mentioned in this day and age, many of Biblical origin. Amongst the ladies are Kesia, Adeliza, Bonner, Theodosia, Sabina, Decimay, and Evelina; the list of men’s names were Philemon, Alonzo, Lovelace, Jabez, Caleb, Jesper, Uriah and Zarius. Somehow you cannot help feeling sorry for the children who were landed with these names; even the writers own grandmother (born 1870) was named Elvira from the same period as the examples above – and she was named after a relative.

INSIDE THE CHURCH:
St Mary’s has sometimes been called “the Westminster Abbey of the Industrial Revolution”. This is partly because inside the church itself are the graves and memorials to the more prominent former citizens who have their final resting place herein. The foremost of these is Matthew Boulton the entrepreneur of the Industrial Revolution, founder member of the Lunar Society who had his Manufactory at nearby Soho and whose house is now a museum administered by the Council. He is buried here and together with his former partners James Watt (steam engines) and William Murdoch (Gas lighting) all three have memorials set in the walls and there is also a side chapel dedicated to James Watt that was originally outside the main body of the church but was incorporated into the church during a renovation project. The notorious are also remembered as the forger William Booth of Booths Farm (q.v. Booths Farm Road) in nearby Great Barr, the only criminal who had the distinction of being tried twice, hung twice, and being buried three times was interred in the churchyard but has a plaque inside the church. The Wyrley Family of nearby Hampstead Hall (demolished in the 1930’s) – Lords of the Manor of Handsworth from the 13th to 17th Centuries are remembered by two recumbent effigies in the chancel, and a plaque dated to 1561. Also recognised for past services to the community are Joseph Grice, died 1752 who lived at Handsworth Hall; the Gough Family of Perry Hall between Perry Barr and Great Barr; Sarah and James Russell of Endwood Court; Thomas and Francis Hollingshunt of Soho Foundry. Many of these families still have descendants in the area, even if their family homes are no more or have been converted to more mundane uses.

Other burials here include George Burrell Ramsey said to be the founder of Aston Villa Football Club (died 1935); William McGregor a Director of the Villa who is credited with founding the Football League in March 1888. George Ramsey was also responsible for arranging the clubs transfer to the Villa Park we know today from its original ground in Wellington Road (the Outer Circle Bus route from Perry Barr). In 1908 there was a tragic mining disaster at Hampstead Colliery the centenary of which was recently recognised and will be further commemorated later this year; Alfred Curtis together with three members of the Summerfield family lost their lives in this event and are buried at St Mary’s. The ashes of the Romany King, Esau Smith together with his wife Queen Henty were interred in the churchyard here in the early years of the 20th Century shortly before their community was evicted from the ‘Black Patch’ in Smethwick.

It was an absorbing and fascinating evening filled with far more facts, names and examples than we could possibly include in our report. There is a whole wealth of information to be gleaned from the report the Handsworth H.S. produced from their studies of the inscriptions, especially for those of you interested in the social aspects of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Thank you Paulette we look forward to hearing more from at some time in the future.

We are always pleased to welcome guests and visitors at our meetings, the next of which will be on 12th June when the topic will be ‘Personalities of Birmingham’ presented by Mr Patrick Baird from Birmingham Central Library. The following meeting will be 10th July on English Country Churches by Mrs Barbara Waller. Meetings are held in the Spencer Lounge Bar at Arden Hall, Water Orton Road at 7.45pm.


JERRY DUTTON.
NORTH ARDEN LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Golf is cool - it's official!

Patrick, Ben, Daniel and Tom

Getting in the swing at Lea Marston Golf Centre

“Golf will never compete with soccer as Britain’s national game” a member of the Lea Marston Golf Centre staff named Daniel Parsons remarked as we stood watching my 11 year old son Patrick and his friend Tom whacking little white balls with varying degrees of success across a huge expanse of well-mown grass known as a driving range.

“But it is becoming more and more popular, especially amongst young people” Daniel continued “…and at Lea Marston we are trying to change the image of golf, make it more open to everyone and show people it is actually quite easy to take up”.

Daniel had invited myself and my young charges along to Lea Marston to find out a little more about the game of golf and to hopefully discover just how accessible it is to novices, young and old. My only hands-on experience of golf was three decades ago when, as a teenager, my dad bought me a set of clubs but no lessons to go with them. Hence, the initial elation of having undergone the rite of passage into owning a gleaming set of flashy-looking golf clubs soon passed as my clubs gathered dust in a corner of my bedroom. I recall having one very self-conscious hike up and down Warley Municipal with a pal who was a lot better at persuading his balls to travel vaguely in the direction of the distant flags than I was; I nearly hit another golfer on the head with a badly hit ball because no one had told me to shout “four!”; and shortly after this dismal one-off experience, my older brother persuaded me to swap my clubs with him for a pair of ice hockey skates, a denim jacket and a Jimi Hendrix LP.

