PAST MEETINGS 

SOLIHULL NOW and THEN

Talk given by Edna Handley on 19 April 2010 to the Solihull LHC

Edna compared contemporary pictures with older images of the same scene. The High Street original was T.Ratcliffe’s 1829 print. In Union Road the British Legion ‘hut’ was built in 1930. It was paid for by Mrs Anne Grenville (d 1937) of The Grove, Lode Lane, which since 1949 has been a residential home. The Bethesda Chapel was built in 1826 by six renegades from St Alphege’s congregation dissatisfied with the Rev. Charles Curtis, the hunting Rector. It was replaced by the Congregational Church in 1883, itself demolished in 1965.

 The stump mill in Brueton Avenue was painted by H.F.Henshaw c1700, but has now disappeared. Humphrey Greswold built Malvern Hall c1702, Soane remodelled it in 1782-4 and the [portico was added in 1811. David Troman bought the estate in 1896 and reduced the size of the house, which was purchased by Horace Brueton in 1922. It became Solihull High School for Girls in 1933, and since 1989 has been St Martin’s School. Malvern House housed Solihull School 1615-1882 prior to the latter’s new building by J.A.Chatwin, which cost £4,222. Park Road School opened in 1850 and was rebuilt as St Alphege School in 1954. Opposite were Wisteria Cottages, now replaced by the Job Centre.

 The Old Town Hall in The Square was built in 1779, replacing a ‘Town House’ of 1332. It was demolished in 1880. The George was first so named in 1738; previously it had been The Nag’s Head and The Bull in 1693 – from when its bowling green dates. The Magistrates’ Court and the Feoffees meetings were held there. Touchwood Hall in Drury Lane was built in 1712 by Thomas Holbeche (whose brother Anthony gave the candelabra to St Alphege Church), replacing an earlier house whose chimney survived. The Martineau’s eldest son went missing in WW1 - the front door (lit at night) was left open for his return. The Hall was demolished in 1963, but some of its furnishings are now in The Manor House (originally called Lime Tree House) in the High Street. The Indoor Market there was demolished in 1999 to provide an entrance to Touchwood, whilst Owens was burnt out on 26 September 1978 and replaced by a modern shop.

 Originally a farmhouse, Silhill House became The Swan until 1828. Later the home of the Chattocks, it was demolished in 1926 when The Parade was built. In Poplar Road the Public Hall was built in 1876 for £2,500 and served as the Council House 1937-1957. Further north up Lode Lane was Olton Mill, demolished in 1960; the bridge over the Birmingham-Warwick Canal of 1799 was widened in 1929.

 On the Warwick Road, The Limes housed a succession of doctors between 1761-1974, but was renamed Quinet House in 1976 prior to Paul’s death in 1978. Solihull Workhouse was built in 1742 before being superceded in 1838 by that in Union Road serving the 12 united parishes. It was divided into three dwellings and is now used for offices/retail facilities. The present Women’s Institute Hall (constructed in 2004-5) replaced a bungalow which had been built in 1955-8 by George Payne. A Warwickshire County cricketer from 1929, he toured the West Indies in 1934. He served as Head Groundsman to Solihull School 1956-73. His widow, Grace, died aged 95 in 2001, which led to the site being sold for redevelopment

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DICKENS, WARWICKSHIRE and the JENNENS’ CASE

Talk given by Laurence Ince on 15 March 2010 to the Solihull LHC

Charles Dickens, the eldest of six children of John & Elizabeth Dickens, was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812. His father was a Royal Navy pay clerk and the family soon moved to London and then to Chatham. Dickens was very happy there: he went to school and walked on the Thames marshes which he later used in Great Expectations. In 1821 the family moved back to London (Camden Town). His father fell into debt and in 1824 was imprisoned in the Marshalsea, to which his family accompanied him – except for Dickens. He was sent to work in a blacking factory. On the death of John’s mother, her money freed him from the prison and Dickens was sent to the Wellington Academy. In 1827 he became an office boy in a solicitor’s office. He taught himself shorthand and in 1828 started reporting Commons’ debates for The Morning Chronicle. Dickens published Sketches by Boz (the nickname of his younger brother) in 1836, the year in which the first instalment of Pickwick Papers appeared and also in which he married Catherine Hogarth. The marriage (which produced 10 children) was not a success – indeed he had a wall built dividing their bedroom into two – and they separated in 1858.

