We would like to hear from people that were born and raised in the village but no longer live in Great Wyrley. We would like to know where in the World are you now? Maybe you are a mile down the road or even living in Australia. We’d love to know why you moved from Wyrley and ended up living where you are today. How old were you when you moved? Any remaining relatives still in Great Wyrley? Maybe you have some photos from when you lived in the village? and a photo of you now, if we get enough photos be could do a ‘Then & Now’ story for our society magazine.
This is just research for the History Society, we are interested to find out why people left the village & if they still reminisce about living in Great Wyrley. Please send any photos to: photos@greatwyrleylocalhistorysociety.co.uk
Please leave a comment…
A Memorial for the Ex-Miners in Wyrley
On Friday the 31st of January there was a talk by Mike Mellor at the Community Centre, it was to do with a memorial that is to be erected on the Walsall Road on the split in the road with Hilton Lane, outside of Radio World. This was organised by C.H.A.P.S (Chase Arts for Public Spaces). The sign has been built and should be up this spring, it has been paid for anonymously, there are money boxes around the village in support of the maintenance to the memorial, making sure it can be looked after.
From what I could ascertain it is to do with Harrison’s No 3 Colliery, originally called Brownhills No 3, also known locally as Harrison’s or the Sinking. There was a brief history accompanying the talk and written material. I and many more support this memorial and its success as it will be the first one of its kind in the village.
2024 Report
2024 was a great year for the society with many achievements. Every month we had the pleasure if overstanding speakers that came and shared their knowledge. We held two open evenings, which proved very popular for the people that were unable to attend the coffee morning, plus our Annual Open Day – Saturday 19th October 2024, which was an amazing day, seeing many new faces coming to the open day.
We went to Apedale Country Park in the summer on a Society trip, some of us went down a surface mine, don’t think I would have liked to have been a miner. We also had a stall at St George’s Day at Harrison’s Club and at Great Wyrley Carnival which proved very popular, we also attended the Wesley Chapel on the different fairs, so all in all it was a lovely year at the Society.
AGM Meeting
We have had to make the unfortunate decision to increase the membership cost and stop the double membership option. Now every member would have to pay the single membership cost of £10. This has been a hard decision to make, but with the costs of doing events, open days, days out and having quality guest speakers each month. We want to continue to do all of this in 2025 but we need our members to be able to continue.
Coffee Morning – 16th January 2025
Our coffee morning speaker was Christine Reynolds who gave a talk and a comprehensive insight as to how remembrance day is commemorated around the world. Everyone enjoyed the talk, there was quite a large collection of literature spread out on tables for the members to look at after the talk.
New Quinton Display Board
Our new noticeboard has now been installed for all to see on the land by the beacon/Doctors surgery, on the Quinton Count Shopping Centre – Great Wyrley. The noticeboard will be used to inform everyone of what’s happening in the society and anything else that is going on in Great Wyrley.
Wyrley Court Retirement Homes
There have been many changes on this plot of land on the Walsall Road, from the old Great Wyrley First School, opened in 1883. In it’s life it was rebuilt and ran as a school until 1985 until it changed into a Daycare Centre. Unfortunately the Daycare Centre closed and the building was left empty for some years. In its place is now a huge building, pictured about, wyrleycourt.co.uk – which is residential apartments for those of us that wish to occupy in later life. It looks very impressive and it’s good to see new businesses opening up in the area, this will bring new people, residents and jobs to the area.
Christmas Bash – Thursday 19th December 2024
Merry Christmas To All Our Members
What a fantastic day we had at our Christmas Bash and it was great to see so many of our members come along and join in with the Christmas spirit. It gave a great close to the end of the year.
At the moment we are going through a collection of photos that was given to us by Dave Franks from his Father’s collection. There are hundreds of amazing photos, alot of them have people with no names. We would love to find out who some of the people are. Below are just a sample of the unknown people in the photographs – any ideas?
A Happy and Healthy New Year
Coffee Morning – Thursday 21st November
Our Guest Speaker – Ian Bott, came at short notice, as John Hill was taken ill. Ian Bott gave an interesting talk about Pub Signs. It was was interesting talk full of information. His talk was based around The Robin Hood. Why was there a pub called The Robin Hood in Churchbridge? What have we got to do with Robin Hood?
More information about the History of Pub Signs from ‘A History of British Pub Signs’ website
Walk down any British high street and you are sure to see a pub. The local. Nearly every British city, town or village has one. You can also be sure that, no matter the age of the building, the name of the pub draws inspiration from history. There’s a unique heritage to the pub names and signs in Britain, which depict everything from historic events, local folklore and occupations to royalty, notable characters, ancient associations and heraldry – a simple pub sign can hold the key to a town or village’s past. We take a look at the history behind the names of Britain’s much-loved pubs…
The naming pf pubs is said to stem from Roman times, when Tabernae would hang vine leaves outside as a trading sign, in order to alert passers-by that wine was sold within. However, it has been suggested that when the Romans invaded Britain, vine leaves were in short supply, so they hung bushes up outside instead in order to mark out the inns. It is said that this gave rise to the many pubs which are now called The Bush, The Hollybush or The Bull & Bush.
Thankyou to ‘A History of British Pub Signs’ for their information, read more about Pub Signs at: thehistorypress.co.uk/article/a-history-of-british-pub-names