On top of that sort of experience it is easy to go through life fostering an unfounded resentment against an activity like golf …and those who are apparently good at it. Somehow golf has a sophistication that soccer doesn’t and it’s not just having the posh looking bag of assorted clubs. Golf requires an understanding of ‘the rules’, the meaning of fairly fundamental terms like ‘handicap’ and knowing which clubs to use on different parts of the course. Then there’s the clothing and the shoes – more fashion-based than sporty, somewhere between Paul Weller and Bing Crosby …the techniques required to successfully hit a ball and finally there is the ‘image of golf’ to which Daniel alluded – the elitist sport of business men, sealing multi million pound deals out on the course before retiring to the ‘male member’s only’ club house for a hearty brandy and a few dodgy jokes. All reasons for believing this to be someone else’s world, not mine.

But then, along came Tiger Woods to change all that - a black guy beating all the white blokes at golf (instead of basket ball) was like the Berlin Wall coming down: the old elite (real or imagined) had been knocked into the rough and golf was suddenly very cool. Well that’s my take on it anyway, but either way, here I was with my 11 year old son on the range at Lea Marston Golf Centre, giving golf a second chance.

What was interesting was just how quickly the guys picked up the basic techniques. In a half hour lesson from Daniel and his colleague Ben Challis our two young novices had mastered the right-angled position of arm and club prior to the swing, the required angle of contact between club and ball in order to achieve maximum power and height and the desired posture of upper body, legs and feet immediately after the swing. In half an hour, the boys had gone from the sort of crude and random hacking that will send a ball 5 metres if luck is on your side, to impressive, professional-looking swings, propelling balls 50 to 100 metres up the range. Meanwhile, I stood back having one of life’s ‘Zen and the art of playing golf’ moments – I had made the quantum leap, if only inside my head, and golf was suddenly seeming a lot more accessible than I had imagined for the past three decades.

Lea Marston Golf Centre is in Haunch Lane, North Warwickshire, close to Junction 9 of the M42 for Kingsbury. The Centre runs lessons and short courses for both individuals and groups of all ages and abilities ranging from a 30 minute session from one of the centre’s coaches for just £17 to (£12 for juniors) to 5 x 30 minute sessions and 1 hour on course lesson (including video analysis and short game lesson) for £100 for adults (5 x 30 minute sessions £50 for Juniors). The Centre also offers group sessions, corporate coaching, children’s birthday parties, stag / hen packages, school holidays coaching and residential golf schools.

According to Daniel, in the summertime as many as 70 kids can attend the Centre in a single weekend. The Centre also has two courses which include a 9 hole lakes course and a shorter academy course, plus a well stocked golf shop.

“The emphasis is on customer service at Lea Marston” Daniel told me and I could see what he means. “It’s a friendly family place where anyone can come along and really develop through regular lessons, but especially Juniors under 16, there is loads of activity going on for young people here”.

I am definitely sold and will be making remonstration with my big brother to swap the skates back for the clubs (although I may try and keep the Hendrix LP). As for my son Patrick, we’ve already made the purchase of a bag of clubs but this time we will learn the lessons of the past and make sure he goes back to the wonderful family friendly Centre at Lea Marston for some proper coaching at a very affordable price and in a non-elitist environment. Thanks to Daniel, Ben and colleagues at Lea Marston ...golf is definitely cool in our house!

Contact:
Lea Marston Golf Centre
Telephone 01675 470707
Haunch Lane, Lea Marston, Warickwshire B76 OBY

Which Renewable Energy Source is Right for your Home?

Local homeowners who are keen to install renewable energy in their homes have received a boost with the launch of a website specifically designed to help them make the right energy choices. As well as a wealth of information the site includes a unique questionnaire which allows users to quickly determine the renewable energy source which is most appropriate for their home together with the capital costs, CO2 savings and return on investment they can expect. The site can also put them in touch with installers in their area.

GreenEnergy360.org is a comprehensive information website for those considering renewable energy in their homes. The aim of the site is to be able to deliver information to meet the needs of homeowners, whatever the state of their own understanding of renewable energy. The site is a completely free resource and designed to be the single most comprehensive source of information on renewable energy for the home available on the web.

Central to the website’s ability to give homeowners useful advice is a module which takes site visitors through a simple questionnaire designed to identify the renewable energy installation which is most appropriate for their needs. Developed in association with Loughborough University University’s Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), the questionnaire is unique in cutting through the technical details and meeting the needs of those who are keen to find out whether renewable energy will be a good choice for their home or small business. The questionnaire provides its conclusions graphically, providing the user with likely capital cost and CO2 savings, together with the energy yield and return on investment they can expect from a particular renewable energy choice.

Having provided users with the information they need, the site can go a step further and, if requested, can refer the user to a selection of local installers who can quote for the required work.

Website founder Simon Calvert is enthusiastic, saying; “The assessment programme provides exactly the information needed to make informed decisions about your home’s renewable energy possibilities without having to drag in a troupe of unfamiliar installers and other experts whose principal interest may be in selling their preferred solution. Having assessed their options independently and objectively first, site users will be able to contact one of our quality-assured installers knowing exactly what they want.”

Spaghetti Wordsmith - Colin Mann

Everyone‘s Going Green?