 Dickens’ connection with Warwickshire began in 1838 when, with Phiz (the illustrator of the Pickwick Papers), he holidayed at Leamington Spa and visited Kenilworth, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. In 1846 he was invited to Birmingham to present prizes at the Polytechnic, now the Midland Institute (of which he became President). He became a great admirer of the City with its adult education classes, and was a frequent visitor, eg in 1848 (for amateur dramatics), 1853 (readings and a Civic Dinner), 1859, 1861, 1866 and finally 1870 (two weeks before his death aged 58). During this time Dickens heard much of the great Jennens Case, which lasted from 1760 to 1900 and which he used as Jarndyce v Jarndyce in Bleak House, whose instalments ran through 1852-53. It was later published in three volumes (as libraries paid by book numbers) before finally appearing as a single book.

 Humfrey Jennens was an ironmaster from Derbyshire who came to live in Birmingham. He was the only commoner whose coat of arms (“borrowed” from a Yorkshire family – which would cause trouble later) appeared in Dugdale’s History of Warwickshire published in 1646. Besides a town house in New Street, he also had Erdington House (demolished in 1913) and owned property elsewhere: Furnace End was one of his works. His grandson Charles (1701-1773), who inherited 767 acres, lived at Gopsall Park, near Twycross, which he built in 1747 (and was demolished in 1951). He was a friend of Handel and wrote the libretto of the Messiah, as well as some of his other oratorios, besides having an organ built for Handel to play at Gopsall (which is now in Great Packington Chapel). Charles also published Shakespeare’s plays individually with textual comments. He never married and on his death – besides bequests to relatives – left over £6,000 to many charities which are recorded on his monument in Nether Whitacre Church. Penn Curzon, a cousin, took over Gopsall (which was bought by the Crown in 1927).

 Another of Charles’ cousins, William Jennens of Acton Hall, Suffolk, inherited a considerable sum but made himself very rich by lending money to gamblers at interest rates of between 3% and 5%. He died in 1759 leaving £1,308,000 (including £23,000 in loose change). His 20 year old will left everything to his mother, but she was already dead, so the rules of intestacy applied. There were three main claimants – the Aylesfords of Packington, the Curzons of Kedleston and the Lygons of Madresfield.

 But, encouraged by genealogists and lawyers, many other claimants appeared. They formed themselves into groups, eg Birmingham, Black Country, Yorkshire, Somerset and even the USA (where there were some 1835 claimants alone). Their claims were based, inter alia, on Humfrey Jennens’ daughter who had disappeared in his lifetime and rumoured to have gone to America, his “borrowing” of a Yorkshire family’s coat of arms, and Penn Curzon allegedly being illegitimate. There were many hearings in the Court of Chancery, where the fortune was divided between the three main claimants: the Curzons took most of the land, whilst the Lygons rebuilt Madresfield with their share. The other claimants received nothing – but their lawyers did well over 140 years.

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Talk given by Dudley Warner to Solihull LHC on 15 February 2010

CINEMAS in BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL

The first moving film show was given in Paris on 27 December 1895. Tom Barrisford showed the first in Birmingham in April 1896 at the Gaity theatre, as part of a variety show. Celluloid had originated in Alexander Park’s factory in Broad Street where it was made into models, but the Americans subsequently manufactured it in sheets and it became used for films. The early projectors had difficulty in getting the image on to the screen because of the cigarette smoke. Early pioneers in Birmingham were Wally Jeff at the Curzon Hall, and Pat Collins. Mr Pringle used the Kings Hall in Broad Street for films and subsequently opened the Triangle Theatre (which had a gents, but no ladies toilet).

 The first purpose built cinema was the Electric Cinema in Station Street which opened in November 1909, and is now the oldest one in the UK still in use. The Picture House in New Street, opened in 1910, was lavish with separate cafes for its balcony and ground floor patrons. The Piccadilly Arcade stands on the site now. Its central barrier and the cherubs on it entrance were originally in the cinema, which was so successful that between 1910 and 1915 50 new cinemas were opened in Birmingham.

