Cheslyn Hay & District Local History Society

Malcolm Astley, this month’s speaker comes highly recommended and he is the current Tour Guide of Moseley Old Hall and having been Secretary of the Wolverhampton Astronomical Society for 35 years he is giving a talk on his favourite subject ‘The Short History of the Calendar’ this Thursday, 29th July at the Salem Hall, Cheslyn Hay at 7.30pm.  £1 including refreshments as usual.
We entertained sixteen visitors last Tuesday at our base with an arranged meeting of the Thomas family from all over the country and we were able to supply them with previously unseen photographs of their family as well as some missing information dating back 200 years on their family tree – albeit an illegitimacy!  Plus other researchers from the Poole family as well as the Griffiths’.  And we look forward to a visit from the Ridgway family this Tuesday who have connections with our village through Jack Ridgway who is on our War memorial.  Base open every Tuesday from 10am – 4pm and all are welcome.
From our website we have been contacted by Michael E Groome of Nutley, New Jersey, USA  who is researching the Groom and Brindley family trees.  And we have also heard from an old friend John Harley who emigrated to Australia sixty years ago.
And in this week’s Weekly News, available by request, through the email address address, are more touching memories from Kathy Brough of Low Street in the 1940s.

trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We have organised a get together for a handful of people this week who are tracing the family tree of the well established Cheslyn Hay family – the Thomases.  They will be meeting at our base at the Salem this Tuesday morning to view our photographic and documentary archives on the Thomas family and it should prove to be a very interesting and productive day.  The base is open for all and sundry every Tuesday from 10am – 4pm.
Following a recent request on John Ridgway who was killed in WWI, our Military Researcher has responded to supply a photograph of his grave but is querying the family’s story that he was drowned in the Dardenelles, whereas it appears from the War Diary he was killed on the battlefield.
We recently appealed for anyone who suspected that their house is haunted and we did have two responses that were followed up and will be included in a book to be published some time in the near future.  One story relates to the smell of freshly toasted bread on the landing of a property of a well known house in Cheslyn Hay and the other concerns a property on the site of an old church.  In this instance the owner has had a visit from a team of paranormal investigators that the author has been collaborating with and he fully agrees and is keen to hear what they find – all done scientifically and with no seances.
More photographs have come in this week of Carnivals, including those from 1953 and 1977. Plus excellent photos of a schools football match on the Old Falls in 1949 and some of the High Street shops in 1959.  We have also received a fascinating illuminated plan titled ‘Earl of Shrewsbury Lodge No 1520 Installation Night 1938′ with a string of well known Cheslyn Hay people on it.  It appears to be some sort of Masonic Lodge organisation and it has recently been found in one of the old houses of the village.
In this week’s ‘Memories’ column, Ivor Plant, whose grandparents were George and Agnes Plant of 63 Littlewood Road, recalls all the residents around Littlewood from 1945 – 60 in a facinating article. More details can be obtained from the email below.

trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We supported Salem’s Open Day on Saturday 10th July where we opened our base to all comers and dealt with all of their enquiries in what was a very pleasant day.
This Monday we are conducting  a walk around the village for Glenthorne Primary School to introduce them to local history.
Dr Alan Jones has completed his two year researches on the Edaljis and the draft of his book is now completed.  Hopefully it will be available for oue Exhibition when Alan will be doing book signings.  In my opinion this book is the most factual and illuminating of all of the tomes that have been published to date and it leaves the readers to make up their own minds as to whether George Edalji was guilty or not.  It also blows the myth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle taking on the mantle of Sherlock Holmes and solving the mystery right out of the water.  Rather than being tempted by the London Publishers and marketed through WH Smiths and the High Street shops at an exorbitant price, we will be handling it and it will not be sold at more than £5 a copy.
Also John and Sylvia Crump came up from Droitwich Spa to visit us at our Base this week.  Sylvia is researching her Brevitt family tree but John was a teacher at Pinfold Lane School in the early 1970s and he enjoyed scanning through all the old school photographs.  The base is open as usual this Tuesday from 10am – 4pm.
On Tuesday 20th July we are having a get together of the Thomas family to try and link up all the family connections.  Held at our base.
Information is filtering through on the 1946 photograph but we still have no details at all of Ann Turner, Maureen Kingston, Mary Mitchell, Joan Garrett, Doreen Bailey, Mary Roberts, Iris Heminsley, Margaret Kendall, Janet Smith,  Elsie Barker, Beryl Pearson, Mavis Bladon, Geoffrey Barnes, Tom Hulme, John Kirby, Frank Cartwright, Graham Morgan and John Stanley.
Memories this week come from the Craddock, Newman, Jones, Wilde, Ridgeway and Beasley families.
Gail Middleton devoted a complete page in this week’s Black Country Bugle to our Society and on the evening of Ian Wyke’s Anglo Saxon Hoard talk.  It is an excellent article, particularly on the coverage of Ian’s talk.

