Amblecote History Society

At the first meeting of 2017, Geoff Longmore opened by welcoming a good audience which included some new faces as visitors who were most welcome. He then conducted the re-appointment of the Committee, adding Sandra Newall and Christine Hatton as new volunteers to play a supportive role to that group, before updating the membership on a number of administrative and news items.

He then proceeded to introduce David Berry to present his light-hearted and entertaining talk based on the theme of “A Day in Court”.

David started off by stating that his aim was to give a factual overview of how the judiciary system works and the role that the courts, at various levels, have in supporting it. He suggested that life in Court is not all ‘gloom and doom’ and indeed at times claimed that you need to have a good sense of humour. He had worked in a courtroom environment for three and a half years as a volunteer in the witness support service and had observed and experienced many sad, unfortunate, amusing and poignant events during that period. He also met a variety of characters including many whose behaviour and attitude was well below socially acceptable norms. His talk was a well thought out balance of how various court cases can escalate within the system depending on the severity of the crime and the roles of all of the people involved, over to many, some true, amusing anecdotal stories delivered in a style akin to the Two Ronnie’s and their items of late news ! Very funny!

At the end of the talk, a generous round of applause was given in appreciation before many members and visitors asked many detailed questions about other aspects of his experiences and views before the audience applauded David for a well presented and thoroughly entertaining talk.

Geoff Longmore finally gave a formal “thank you” to David who had made the generous gesture of waiving his fee by donating it, as is customary for him to Mary Steven’s Hospice.

For more information about the society visit Facebook where the full reports of previous meetings are also stored under the Files Tab. It is also a good channel for you to share your knowledge of Amblecote people, places, experiences and local history.