 The Savoy at Sparkhill (1915) never went over to sound and so closed in 1930. The Scala in Smallbrook Lane (1916) had an organ, but was demolished for The Queensway. The Alhambra in Moseley Road (1927) had ‘atmospheric’ decoration, as did six others in the UK: all have now disappeared. The cinema at Balsall Heath (1928) even had a lift: it was destroyed by a bomb in 1940, when the papers reported that 19 had been killed – in fact the total was 80. The first one built equipped for sound was the Regal in Soho Road which opened in 1929. Andre Deutsch opened his first Odeon in the UK at Perry Barr in 1930. By the time he died in 1943 he had 460. The last silent films in Birmingham were shown in 1931 and many musicians were made redundant. By 1938 there were 97 cinemas in the city and its suburbs. The last cinema to open before WWII was the Classic at Quinton on 7 August 1939.

 The borough of Solihull had six cinemas. In order of opening they were:

     Jan  1924  Knowle (Station Rd), seating 336 plus 56 upstairs.  Closed 21 Aug 1954

     26 Dec 1925  Balsall Common, had a 3 piece orchestra              Closed              1958

     13 Sep 1926  Solihull, Ye Arden, had a 5 piece orchestra and gas lighting.

     It was unusual in having a manageress when it opened. Subsequently called The Regal.

     It is now the Royal Bank of Scotland.                                       Closed 14 June 1991

     2 Oct 1933      Olton, with 1530 seats                                     Closed 16 Sept 1972

    1935  Shirley. Miss Batsford was its cashier for 35 years        Closed 25 Oct 1977

    30 Aug 1940 Castle Bromwich, The Castle Cinema.                     Closed 21 Aug 1954

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Talk given by Dr Chris Upton to Solihull LHC on 18 January 2010

BIRMINGHAM BENEFACTORS

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Talk by Joy Woodall to Solihull Local History Circle on 21 December 2009

The Revd. William Greenwood

In 1713 a young clergyman, Rev. William Greenwood, became Vicar of St Nicholas Church, Warwick. Within his parish was a large Elizabethan house, The Priory, set in extensive grounds. Built by a Mr Hawkins, a local fishmonger, it was visited by Queen Elizabeth in 1572, and later (1582) was the home of Sir John Puckering, Speaker of the House of Commons. In c1620 his son, Sir Thomas, rebuilt one wing. By c1660 it had 36 hearths – one of the largest houses in the county.

In 1709 The Priory was sold to Henry Wise (1653-1738), the Warwickshire born gardener and designer to the landed gentry. From their nursery in Kensington, Wise and his partner, George London, ran a highly successful fashionable and profitable business working at great houses throughout England – Chatsworth, Burghley, etc. Wise was Royal Gardener to William III, Queen Anne and George I, and became very wealthy. He married in 1695 and had 10 children. By 1706 they were living in Warwick, but a life tenant prevented them from occupying The Priory until 1727.

Despite his wealth, his eldest daughter, Mary, was allowed to marry Rev. Greenwood, a poorly paid clergyman. In 1724 Greenwood also became Vicar of St Mary’s (Warwick’s other parish church), newly rebuilt (1704) and much admired after the fire of 1694. Greenwood lived in style at Eastgate House, even after being appointed Rector of Solihull in 1739. He resigned from St Mary’s but retained St Nicholas, which he would not allow to be rebuilt.

In March 1757 ‘a great hurricane’ blew down a large portion of St Alphege’s spire, the rest falling as the wind continued. The cost of repairs, £3,000, caused The Feoffees to mortgage part of the Charity Estate (including The Barley Mow) for 20 years. Repairs to the chancel roof, Dr Greenwood’s responsibility, cost £100. Dr Greenwood died in 1769, aged 80.

