SOLIHULL LOCAL HISTORY CIRCLE
OUR NEW PROGRAMME OF TALKS
SOLIHULL LOCAL HISTORY CIRCLE 2023-2024
2023
All our meetings, except the joint meeting with Solihull Archaeology Society in June, take place in the Solihull Methodist Church Hall, Station Road, Solihull. The hall is next to Solihull Railway Station. People gather from around 7.15pm. All our talks take place in the evenings.
18th September – AGM followed by - LAURENCE INCE – SOME HISTORIC SOLIHULL CHURCHES.
A look at some of the interesting and historically important churches within the Solihull Metropolitan Council Area.
16th October – MIKE BYRNE - HISTORY OF THE BULL RING BIRMINGHAM.
The history of the Bull Ring, concentrating on the 20th century shopping experience.
20th November – QUINTIN WATT – THE RISE AND DEMISE OF THE BROMSGROVE GUILD. AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE METALWORKERS TO HM THE KING.
This presentation gives an overview of the story of the famous Worcestershire firm that created the gates of Buckingham Palace, the Liver Birds and other well-known artistic monuments.
18th December – CHRISTMAS MEETING.
A chance for some of our members to talk about their local history researches.
2024
15th January – RICHARD MILLINGTON – THE BATTLE OF BIRMINGHAM.
One of the lesser known actions of the English Civil war which left parts of Birmingham razed to the ground.
19th February – PAM & DAVID HUMPHRIES – A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE INNER CIRCLE BUS ROUTE.
Join our speakers on a ‘virtual’ tour of The Inner Circle which passes some of the most significant industrial and residential areas of Birmingham.
25th March – CHRIS RICE – THE LUNAR SOCIETY.
A brief history of the Lunar Society, its key members and personalities and the places and collections associated with them in the Birmingham and Midlands.
15th April – TRACEY WILLIAMS – SOLIHULL, BACK TO THE FUTURE.
A look at how Solihull Libraries are using technology to engage people with local history.
20th May – ROY ALBUTT – LIGHT AND COLOUR - OUR HERITAGE IN STAINED GLASS WINDOWS.
The development of stained glass from Medieval Times through the 18th and 19th centuries to the Arts and Craft movement and modern times.
18th June – JOINT MEETING WITH SOLIHULL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY – PROFESSOR ANDREW HOPPER – ENGLISH CIVIL WAR - PETITIONS.
SAG now meets at the West Midlands Bridge Club on the Warwick Road.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ANOTHER IMPORTANT UPDATE -SLIGHT CHANGE OF VENUE FOR OUR TALKS
Our group will be making a return to Room 5 of the Solihull Methodist Church Hall. This was the room we used before our move to the Church because of the pandemic. All our forthcoming talks will take place in this room except for the Thursday March 30th talk which will still take place in the Church.
EXTRA TALK IN MAY - We have arranged a talk for May, this will be the talk by Chris Rice on Aston Hall which had to be cancelled in September, please refer to list of talks.
2022 -2023 SEASON OF TALKS 2022
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19th - CHRIS RICE - ASTON HALL - A brief History of Aston Hall and the Holte family plus the later history of the property. Also an account concerning the restoration of the building carried out in the years 1996-2010. CANCELLED DUE TO THE FUNERAL OF H M QUEEN ELIZABETH II
MONDAY OCTOBER 17th - STEPHEN CARR - THE HISTORY OF ELMDON, house, grounds and park.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 21st - LAURENCE INCE - MONASTIC WARWICKSHIRE. An illustrated tour of the monastic sites in Warwickshire, including the two important sites in Solihull.
MONDAY DECEMBER 19th - CHRISTMAS MEETING
2023
MONDAY JANUARY 16th - PAM EYRES - BRUETON ???- We all know Brueton Park and Brueton Gardens, but do we know who Brueton was?
MONDAY FEBRUARY 20th - LIZ PALMER - CHUGGERS OF WWI BIRMINGHAM - Stories of Birmingham's Home Front told through charity flags.
THURSDAY 30th MARCH - MEMBER OF STAFF FROM SELLY MANOR MUSEUM - THE LAURENCE CADBURY COLLECTION.
**PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DAY FOR THIS TALK AS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO GET A ROOM BOOKING DURING MARCH FOR A MONDAY.**
MONDAY 17th APRIL - PETER LYNN - THE NOTABLE BUILDINGS OF SOLIHULL, A review of the work carried out by members of Solihull Local History Circle to record the historically important buildings of Solihull.
MONDAY 15th MAY - CHRIS RICE - ASTON HALL - A brief History of Aston Hall and the Holte family plus the later history of the property. Also an account concerning the restoration of the building carried out in the years 1996-2010.