It is now fashionable to be P C seen to be green
And join pretend politicians with aging soap queens
They say the state of the world is now cruel and obscene
We must reduce CO2 and keep the world clean
Be responsible learn the jargon
Control gases and reduce all the carbon

The do-gooder have all had their say
The worlds ‘ not doom and gloom and painted grey
The future is bright and not what it seems
The doubters depressed into pessimists ‘ dreams
Thoughts stuck in their heads and cannot be moved
CO2 gases are fantasy, this has been proved

Our prudent chancellor never relaxes
Needs no excuse to increase taxes
To cut pollution is my main aim
And stop cheap holiday by aeroplane
Holiday markers to the sea they fly
I will price them out the sky

Road tax / fuel increase I will make drivers poor
And really sick if they own a 4X4
He has squeezed the motorist till it hurts
Off the backs he’s had their shirts
The motorist completely fed up and out of luck
As more tax he squeezes from a sitting duck

The sitting duck a tax payer most highly rated
With red tape and cameras now constipated
Persecuted rigid from foot to head
Now over stuffed and completely dead
Now the exchequer out of luck
He’s squeezed to death his golden duck

More and more taxes he intends to glean
He makes the excuse it’s because he’s green
Tax everything his latest wheeze
Charge by the square metre the air we breathe!

Spaghetti Wordsmith - Roy Susans

THE THROUGH EXPRESS

I am the “through” express train and I’ll not be slowing down
For I’m passing on the “up” line on my way to London town.

“Will Passengers on Platform One kindly stand well back
Because the train approaching is the “fast through” on this track”
We look along the line to see the stream of smoke it makes
And wonder at the speed it goes; how little it takes
Since first we saw it coming in the distance, ‘round the bend
And pass the “distant” signal and up to the platforms end.
For it is the through express train that’ll not be slowing down
And it’s passing on the “up” line on its way to London town.

The ground we now feel trembling at the power and the sound
It feels just like an earthquake that is moving underground.
And the engine slightly swaying as it trundles on its track
At first it swings to one side and then very quickly back.
The blowing of its whistle-of its approach to tell
Sounding like a banshee that has just come out of Hell.
It is the through express train that will not be slowing down
And it’s passing on the “up” line on its way to London town.

Small children cling to mother, to the one that they hold dear.
Trembling with excitement or is it really fear?
Then as the engine passes there’s a sign upon its side
Saying it’s a Merchant Navy class; a badge it wears with pride.
The driver and the fireman are the footplate’s only crew.
It is the dream of many boys a job like that to do.
For it is the through express train that will not be slowing down
And it’s passing on the “up” line on its way to London town.

With its roaring, rushing, flying by, the wind it makes is just
Something to make us turn our heads because of flying dust.
The carriages that come behind with people in its grip
All calmly riding unconcerned upon this Devil’s trip.
Then relatively peace again follows this scary deed
And the final coach goes by and in the distance will recede.
For that was the through express train that never did slow down
That has just passed on the “up” line on its way to London town.

Spaghetti Wordsmith - Albert Watson

My Pet

You can keep your cats and dogs,
You can keep your large bull frogs.
Some folk think I have lost the plot
When I tell them, it’s an angel I’ve got.

Not one of those with shiny wings
That brought the Christmas glad tidings.
No, largely black with gold and white
He really is a gorgeous sight.

He cannot speak but mouths a name’
It’s Bob-Bob-Bob always the same.
My names not Bob I’ll be quite frank,
I keep my angel in a big fish tank.

© A.E.Watson

Hunt for musical talent in Stafford

MUSICIANS AIM TO HIT RIGHT NOTE

Young musicians from Stafford Borough are invited to attend auditions to hit the right note for the chance to perform to a crowd of thousands.

Stafford Borough Council is looking for talented singers, MCs and band members aged between 13 and 21 to attend the Raw Talent auditions at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre.

Two auditions will be held, one for singers and MCs on Sunday 25 May, and the other for bands on Sunday 1 June. Registrations for auditions must be made in advance and entrants will be allocated a fifteen-minute slot.

The successful candidates will battle it out in front of hundreds of music lovers at the Raw Talent competition in Stafford’s Market Square on Saturday 5 July. And the best entries will get the opportunity to perform for thousands at Stafford Castle later that month at the Live @ the Castle event.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for young musicians in the local area to showcase their talent in the Raw Talent competition, as part of the Stafford Festival” commented Mike Smith, Cabinet Member for Leisure.

Once again, this year a fantastic prize is on offer for the overall winner – a day in a recording studio. Grapevine Studios in Stafford are offering an eight-hour session including production, use of session instruments and even session musicians if required.

There is also equipment available from local music shop Guitar & Son for the winners of each category (bands, singers and MCs), and outstanding entries will even get the opportunity to perform at Live @ the Castle in front of thousands on Sunday 13 July at Stafford Castle.

The competition is being supported by local promoters, Red Spot, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Grapevine Studios, and Guitar & Son. A panel of leisure and music professionals will do the judging of the Raw Talent auditions and the competition.

