Wordsley History Society

3:21pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

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FORTY-SIX members and forty-nine visitors were welcomed to the April meeting of Wordsley History Society by Chairman Brian Idoine.

The passing of a dearly loved member of the society, Marje Hayden, was announced and condolences were expressed to her son Robert whose father had also passed away in recent weeks. A silence was held as a mark of respect.

AGM forms for nominations for the committee were available, also forms for supper orders for same. Annual subscriptions were due in May. Forms also available for the evening Mystery Trip' in June .

Forms for the annual day trip in August to Powis Castle and Llanfair Light Railway trip would be available at the May meeting.

The bi-annual Glass Festival will take place 22nd-25th August and requests were made for memorabilia, glass, etc relating to Wordsley which could be photographed for display purposes.

Society member Pauline Paddock had recently celebrated a "special birthday"and to mark the occasion and opening her springtime garden, also selling homemade produce and miscellaneous items. A grand total of almost £100- was raised and Pauline was congratulated on a remarkable achievement. The proceeds to be distributed between local hospices.

The speaker for the evening was Ken Hughes who gave a talk entitled Back-to-Back Houses', telling the story of the renovation of the near derelict properties in Hurst Street, Birmingham. Ken is an accredited Black Country Guide who was born in a back-to-back house and lived there for the first 25 years of his life. He has given approximately 480 tours of the National Trust properties since 2004. In 2006 they were given an award for the top National Trust property of the year. The illustrated talk gave an insight into the lives of the people living there and many memories were stirred with members of the audience who could remember such times. The Chairman thanked Mr Hughes for such an interesting and informative evening. The raffle took place during the interval and the ladies thanked for the refreshments.

The AGM will take place on May 8th, followed by the evening trip on June 12th. The next talk will be on July 10th at 7:30pm in the community Centre, Wordsley Green, when Joyce Coley will try to unravel the mystery of Who killed Bella' relating to the skeletal remains found locally in the trunk of a tree just after the war.

New members welcome, also visitors at a cost of £1.50 including refreshments.