TUESDAY 20th JUNE - JOINT MEETING WITH SAG (John Palmer Hall, Union Road, Solihull) - PAM EYRES - THE HISTORY OF TAMWORTH CASTLE - Tamworth Castle may be small but it has as much history embedded in its walls as Warwick or Windsor Castle.
2022 SEASON OF TALKS
We are continuing our series of talks in 2022 still meeting at the main Solihull Methodist Church
MONDAY 17th JANUARY - PAM EYRES - THE 'EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY OF OLTON' - its history starts with the settlement of Ulverleah but why was it so important.
MONDAY 21st FEBRUARY - DR KATE ROUND - STOURBRIDGE GLASS - A HISTORY - An explanation of how glass making came to Stourbridge. We will hear about the decorative techniques involved and the skills of the glassmakers.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE HAD TO REARRANGE OUR MARCH MEETING. SAME VENUE BUT IT WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY 28th MARCH
MONDAY 28th MARCH - MIKE BYRNE - HALL GREEN, A RURAL BACKWATER - A detailed history of this neighbouring Birmingham suburb.
MONDAY 11th APRIL (Please note that this is the second Monday of the month) - JOHN BERKELEY - WINGS OVER WARWICKSHIRE - Warwickshire may not have been the cradle of British aviation but it played a more significant part than most people realise.
MONDAY 16th MAY - LAURENCE INCE - A GRAVE HISTORY OF SOLIHULL - A look at some of the interesting persons who are buried in and around Solihull.
TUESDAY 21st JUNE - JOINT MEETING WITH SOLIHULL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY - JANE McARDLE - DIVINE BEAUTY, CONSERVING THE BURNE-JONES WINDOWS AT BIRMINGHAM CATHEDRAL - 7.45pm JOHN PALMER HALL, UNION ROAD, SOLIHULL
We will be starting our new season of talks in September 2021. The Circle, will for the next three months. be meeting in the Solihull Methodist Church. This will allow us to to be well spaced out when listening to the talks. We will not be providing refreshments but please feel free to bring your own. We hope members and visitors will enter the church at about 7.15pm. At our first meeting in September we will have a short AGM at 7.30 followed by the talk. At the other dates we hope to start the talks at about 7.30pm. Our programme for the remaining months of 2021 will be:-
Monday September 20th - PETER LYNN - THE HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY COUNTRY PARKS.
Monday October 18th - DAVID & PAM HUMPHRIES - A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE OUTER CIRCLE BUS ROUTE. We were treated to the first half of the tour some time ago. Now these popular speakers return to take us around all the route in one evening.
Monday November 15th -
LAURENCE INCE - A GRAVE HISTORY OF SOLIHULL. -CANCELLED-
To be replaced by DAVID & PAM HUMPHRIES - THOSE DAMN TIN POTS. A history of the prefabs of Birmingham
Monday December 20th - CHRISTMAS MEETING
Solihull Local History Circle
With the latest situation regarding Coronavirus measures, it is necessary for us to temporarily cease our activities. This means that our planned evening meetings for April and June together with our AGM and dinner in May are cancelled, as are our Executive meetings scheduled for April and June.
As a consequence of being unable to hold an AGM, at which we would be appointing Malcolm Cox to take over as Treasurer and Alan Hunt to take over as Director, Nigel Cameron and I will continue in our present roles until an AGM can be held. I am most grateful to Nigel for volunteering to do this.
We realise this is extremely disappointing for all our members, especially as it means an increase in social isolation. Please feel free to contact myself by e mail or telephone on 0121 705 4516 if you wish. We will keep you all informed of developments and plan to stay in touch during this time.
Kind Regards,
Peter Lynn
Welcome to the new web site of Solihull Local History Circle. We are a society interested in the history and buildings of Solihull and district. We hold a series of lectures/talks regarding our local area with some topics taking in the larger Birmingham, Warwickshire and West Midlands area. We now meet at Solihull Methodist Church Hall. This is situated next to Solihull Railway Station had has plenty of parking. Most of our meetings take place on the third Monday evening of each month. Some of the meetings have a different date so please check our programme. We gather around 7.15pm for tea and coffee with the talks starting at around 7.45pm. The subscription to the Solihull Local History Circle for the season 2018-2019 is £15. Visitors are welcome and they pay £3 admission for one session.
Members of the Solihull Local History Circle on a visit to George Hook's Mother of Pearl Factory
OUR PRESENT COMMITTEE 2022
Director - Alan Hunt
Deputy Director - Allan Evans
Meetings' Secretary - Laurence Ince
Treasurer - Malcolm Cox
Membership Secretary - Kathryn Clark
Committee Members - Adam Pearce, Celia Cox, Peter Lynn
For further information regarding the Solihull Local History Circle please feel free to ring Laurence Ince on 0121 7060204.