Last year, the overall winners were local band Point Blank, who thoroughly enjoyed their day in Grapevine Studios. Also hitting the right note with judges to win the singer’s category was Laura Ellement, who appeared on Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio 2 Show last month, rapping their way to victory were MCs DJ Mokey & NSA (No Strings Attached), and Ghost Heart Machine came out top in the band category.

Anyone who would like to enter the Raw Talent contest needs to register in advance either online at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/leisure by calling Liz Hulse, Events Manager on 01785 619300 or emailing lhulse@staffordbc.gov.uk.

New History Exhibition in Stafford

MEDICAL EXHIBITION GETS CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH

The latest history exhibition will be unveiled at the Ancient High House on Tuesday (13 May.)

“In Sickness and in Health: Medical Treatment in Stafford 1750 - 1900”, examines the changes in medicine and surgery, and the development in the provision of care in the town’s hospitals and asylums.

The Borough Council-run exhibition features items from various local museums and collections many on public display for the first time.

Mark Hartwell, Heritage Sites Manager for Stafford Borough Council said; “we would like to thank the many people and organisations who have loaned us artefacts for the exhibition programme. Without their support we would not be able to produce exhibitions that bring important collections together in a public arena.”

The Ancient High House is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 4.00pm. Admission is free. For further information telephone (01785) 619131

Boogie Nights at the Alex - you can be in it!!!

Stage Experience 2008 Announced….
Your chance to star in Boogie Nights!

Now in its sixth year and following past successes of West Side Story and Fame to name but a few, the Alexandra Theatre will once again open its doors to young performers and technicians aged 9-24 years old to experience working in a professional theatre environment for its annual 'Stage Experience'.

Successful auditionees work alongside theatre professionals, including a Director/Choreographer and Musical Director, to rehearse intensively for just two weeks. The project culminates in five public performances onstage at the Alexandra Theatre, on the full professional set, with some of the original costumes and backed by professional theatre musicians.

Open auditions will take place at the Alexandra Theatre, Station Street, Birmingham, B5 4DS on Saturday 24th May 2008

Boogie Nights is a sensational show with an absorbing storyline featuring amazing dance routines and funky seventies costumes! The show is packed with classic seventies floor fillers including Boogie Wonderland, Celebration, Disco Inferno, Enough is Enough, I Will Survive, Play That Funky Music, Street Life, We Are Family and YMCA.

Boogie Nights is a celebration of the undying spirit of the decade that brought us glam, funk, flares and disco!

If you know a young performer who has ever dreamed of starring in a West End style musical, then this could be their chance!

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with
JOSEF WEINBERGER LIMITED

For further information on Stage Experience auditions please contact:
jenny.ellis@livenation.co.uk

At the Carling Academy

Flogging Molly
WEDNESDAY 4TH JUNE
'If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle and whistle, it would be punk-rock, and if it didn't have guitar, bass and drums, it would be traditional Irish music… Flogging Molly has both,' says lead singer Dave King. Get ready for one of the most unique bands around when they hit Birmingham this summer!
www.floggingmolly.com

Award-winning Indian restaurateur heads to London by royal invitation

A royal invitation dropped through the letter box of award-winning Itihaas’ - one of Birmingham’s prestigious Indian restaurants. Her Majesty The Queen was inviting the company’s managing director to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

This reception has been organised by Buckingham Palace to recognise the valuable contribution made by leading industry players to the UK’s hospitality world. Nominated by his contemporaries within his sector, for his part in the success of advancing the country’s £3.2 billion Indian restaurant industry, Raj Rana will join over 350 other guests from across the UK at the event which is being hosted by The Queen.

To mark the exclusive invitation, Itihaas has created a dish fit for the monarch. The sumptuous Imperial Khumb Malai is the marriage of flavours from the east and west. Comprising of fresh young quails marinated in lemon and smoked garlic with a light mushroom and coconut curried sauce and accompanied by homemade Pont Neuf chips, this dish will certainly suit any royal palette. With no previous catering experience and a career history in the jewellery trade, Raj Rana shares his surprise at the news of his invitation to attend the reception.

“An invitation to Buckingham Palace is not something you receive everyday. At first I was convinced it was a hoax or maybe sent in error, but soon realised it was for real! I feel truly honoured to have been invited, especially having been a part of the hospitality trade for only a few years,” explains Raj.

Borne out of its sheer devotion to fine Indian cuisine, Itihaas elegantly interprets India’s rich cuisine combined with its historical colonial past and royal service, set in a traditional yet relaxed atmosphere.

The Birmingham restaurant is the proud winner of the coveted 2007/2008 Cobra Good Curry Awards for Best UK restaurant and Best in the Midlands.

Muslim Girl Power

Deeyah Presents:SISTERHOOD! A collective name for a mixtape project of previously unreleased songs written by young up and coming female Muslim rappers, singers and poetesses from the UK, Europe and US.

Their songs deal with a range of issues that each has been affected by on some level ranging from the war in Iraq to racism, love, romance, living in a post 9/11 world, to women's rights issues, faith and personal experiences of being young socially conscious Muslim women in the West.