More information on the above by emailing
trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We are trying to contact all members of a David Blount class from the 1940s in a ‘Where Are They Now’ feature and amongst the pupils are Ann Turner, Maureen Kingston, Mary Mitchell, Margaret Davies, Joan Garrett, Mary Whitehouse, Doreen Bailey, Mary Roberts, Iris Heminsley, Margaret Kendall, Janet Smith, Phyllis Steadman, Dora Davies, Elsie Barker, Beryl Pearson, Mavis Bladon, Geoffrey Barnes, Bert Parker, Tom Hulme, John Kirby, Frank Cartwright, Alan Bate, Frank Giles, Graham Morgan, John Stanley, Michael Griffiths, Clarence Sambrook, John  Harris and Tommy Meakin.  Any information at all would be appreciated.

trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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More enquiries have been received this week for the Lockett and Russell family trees and we also have had good responses for both the Showell and Thomas families for their requests.  Also some interesting information for anyone with Moses Lockett in their ancestry.
Also received is a raft of photographs covering all different aspects of the village including The Lot cottages before they were knocked down, two ‘Now & Then’ of Mount Pleasant, some school photos from the early 1950s inc Pat Foster, Jean Bullock, Tina Farrington, Margaret Burton, Valerie Norman, Madeleine Wain, Pat Stokes, Janet Gunn, Mavis Round, Heather Havelock, Sheila Roberts, Joan Davies, Roy Peach, Barry Taylor, John Heminsley, Barry Simpson, Dolphin and many more unnamed.  Also some of Wedges Mills around 1954 with the haymaking in Nodens Field and of the Village Fetes.  Well known local names include Dawson, Rowe, Bibb, Osbourne, Jones, Lewis, Sargeant, Prosser plus many others.  We have also received a photo of Birds Row in 1959, the demolishment of the old houses at the Station Street end of Littlewood Lane and one of Floss’s Wool Shop.
Our base is open as usual on Tuesday 10am – 4pm.
trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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Great Wyrley LHS have a Local History Open Day at the Great Wyrley WMC (now GW Sports & Social Club) on Walsall Road next Saturday June 19th from 11am – 4pm. We will be there together with other Local History Societies from Bridgtown, Burntwood, Pelsall and the Cannock Chase Mining Museum. We will have a scanner available so that any photographs will be copied on the spot. Also Ian Wykes talk on the Anglo Saxon Hoard is only a week away on Thursday 24th June and there are still a few tickets available at £2.50. Email or telephone me on 01922 414772.
We have had a few more family trees added to our Database this week. They are the Bradbury, Showell, Thomas, Dace and Goodfellow family trees but they also include the Whitehouses, Locketts, Russells, Bakers and Ridgeways.
We have had another donation from the Bale family and it is quite a remarkable Diary/Scrapbook entitled ‘Great Wyrley Secondary Modern School – 4th Year Journey to North Wales 1948′. Beautifully assembled it contains photographs, postcards, maps, timetables, drawings and written accounts by the boys themselves as well as Mr Bale. Entries are included from Graham Bennett, E Pearse, Colin Booker, Derek Smith and Ernest Thacker and we are appealing for anyone who remembers this trip, or if they know where these ‘lads’ are today. The book is added to the ‘Cuthbert Bale Collection’ and can only be viewed at our Base. More memories have been sent in from an old ‘Bomker’ who has been exiled for 45 years but he remembers ‘Coggers’ and the ‘Pretty Woman’s’ Fish and Chip shop and much more nostalgia.
Our base is open this Tuesday as usual from 10am – 4pm.
trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We have organised a Local History Fun Walk & Quiz for Friday 11th June to raise funds for the Cheslyn Hay Primary School. Only £1 each with teams up to six if required with 5 Sections with 5 Questions in each section including a photographic one. All questions are based on observations connected to local history, so that everybody, including any newcomers to Cheslyn Hay will all have an equal chance to win. It starts at the Talbot (the Dog) at 6.30pm and includes a short triangular walk round to the Colliers for more refreshments.
And the Coffee Morning coach trip to Chasewater takes place on Thursday 10th June leaving the Salem at 9.45am.
Had an interesting request from Surrey concerning the Russell/Lockett family trees and in particular Moses Lockett.
Please contact me if you have any information.
A batch of photographs of the 1977 Carnival has arrived this week with plenty of dancing bands but no names and we would appreciate any help.
On our Members Weekly News is a summary of the teachers from the 1950s/60s and interesting reading it makes. Incredibly another 145 sightings on the Staffordshire Past Track website during May of our photographs and are as follows – Albert Hawkins Shop 34, Britannia Picture House 34, High Street 21, Walter Hackett 20, Salem Church 15, Wootton’s Post Office 13, Garrett’s Shop 5 and Hackett’s Butcher’s Shop 3.
Our base is open this Tuesday as usual from 10am – 4pm. Any queries please email.
trevor.cheslynhayhistory@talktalk.net

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We have a great night’s entertainment this Thursday evening, 7.30pm on 27th May at the Salem, as it’s our old friend David Bartley with ’An Evening of Black Country Banter and Poetry’.  Now appearing with the likes of Ken Dodd etc, David hosts most of the Black Country evenings in all of our local areas and is certainly a night not to miss.

