Stourbridge U3A

The speaker was Tim Booth, who was aided by his own collection of photographs in revealing to us a fascinating part of the local history with a talk entitled “Following the Belne Brook”.

Even after a lifetime in Stourbridge, few of us had heard of the Belne Brook.

Yet it runs just a few miles away, with its spring lying in the Clent Hills, and has bestowed its name on several spots along its ten mile course to Kidderminster.

One we all know is Belbroughton.

The course of the Belne Brook is a scene of endlessly changing beauty and charm, yet not one inch is how nature intended.

With the aid of his photographs Tim Booth showed us how our ancestors saw its clean fast flowing water as a priceless gift, building dams all down its course to power their mills.

By the 18th and 19th centuries the Belne Brook had become one of the major centres of British industry.

Twenty-five mill ponds lay along its short course.

At one spot , alongside Mount Segg, a market gardening area was created by diverting the brook into a system of small streams.

Many of the flour mills of the earlier centuries were developed into forges.

Reconstructed water wheels drove heavy machinery engaged in manufacturing scythes, shovels, hammers and even guns.

A local Quaker family produced vast quantities of large guns not only for the British Army and navy at the beginning of the 19th century, but also for the slave trade.

Some of the fine buildings which housed these mills and forges still stand, a few even with their water wheel, one of which now is the largest cast iron water wheel in the world.

It’s worth remembering that one of today’s leading names in hand tools traces at least part of its history to the site of one of these forges The next monthly meeting takes place at the New Road Methodist CHurch on February 5 starting at 2pm, when Ruth Powell will be telling about the Mary Stevens Hospice of which she is the new head of fundraising.

To join Stourbridge U3A visit http://u3asites.org.uk/Stourbridge.