"This is just the first small step towards encouraging these artists and others like them out there to pursue their dreams and hopes," says Deeyah, the founder of the Sisterhood project who selected this first volume of songs from scores submitted to her."And a way to let them know they are not alone in their struggles and hardship to get their music and message out there."http://www.myspace.com/deeyahpresents

"Although some of the ladies on the project are at the very beginning of their musical journey and just starting to explore and discover their creative and artistic expression I hope that with this project they will find inspiration and encouragement from each other to further develop and hone their craft".

"Hopefully we can help create a platform to have their voices and opinions heard as both artists and Muslim women living in Western societies. Female Muslim artists face a tough time. There's very little support for them, many of them have been actively discouraged-- even by their own communities-- from expressing their thoughts and dreams through music. But they are not alone as this first collection proves...they have something to say and they deserve to be heard."
Deeyah presents Sisterhood

Not for sale. Streamed online on the world wide web from May 5th, 2008.

Artist: Lady Dizzla Song: "I Won't Cry"
Artist: Amreen Song: "Judge"
Artist: Jus1Jam (feat. Kiran Zamman) Song: "Ride (a Requiem)"
Artist: MC Suriya Song: "Breakin The Silence"
Artist: Shaheen Song: "Revolution"
Artist: Neelofer Mir Song: "Poet"
Artist: Angel MC Shay Song: "Open Soul Closed"
Artist: Kiran Zamman Song: "I Have A Dream"
Artist: Lyrical Lailah Song: "Un-Abused"
Artist: Lady Massacre Song: "Life"
Artist: Elly & Khai Song: "Waters"
Artist: Yasslam Song: "Belle Algerie"
Artist: Phoenix Song: "Leap of Faith"
Artist: Dizie Mc Song: "Inspecta"
Artist: Laydee Sly Song: "Kitaab"
Artist: Nia-V Song: "6 Degrees Of Separation"
Artist: Kayla Lahmar Song: "How Did We Get Here"
Artist: Raquel Evita Saraswati Song: TBC

Coleshill Town Band - News Update

Coleshill Town Band Bucks the Trend!

Much has been made in the national media of the decline of the brass band movement with membership of such organisations ageing and younger members not coming through the ranks. This is certainly not true of Coleshill Town Band with membership of Coleshill Youth Brass and Coleshill Beginner Brass now totalling 60! “We are in a very fortunate position to have two burgeoning youth bands to ensure that the future of brass band in Coleshill is well and truly blossoming” – remarked Stephen Fagg musical director of all three bands.

Butlins Mineworkers Contest – Skegness – January 2008

January 16th saw the band competing in the Butlins National Mineworkers Championships in Skegness in which the band stayed at the Butlins complex for a weekend, not only competing with other bands in its class but also getting the chance to listen to the many big name brass bands who were also on site for the weekend.

The band came away with a disappointing 16th place but are determined to compete again next year and come away with a more satisfactory result!

February – Bandsman and Musician of the Year Named

February saw the band’s Quiz and Curry night held at Birmingham Exiles Rugby Club which was a great success and saw some much needed funds being raised for the band’s social fund. There was also the Annual General Meeting at which the bandsman and musician of the year awards are given. This year the award of Bandsman of the year was given to Claire Pilkington and the musician of the year accolade awarded to Sally Wood (see photograph above).

April - CD Recording

April 5th and 6th committed the band to making its first professionally recorded and produced CD. The band employed the services of KMJ Recordings who are professionals in brass band recordings for what promises to be a highly polished offering. Featuring many popular tracks the CD entitled “Red & Black” – a reference to the bands uniform colours and also a march which appears on the CD - will be available to order at the band’s next concert “Best of Brass”.

May 2008 – Best of Brass – celebration concert – Get Your Tickets Now!

“Best of Brass” concert is on 31st May at Coleshill Town Hall will feature the most popular pieces from the last ten years of themed concerts that the band has staged at the Town Hall. Tickets are selling very quickly so purchase yours now priced £6 from Coleshill Library & Gascoignes.

Claire Pilkington Publicity Officer – Coleshill Town Band

The Wonder Stuff playing in Brum

Size of a Black Country Cow! Return of the Wonder Stuff!

The eight-legged beast that first crept around Britain 's seedy venues over twenty one years ago and finally surfaced as The Wonder Stuff are back. Leading the battle charge are founder members Miles Hunt (vocal/guitar) and Malcolm Treece (guitar/vocals), ably assisted in the trenches by former RDF bass man, Mark McCarthy, New York rockers' Love In Reverse drummer Andres Karu and Erica Nockalls on fiddle.

Over the past 20 years The Wonder Stuff have notched up 5 top 20 albums, 17 top 20 singles, sold over 3,000,000 albums and played to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. 2008 sees the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut album ‘The Eight Legged Groove Machine’. To celebrate this monumental occasion The Wonder Stuff play 2 very special Eight Legged Groove Machine shows at the end of October. Hear the full album performed live in it’s entirety alongside classics and rarities from the band’s 21 year catalogue.