Solihull Events in the 1930s on Cinefilm

David Patterson then showed some of the cinefilms taken by his father. Amongst local events were the King & Queen arriving to open Birmingham CentralHospital in 1939 (which the Queen, by mistake, named after herself), the Solihull Carnival (with Robin Hood and his Merry Men in 1938 and the Court of King Arthur in 1939), the Shirley Carnival, all with their processions of floats and bands, and Eversfield School Sports Day. There were also family scenes (David’s mother, Daye, was keen on dressing up), visits to Dudley Zoo, Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, besides a holiday in North Wales from which the family came home immediately on hearing the announcement of war on 3 September 1939.
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Talk given by John Johnson on 16 November to Solihull LHC              

                              THE HISTORY of JOHNSON’s COACHES 1909-2009

Jack Johnson, the speaker’s grandfather, became the Henley Carrier in 1909 with a horse and cart. His wife Ethel had a shop, which sold everything, at 79 High Street next to the yard, and also helped him with the business. They lived above the shop which also served as an office, whose telephone number was Henley 20. In 1914 Jack bought a petrol driven wagon, manufactured by the Belgian firm ‘Metallurgique’(1898-1928) : this was commandeered by the army and never seen again. By 1925 he had a motorised bus/van which could take passengers and goods, with fold up seats which provided flexibility. Jack provided a regular service from Stratford, Warwick & Leamington to Birmingham – the same route that the company’s Xpress buses (Route 20) have run (hourly, seven days a week) from the start of 2009.  Jack & Ethel later moved to larger premises at 32 High Street, and installed a hand operated petrol pump at the entrance. Jack died aged 62 but his widow (Grandma) lived until 1969 when she was 93, during which time she was the major shareholder. Johnsons became a limited liability company in 1934.

 Jack & Ethel had two sons. The elder, Philip, ran the business throughout WWII. Roy (the speaker’s father) became a teacher in Smethwick, serving in the RAF during the war. In 1943 Philip was advised to buy two new busses as business would boom as soon as the war ended. He needed to borrow money, but Grandma, who never owed anything, refused to allow this. Philip had them built secretly, but when the builder needed details of livery/signwriting, Grandma told him to sell them – without telling Philip. Competitors gained great advantage at the end of the war, and Philip was able only to buy one second-hand coach. It was not until 1956 that he could afford to buy a new vehicle. At this time he concentrated on carrier work and developed furniture removals.Philip died in 1969, as did Grandma later the same year. This caused major death duty problems, and arguments continued with the taxman for a decade, during which the company only just survived. Roy, who had been helping his brother at weekends and in the holidays, gave up teaching and took over the business with his wife. She gained a Public Service Vehicle licence – one of few women at that time to have one – and is still involved with the company. In 1972 they appointed a manager and he changed the company’s name to ‘Forest of Arden’. This lasted until 1979 when Roy’s sons, John and Peter, both qualified motor mechanics, joined the business, the manager left and the family’s name was restored.

 Roy was a great collector of Victorian bottles (for which he mined former rubbish dumps down to 20ft), old cars, motor cycles, Singer sewing machines, and tools (300 hammers, 50 planes) - all of which he restored. When rubber covered copper wire was being replaced with  plastic insulated wire, he collected the wire and sold it for £800. This immediately prompted questions from the taxman, and further battles ensued.

 The furniture removal business was sold in the early 1980s when Johnsons decided to concentrate on passenger business. Following deregulation, they introduced coach holidays in 1981, with listings on Gestetner sheets: by 1987 they had printed a brochure. A female courier accompanied each holiday, which was almost unheard of at that time. Nowadays, as a further refinement, each traveller is picked up from home and brought to the coach by one of 12 minibuses. Johnsons bought two local operators – Fletchers of Studley and Arnold Shaw of Warwick – and gradually increased their number of coaches. A picture taken in 1994 on the 60^th Anniversary of the limited liability company showed the four family directors: Roy (who died in 1995), his wife, John and Peter. By 2000 the company had 30 coaches, many built in Holland. In 1987 the company moved to Liveridge Hill, and in 2000 built new offices there. A WWII bomb was discovered when the foundations were dug. A disposal team was summoned and the A34 closed. The next day two more small bombs were found and the same procedures occurred. On the third day 170 were found. The office in Henley High Street was closed. In 2000, also, the Company entered the daily bus business, and was acclaimed Bus Operator of the Year in 2006 (having been Coach Operator of the Year in 2005). The parking yard was extended. Each 44 seater coach now costs £220,000. A new livery of blue/yellow/white has recently been introduced.