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We are giving a talk at Glenthorne Primary School on Wednesday this week on the ‘Second World War’.   Also the Bridgtown &DLHS are holding their first AGM at the Bethel Chapel on Wednesday morning at 10.30am.  All potential new members are welcome.
More photographs from the old families have been forwarded to us to be copied and they include the Broughs, Davis, Pearson, Horton, Nicklin and Heminsley families.  All are available to be seen at our base at the rear of the Salem any Tuesday from 10am – 4pm together with all of our 5000 plus photographs.
An interesting family history request has been received connecting the Dace, Goodfellow and the Ridgeway families which we are currently researching.
A fascinating newspaper report from the 1920s has also turned up on the misdemeanours of some well known local names including William Roe, Cyril Parsons, Joe Hodson, Clifford Smith, John Pratt, Andrew Allen, Harry Lockett, William Leach, Harold Thomas, Baden Newell, and William Savage.  We will be only too pleased to issue full details on request – all free of course.
There will be a 40th Anniversary Reunion of the 1st Cheslyn Hay Boys’ Brigade on Friday October 8th at 7pm at Old Wyrley Hall in Olde Hall Lane Great Wyrley.  Tickets are £6 which includes light refreshments and can be obtained from Pam Ball on 01922 415067.

trevor.cheslyhayhistory@talktalk.net

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Our House Researcher Darren Butler is giving a free talk on House History at our Coffee Morning this Thursday morning in the Lecture Room at the rear of the Salem at 10am.
We are giving a talk at the Lakeside Residential Home on Monday on the topic of ‘The Good Old Days’ and we are providing a photographic display of Cheslyn Hay Carnivals on Saturday and Sunday 15/16 May at the Cannock Chase Museum. Plus a talk and display at Glenthorne Primary School on the ‘Industries of Cheslyn Hay’ on Wednesday afternoon.
This week we have been presented with quite a remarkable British Legion Official Programme and Order of Service commemorating the visit of Ex-Servicemen of the Great War to Staffordshire, but what is unique is the signatures on the programme.  They include the Earl of Harrowby, leading dignatories from Poland, Greece, France, Italy,Bulgaria, a couple of Lord Mayors and Great Wyrley’s Colonel WE Harrison.
Tickets  are now printed for the Anglo Saxon Hoard talk by County Archeologist Ian Wykes on 24th June.  Proceeds go to the Anglo Saxon Hoard itself and tickets are £2.50 each.  Normal price for this talk is £5 but we are limited to the Salem capacity of 120 tickets and sales are going well.  Tickets can be bought or reserved by phoning 01922 414772.
We have donated £50 for the Salem appeal for repairs to their ceiling and the church would appreciate any further support for their fund raising events and donations throughout the year.
Five weeks into our current year we now have an incredible 194 members, which will easily surpass last years membership of 208.
All visitors are welcome at our new base at the rear of the Salem through the iron gates but easy access can be arranged through the main doors by phoning 01922 414772 in advance.

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A coach trip to Chasewater has been organised for Thursday June 10th starting at the Salem at 9.45am.  It includes a visit to the Chasewater Railway Museum and a light snack before a midday return.  £3 per person and please contact Jim Brevitt on 01922 – 414863 for bookings.
Nine more visitors this week at our New Base, mainly working on research, and we are open this Tuesday 10am – 4pm which will include the setting up of the Hawkins project to catalogue the activities of Hawkins Colliery, Brickworks and Tileries on behalf of the Cannock Chase Museum.
Since mentioning the Staffordshire Pasttrack website we have had an incredible 140 viewings of our old photographs in the month of April – about three times as many as normal.  They were of Albert Hawkins shop (55), Britannia Picture House (41), Salem Chapel (13), High Street (10), Wootons Post Office (10), Walter Hackett’s shop (9) and Garrett’s shop (2).  New photographs received are of Streetway House that was owned by the Noden family and was demolished for the Toll Road.   Photographs and news items included in theis week’s News concern Kath Reeves (nee Brough), Mrs Hicken,  Mrs Baker, Tom Brough,  Mary Ann (nee Wedge),  Vivienne Davis, Christine Wilcox, Sarah Brough
and  Mrs Jellyman.

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We welcome our monthly speaker Mike Hewitt from the Cannock Conduit Trust this Thursday, 29th April at the Salem at 7.30pm with a talk on ‘Old Cannock 1890 – 1900′.  It will be an enjoyable night and entrance will be £1 including refreshments.
Nine visitors on Tuesday again dealing with enquiries on Dundalk Lane, reviewing our archive collection plus information on an entire collection of photographs generously donated to us from the Walker family. This week we have also had a full set of the Pinfold Lane School Magazines from 1928 – 35 which are now available at our Base which is open this Tuesday 10am – 4pm.
More photographs have been handed in and family history enquiries made this week on the following names – Bate Parker Stanton Whitehouse Edgerton Stokes Hart  Heminsley Cuthbert Bale F Waltho Harry Dace Miss Thomas  Miss Hulse Mrs Price Mr Berry ‘Taffy’ Blount John Middleton  Ian Bickley David Gardner Victor Fidler, Follows, Jeynes, Smithyman.

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