30th October - –Carling Academy Birmingham
31st October –- Shepherd’s Bush Empire London

www.thewonderstuff.co.uk

Local Heritage and History Project Needs Your Photos

Copyright of Terrie Knibb

May is Local and Community History month aiming to raise awareness of history in a local setting and getting people involved and contributing. Local Scrapbooker, Terrie Knibb, who has received national acclaim for her work, having been previously named UKS Scrapper of the month and featured as Guest Designer on several international scrapbooking portals, will be exhibiting some of her local heritage layouts in Castle Bromwich library between May 16th and May 30th.

Terrie has recently embarked upon a major new project to scrapbook the heritage of Castle Bromwich for future generations. Terrie explains that her interest in Scrapbooking came about because of her own research into her family history. Whilst uncovering little bits of information about her family’s past, she longed to know more about the people they really were, their thoughts, their opinions, where they stood on the issues of the day, what they had to eat. Determined that her own descendants would not want for such information about her own life, Terrie started to record the details of her daily life and beliefs in her scrapbook pages.

Over the years, Terrie’s interests have expanded slightly, and her current project aims to record the past and present life of Castle Bromwich. In order to achieve her aim, Terrie is looking for residents of Castle Bromwich to supply her with copies of photographs that show how life in Castle Bromwich was lived in the past and is lived today together with permission for her to use them in her layouts and to display them where appropriate. At present Terrie is hoping to compile a subsection of the project which consists of weddings and brides of Castle Bromwich through the ages, so copies of any wedding photos that you feel able to provide, together with the details of any people in the photos, would be gratefully accepted.

Terrie has also been working on another subsection of the project showing the activities of local community groups in Castle Bromwich. Again any photos that would assist in this aspect of the project would be gratefully received.

Terrie stresses that she would like to receive copies of photographs that cover all aspects of Castle Bromwich life, occupations, furniture styles, clothing, transport etc. together with any little anecdotes that will help to give them meaning. She has recently researched into the effects of the flu pandemic in 1918-19 because of the devastating effect that it had on her husband’s family, testimony of which is displayed in the local graveyard and has incorporated her research into a Scrapbook layout featuring her husband’s Great-Aunt who died as a result of the pandemic. . If anybody has similar stories of this or any other event, please share them with her. If any other local Scrapbookers would like to assist in this project, further details can be obtained from Terrie Knibb by emailing her at castlebromwich@live.co.uk The project will consist of traditional paper based Scrapbooking, Digital layouts and Hybrid layouts.

Copyright of Terrie Knibb

HAFLA in Solihull

Ashiqui of Solihull
Present a HAFLA (Egyptian Party Night) in aid of the Sunshine Project
(a home for abandoned children in Luxor, Egypt)

with Special Guest
Egyptian Male dancer
Shafeek

on Saturday 31st May 2008

from 7.30pm till 11.30pm

at
The Land Rover Social Club
Billsmore Green, Solihull, B92 9LN

Tickets
Guests & Performers £10
Children £6

For further information please contact:

Rowena Davis 07980 342602
or
Alison Webster 07738 058027
or
Email: Ashiqui@blueyonder.co.uk
Shafeek will also be holding a workshop teaching a Modern Cairo style, open level.
on Sunday 1st June 2008, 1pm till 3pm at Fitness First, Unit 1, Pershore Road, Stirchley, Birmingham, B30 2YB. Workshop ticket: £20

Deaf Awareness Day

Walsall Centre for Independent Living and Walsall Deaf Peoples’ Centre will be holding an information event for deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people on Friday 9th May.

Come along and find out more hearing loss and what services and equipment can support people plus learn about Deaf Awareness (1.00pm – 2.00pm) and have a go at British Sign Language. (2.15pm – 3.00pm)

The event is open from 12.30pm – 3.00pm at the CIL in Bridge Street, Walsall

SHOUT!

Reviewed by Theresa & Joe Millington

Go Downtown to The Alexandra Theatre Birmingham and enjoy a veritable musical feast of what the swinging sixties had to offer.

This show stars Claire Sweeney as Ruby and Su Pollard as Yvonne., both offer fantastic performances of high quality in this wonderful musical.

The show takes us through the sixties through the eyes of three young women and their trials and tribulations along the way. The decade is punctuated by articles in a women’s magazine “shout” covering the many issues including the contraceptive pill, fashion, music, England’s world cup win and the first man on the moon; these contributions were made by the Magazine’s Tony T, played by Howard Jones who delivered his narrations with great humour and a great many change of costumes. We even get to see the man in black who delivers the chocolates to his beloved in dangerous circumstances.

Claire Sweeney plays Ruby a good-time girl ready to enjoy the high life in London. She clearly loves this role and exuded sparkle and radiance.

Su Pollard plays Yvonne or Vonnie as the girls fondly call her, she is the comic agony aunt. She plays the part with great ease and delivers her humour beautifully, to the delight of the audience.