The Company is signed up to Investors in People; its annual holiday show at Henley High School attracts a 1,000 people; and it supports many charities. In 2007 John and his wife, Anne, ran the London Marathon helping to raise £8,000 for cancer research; in its Centenary Year the company is supporting the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. Between them John and Peter have 10 children, so hopefully there will be a fourth generation in the company, whose slogan remains Travel with Johnsons, Travel with Friends.

 In questions and discussion afterwards, members of the audience remembered occasions when Johnson’s Coaches had come to their rescue, and expressed appreciation of the friendly, helpful and personal service received.

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 October 2009

YARDLEY and BLAKESLEY HALL:  Talk given by Mike Byrne on 19 October 2009 to Solihull LHC.

The 1843 Tythe Map showed the small village around St Edburgha’s Church (mainly 14^th century with a 15^th century tower and spire) amidst fields, where there was still some ridge and furrow. The Stitchford Brook became misspelt when the railway arrived in 1844, naming the station Stetchford. The manor was given to Catherine of Aragon when she married Prince Arthur in 1501, hence the pomegranate and Tudor rose in the spandrels of the chancel doorway. Adjacent to the south is the early 16^th century Church House, originally the boys Grammar School. Beyond that the little fire station, and then Ye Olde Talbot which closed in 1924 and is now a private house.

 The village was made a Conservation Area in 1969 and Church Road (most of whose buildings opposite the church are 18^th century) was closed to traffic in 1976. The former farm was owned by the Yardley Charity Trustees in 1463, though most of its buildings date from the 1840s and are now private houses. To the north of the church is the Sunday School built in 1832, which was the girls’ school between 1836-1908. Its windows are now bricked up (and plastered) to stop it falling down. The Institute, on the site of the Ring of Bells, was built by James Hoskins, a manufacturer of hospital beds, ‘for the encouragement of gardening and individual works’; it closed in 1912. The Cottage (originally May Villa), with an 87 yard frontage to Vicarage Lane, was occupied by John Sumner, the founder of Typhoo Tea, between 1890-1916. It was demolished for more intensive housing which transformed Yardley in the 1930s. Canon Cochrane (Rector 1923-47) opposed some of this and advocated road widening beside the church, but lost all these campaigns.

   Blakesley Hall was built in 1590 for Richard Smallbrook. On his death in 1613, since his sons had already died, it passed to his grand-daughter Barbara and the Foliot family. The detailed inventory made on Ailmer Foliot’s death in 1684 survives. The estate was then purchased by Henry Greswolde, Rector of Solihull, and remained in that family (many of whose memorials are in Yardley church) until 1899. The house was let out and deteriorated. Thomas Merry purchased it in 1901 and lived there until 1932 when it was acquired by Birmingham Corporation. It opened in 1935 as a museum, but was bombed in 1941 and did not reopen until 1957. It was closed 1999-2002 for restoration funded by lottery money.

Mike Byrne ended his talk by referring to Yardley House, occupied by the six Miss Bosworths in the late 19^th century, and by George Minshull, the toy manufacturer, before its demolition in 1931. ‘The Barn’ dating from c1840 in Hobsmoor Road was probably a Catholic chapel. The Hay Mills Rotorstation opened in 1951 and offered helicopter flights to Heathrow thrice daily for £2-10s.  The first in the UK, it closed a year later.

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        September 2009

    A full house, including 30 visitors, got our new season off to an excellent start on 21 September with John Yates of the Birmingham Registry Office giving us a fascinating talk about Civil Registration. Introduced in 1837, it was initially opposed by the Birmingham clergy who feared a drop in their baptism fees. Six weeks were allowed in which to register a birth (the same as today), but the 8 days for a death has been reduced to 5. Birmingham had 9 Registration Districts (soon reduced to 4), excluding Aston which was a large, separate District. In 1912 they were amalgamated, but Aston lost much of its area. Registrars were badly paid so many had other jobs, and some made fictitious entries to increase their pay. Their special ink lasts for 200 years. The Solihull Register Office was initially in the workhouse, and in the first 18 years it had 4 Registrars. Then George Henry Stafford was Registrar from 1855-98, and thereafter there were several Thompsons.

    Birmingham currently has 18,000 registers containing 6.5m entries. They include several famous names – George Cadbury (whose birth was witnessed by Samuel Lloyd, the banker), Cardinal Newman (whose death was witnessed by a Pope – Richard Pope to be precise), and John Enoch Powell. Names which are offensive or contain a number cannot be registered; nevertheless there are curiosities. ‘Superman’; a child with 27 christian names of boxing champions; a girl with 5, whose initials spelt ‘Madam’, which was what she was called. Curious occupations included Bone Gatherer, Retired Squatter and Idiot. In the early days the cause of death did not have to be certified by a doctor, so ‘Visitation of God’ was a common entry. Chamber pots caused death in various ways.

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      December  2008

    As is our custom at our Christmas Meeting , two members spoke about their own research. Laurence Ince started with picture of the remains of Neath Ironworks (past which he had walked to school) which made stationary and marine engines. The owners were friends of Boulton & Watt, who never themselves made a steam engine until near the time that their patent expired in 1800. The Soho Manufactory was replaced by the Foundry, making engines for breweries, sugar plantations, pumps and ships. Those for the Great Eastern propellers were made here, but Brunel was unpopular for not taking expert advice and changing his mind. Later under Henry Walleston Blake there were coin presses. It closed in 1896, and Laurence concluded his talk with pictures of his favourite 19th/20th century industrial buildings in Birmingham.

    Trevor England spoke on New Berry Hall. Joseph Gillott had made a fortune from steel pen nibs; he died in 1872. His son Joseph II commissioned J.A.Chatwin to design New Berry Hall on the Berry farm estate he had bought in 1867. The original entrance from Hampton Lane was supplemented by a more imposing drive from Marsh Lane, with superlative wrought iron gates (with a nib motif) now believed to be in Wiltshire. Joseph III died in 1907 and the Hall was bought by William Upton of Sutton Lodge who shot himself in 1908 in the porch. His widow (the sister of Capt Oliver Bird) soon married Maurice Davis, an antique dealer, and she lived there until her death in 1938. The Hall was then sold to Harold Tippetts, who lived there with his family until 1956. It was then bought by developers. Planning Permission was given in 1959 to convert it into a hotel, but this lapsed. In 1980 this was revived, but permission was rescinded after a month. The building was vandalised and eventually demolished in the early 1990s.

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            November 2008

    Audrey Duggan told us  of the scandal of Henrietta, Lady Luxborough (1699-1756). Her father was a murderer who fled to France and her brother, Lord Bolingbroke insisted in 1727 she marry his friend Robert Knight. They were ill-suited and Henrietta was taken to France to act as hostess for her father-in-law. Her two children lived with her friend the Countess of Hertford, whose tutor was John Dalton. Robert, now Lord Luxborough thought that the tutor was having an affair with his wife and banished Henrietta to Barrells Hall, near Ullenhall. She never saw her children or husband again. She restored the Hall, developed its estate, and formed a coterie of intellectuals who met on Sunday evenings. They included Jago (Rector of Harbury), Shenstone (a landscape gardener and playwright), Graves (an Oxford Don) and Somerville (the local squire), all of whom wrote poetry. After Henrietta’s death Robert came to live at Barrells Hall and caused her body to be removed from Wotten Wawen, first to the Hall, and finally to the Old Chapel at Ullenhall

 October  2008

    Andrew Lound gave a most professional presentation on 'Titanic - The Midlands Connection' at our meeting on Monday 21st October. He combined excellent Powerpoint images with music, drama, costume and a whole table of memorabilia. Andrew first explained that although the Titanic was built at Belfast, registered at Liverpool and sailed from Southampton, many famous West Midland companies were essential for her construction. The components ranged from massive anchors, propellers, boiler tubes, lifeboat davits down to bedsteads, electrical equipment, cutlery and even whistles. He highlighted Midland members of the crew and passengers from the Captain to the humble butcher and secretary. His dramatic presentation enabled us to experience the collision with the iceberg leading to horror and disbelief of all on board as the massive ship went down with the band playing 'Nearer my God to thee'. Only a quarter of the 30000 on board survived and these were mainly saved by the liner Carpathia.