Both Claire and Su share the singing with Shona White, Donna Steele, Louisa Maxwell and Julie Stark. The musical is full of all the favourites of the sixties and feet were tapping and hands clapping throughout culminating in a glamorous finale where the majority of the audience took to their feet and joined with great enthusiasm and passion. As the audience scattered their way out from the Alexandra in various directions into the city one could hear various strains of “downtown…….”. The sign of a great night out !

Director and Choreographer - Bill Deamer

For Booking Information
BY PHONE Ticket master 0844 847 2294 ( 24 HR)
IN PERSON 10am – 6pm (8.00pm on event nights)
BUY ONLINE: http://www.alexandratheatre.org.uk/

New Social Enterprise Fund

Department of Health (National)
(DH) Ivan Lewis announces social enterprise fund open for business

New social enterprise innovation scheme will improve local services.

Care Services Minister, Ivan Lewis announced the opening of the second round of the department of Health (DH) Social Enterprise Investment Fund today. He also announced that this year, it would include a new element, the 'Innovation for Life Challenge Fund', developed in collaboration with the Social Enterprise Coalition. The Innovation for Life Challenge Fund will encourage Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and their partners to find collaborative solutions to health and social care needs through social enterprise.

Speaking at The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) Good Deals conference, the Minister announced that SHAs would be invited to bid for up to £100k revenue each (from the existing Social Enterprise Fund) to support the commissioning of innovative cross-sector social enterprise solutions. Funding from the new 'Innovation for life Challenge Fund' for 2008/9 could be used to support local boroughs to develop social enterprise solutions to health and well-being issues and to provide cross-sector solutions to local problems, for instance the health and housing sectors working together.

Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis said:

"The Innovation for Life Challenge Fund is testimony to our confidence in social enterprise as part of the solution to commissioning world class health and social care services.

"We hope that this will challenge commissioners to find solutions through social enterprises to longstanding problems that have the potential to lead to real social change and improvement in health and well being.

"Increasingly, we are seeing social enterprises delivering the innovative and personalised services that people rightly expect. That is why we have set up this new scheme as part of the £100 million Social Enterprise Investment Fund."

Local partners, under the stewardship of the SHAs would be expected to provide further funding equivalent to 25 per cent of their bid to the Innovation for Life Challenge Fund.

Round two of the SEIF is now open to bidders with £11m capital and £6m revenue funding available to support successful applicants. The Social Enterprise Investment Fund supports the development of social enterprises in health and social care such as women's refuges, migraine clinics and exercise programmes for the elderly, which take account of and address the needs of a wide range of patients and services users, particularly the most vulnerable and excluded.

Social enterprises are businesses, which reinvest their profits back into the organisation or into the local community, promoting independence, well-being and social inclusion and helping to improve people's quality of life.

Free Event: An Introduction to Ethical Investment for Charities

Thursday 10th July, 4.00 – 7.00pm
BVSC, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR

A workshop for charity staff and trustees on ethical or socially responsible investment. This interactive event will cover a range of issues including:

Ethical investment - what is it and why do it?
Regulatory guidelines
Financial performance
The social, environmental and ethical issues you could consider

How to go about developing an ethical investment policy

To register for this free event or for more details please contact Sam Collin at the EIRIS Foundation
Tel: 020 7840 5738
Email: sam.collin@eiris.org
Web: www.charitysri.org/events.html

Third Sector Resources

JRF Report: Immigration, faith and cohesion
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published a report exploring the factors that affect community cohesion in urban areas in England with significant Muslim populations. This research analyses new data from three local areas, Birmingham, Bradford and Newham, where relatively large numbers of recently arrived Muslim migrants and established Muslim residents are living alongside people of other faiths and of no faith. It is based on 319 interviews with individuals from 40 countries of origin, including the UK. The report can be downloaded from: www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/2190.asp.


'Prescribing' volunteering improves mental health
Community Service Volunteers (CSV) has published a report on mental health, volunteering and social inclusion which focuses on its Pan-London Capital Volunteering programme and projects in partnership with the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. This report aims to share the experiences and learning from these initiatives and identify key messages for policymakers, commissioners and programme/project developers in understanding the contribution that volunteering can make to recovery. To obtain hard copies and for more information email sgullberg@csv.org.uk or call 0207 812 0032 to download click here.


Free financial capability 'capacity building' for VCS working with offenders
UNLOCK, The National Association of Reformed Offenders, can make their successful UNLOCKing Financial Capability (UFC) package available FREE to 25 small community and charitable organisations working in the community with offenders, reformed offenders,families of offenders and those at risk of offending. UNLOCK will give you everything you need to deliver UFC yourself. Applications are welcomed from small non-profit community and charitable organisations benefitting UNLOCK’s target group, NOT large organisations delivering services under contract to government agencies. For more information and an application pack visit http://www.unlock.org.uk/. If you have any questions please contact enquiries@unlock.org.uk or telephone: 01634 247350 or fax: 01634 247351 quoting “Big Lottery UFC” financial capability training for people working with offenders in the community FR££! Deadline for applications: June 16th 2008

Regional Events

Achieving Excellence in Public Health: 11th Annual Conference
Thursday 22nd May 2008, Uttoxeter Racecourse
This conference aims to raise the profile of mental health and engender enthusiasm and commitment to action on this significant and challenging area of work. For more information and for a booking form contact: Freya Cooper by email: excellence@wmpho.org.uk