September 2008

    Our first speaker of the season was Kenneth Hughes with his talk on Birmingham Back To Back Lives. He told us of his involvement in the National Trust project to preserve one of the last back to back houses surviving in Birmingham. He took us through the stages of restoration that saw the property opened to the public. Kenneth then told us the fascinating stories of the people that had occupied these houses through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We were then able, via slides, to take a tour of the houses. Several members of the audience were able to make a contribution as they told of their experiences in Birmingham’s back to back houses.

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June  2008

    A joint meeting was held with the Solihull Local Archaeological Group. Chris Hodrien lectured on Industrial Archaeology in Great Britain. He told us of his long interest in the subject which started as a student at Cambridge when he became involved in the restoration of steam pumping engines at the Cheddar Lane site in the City. Chris took us on a fully illustrated tour of major IA sites in this country. He brought his wealth of experience in industry to make the talk stimulating and relevant. A question and answer session was included revolving around slides of sites and many of the major problems facing this discipline were brought up during the presentation. Members of both groups fpond the information novel and thought provoking.

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    May 19,2008

    George Demidowicz spoke to members of the Circle on the topic of Coventry's Millennium Scheme. He told us of the plans to redevelop this particular area of the city and how it is structured to expose and interpret the remains of the first Coventry Cathedral and St. Mary's Priory. The results of the excavations were unexpected and put Coventry into the heritage spotlight.At least two TV programmes were based around the excavations with the Time Team paying particular attention to this redevelopment. This fully illustrated talk was well received by the members with many expressing an interest in visiting the site and preserved remains which are now housed in a heritage centre. This enthusiasm has led to the organization of a visit to Coventry on October 23, 2008 at 10.45 AM. George will show us around the site. This will be a private view and we hope to see and hear things that the normal visitors do not have access to normally. 

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    January 21, 2008

    Prof. Robert Arnott told us about The Earliest Medicine in Birmingham. The first record of a hospital (in 1244) was the Priory of St Thomas (between Bull Street and Old Square). In 1286 it was given an additional 10 acres of heath in Aston, followed by more over the next 20 years reflecting Birmingham’s growing prosperity. In miserable condition in 1344, it was restored to local favour for its work in the Black Death. The Priory was dissolved in 1536. Physicians were licensed to high standards by their College in London (founded 1518); Barber Surgeons were considered inferior; and Apothecaries dispensed drugs, 1190 of which were listed in the Pharmacopoeia Londoniensis (1618). Dr John Hall (1575-1635) of Stratford had a widespread practice, which reached Birmingham. The Workhouse Infirmary opened in 1766 in Lichfield Street, being relocated in 1852 to Dudley  Road where today it is the City Hospital. William Sands Cox, with his father, launched a medical school in 1825 which needed patients, so Queen’s Hospital (now the Accident) was opened in 1841. In 1765 Dr John Ash invited subscriptions for a General Hospital which eventually opened in 1779.

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     December 2007

    Our Christmas meeting was a memorable occasion, not only for the delicious mince pies, but because Sue Bates, one of our founders and our first Secretary 1987-95, came (from Lichfield) to talk about Sutton Coldfield. It had much in common with Solihull: an ancient Charter (1300), decay by the 18th century, before being revived by the coming of the railway (1862) which encouraged the wealthy from Birmingham to move there. Veysey, Bishop of Exeter (1519-54) provided almshouses, a school and other buildings to his birthplace. Ironically many old buildings were demolished in 1938 to make his memorial park. He persuaded Henry VIII to give Sutton Park to the town. Sue finished by describing its pools, which originally powered mills. Allan Evans, a founder member and Secretary 1995-2003, presented a video of our visit in 1999 to Tudor Grange, which was his childhood home.

   ^{May 2007}

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