Gender Matters Annual Summer Ball (with Disco & Buffet)
7.30pm until midnight Saturday 21st June 2008, Adderley Village Hall, Adderley, Market Drayton, TF9 3TF
Tickets cost £10 (£7.50 unwaged) and can be purchasedvia PayPal, at a Sanctuary or by calling 0844 870 0178. For more info visit www.gender-matters.org.uk/#/summerball/4525376868

The History of Castle Bromwich Hall

by Margaret Birkett

In a recent edition of the Gazette we featured an interview with Hodge Hill resident Margaret Birkett who has written unpublished histories of both Castle Bromwich Hall and it’s beautiful Garden (the Hall now being in private ownership whilst the Garden is run by a charitable trust). Margaret has very kindly allowed us to reproduce the first of these two fascinating documents in a serialized form in future editions of The Gazette. Her hope is that Gazette readers will feel sufficiently inspired by the history of this wonderfully evocative old building and it’s historically noteworthy environment, to support the charitable trust and go along to some of the fabulous events that take place in the Garden throughout the year:

The Castle Bromwich area has been inhabited since very early times. Remains of a community which existed more than 3000 years ago have been found on the castle mound. The mound is near the Chelmsley Wood Collector Road. Later the Romans established a camp on the site of the mound and the Normans built a castle there.

Castle Bromwich derives its name from ‘broom’, a broom and ‘wic’ , a dwelling, village or place and thus means a village in the broom or on the heath. ‘Castle’ is a medieval addition, to distinguish it from the other Bromwichs, and refers to the ancient mound situated to the north of Castle Bromwich Hall.

The manor of Castle Bromwich is mentioned in the Doomsday Book (1086) , valued (for tax purposes) at 40 shillings.

In the 14th century the Ferrers family inherited the ‘manor’ of Castle Bromwich, it was a very large family with manors all over the Midlands which they either bought or married into. The overlordship of Bromwich was passed to the Archbishop of Canterbury by Elizabeth, widow of William Ferrers in 1455. However her daughter or grand daughter married Walter Devereux. The Devereux family retained Castle or Magna Bromwich until it was purchased in 1657 by the Bridgeman family.

The New Hall

Sir Edward Devereux, younger son of the first Viscount Hereford; the rest of the family estates remained with his nephew, the 1st Earl of Essex, whose son led the rebellion which cast a shadow over Queen Elizabeth’s declining years. Sir Edward Devereux married Katherine Arden of Park Hall, the other important estate in the parish (the house has since gone), and when his mother Lady Hereford died in 1599 he set about replacing the old manor house at Castle Bromwich with the present brick-built Hall. It is essentially his house which we see today.

The new Hall was built on a square plan, with four gabled ranges arranged around a small internal courtyard – a plan found in several important country houses at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The elevations are very plain, with walls of red brick and blue criss-cross patterning, straight-sided gables, large mullioned and transomed windows and tall chimneys rising up from within the courtyard. The entrance range faces south, with the Hall placed in the traditional fashion to one side, and entered through a porch and screens passage. It still retains some of its original plain wooden panelling, but the only other important room to retain any of its Elizabethan workmanship is the Gallery on the first floor, which has been subdivided. To the east of the house were detached outbuildings, one of which, an L-shaped structure containing the bakehouse, brewery and laundry, still survives.

The Start of the Hall

Sir Edward Devereux began to build the Hall in 1599, a splendid late Elizabethan style house. It is likely that he constructed a series of courts emanating from each face of the Hall: a Dovecote, a Brew House and offices to the east; the forecourt to the south; the Best and Kitchen Gardens to the west and Yew Walk to the Church on the north side.

I have found information to be conflicting on the original construction of the Hall.

The first Hall was a modest two storey building with the same floor plan as at present and may have looked similar to Sheldon Hall (Gressel Lane) which was also built by the Devereux family. It is also recorded as being originally a simple single-storey building that was later extended. This building programme coincided with a lot of similar architectural projects elsewhere in the country. It was built of brick then starting to become more popular and it contemporary to Aston Hall and the now vanished Park Hall in the Tame Valley.

Coming soon: Margaret continues this fascinating history with a record of the Devereux family and the start of the Bridgeman occupancy of the Hall.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

An oral history project documenting Mixed Race relationships in the 1950's and 1960's.

Were you part of a mixed race relationship in the 50's & 60's?

Are you a child of one of these unions born during this time?

Then you can help the Inheritance Project to compile an oral history project telling the story of mixed race relatioships. Be part of this unique documentation of modern British history and share your memories with future generations.

Meet with one of our friendly staff in your home or at a meeting place and receive a professional family portrait photograph as a thank you from the Inheritance Project.

To be part of this important project contact The Inheritance Project on 0121 440 6333.

The Inheritance Project
11-12 Highgate Craft Centre, Highgate Square,
Birmingham B12 ODU
www.inheritanceproject.org.uk

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund