Has it’s Carnival time, it’s nice to look back on previous carnivals. These photos are from 1977 when it was the Silver Jubilee. It’s lovely to see the Wyrley Birds marching band, we don’t see that anymore as part of the carnival. The Great Wyrley Carnival in 1977 was initially a one-off event to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. It proved so popular that it became an annual tradition. The only years since then it hasn’t taken place, was during the Covid-19 pandemic for two years. The carnival at the time included a procession of floats(dressed up lorries) and marching bands.

Here’s a YouTube video from Great Wyrley Carnival 1977 Silver Jubilee, Alwyn Close Street Party – Tuesday 7th June 1977. What an amazing bit of video footage lasting 16.30 mins. It really gives a feel of the day and how Alwyn Close came together as a community to get the street dressed and join in on the party celebration.

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Not about Great Wyrley, but has it’s carnival time, thought it was lovely to see what other villages did for the carnival. So many villages now haven’t carried on the annual tradition of dressing up the lorries and driving about the village. It’s such a shame, as it’s lovely to see and brings the village people together.

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We were saddened to hear of the death of two of our members; Bill Henderson and Malcolm Meridith. Our thoughts and sympathy to their family and friends.

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Great Wyrley Carnival 28th June 2025

The Great Wyrley Carnival is an annual event that brings the community together for fun and entertainment. The carnival origins are linked to the 1897 Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, but seemed to be a one-off celebration. It wasn’t until about 1930 that it can be traced back in books that show photographs of the early carnivals, but on the official date it started is unclear. Each year there are colourful parades with decorated lorries that travel around the village. The Carnival Procession starts at 12noon from the The Star Inn back field. There is something for everyone, unique crafts to buy, delicious food and a variety of shows and entertainment, including; Brereton Corps of drums, Mercer Falconry Displays, Fun Dog Show, Bouncy Castles and Dobsons Fun Fair. Only a week to go to the Carnival, this years theme is ‘Days Out’, so on our stall, we will be showing photos from some of the days out the society has had over the years. Also we will have our books on sale and a raffle. Read more on Wyrley Blog

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We were pleased to welcome Corinne Brazier as our guest speaker, she previously came in March, but due to technical issues, we were unable to see the slide show. The talk was well worth the wait. Corinne is the Heritage Manager and oversees the West Midlands Police Museum on Steelhouse Lane Lockup with the support of a National Lottery Heritage Funding grant. Enabling police heritage to be shared with as many people as possible and hoping to inspire the next generation of police officers.

In the time of peaky blinders poverty was quite high and it was hard to feed the family. In some cases mother’s would send the children out to steal so they would be arrested, it was the only way the children could get a bed and something to eat. There were many reasons why a person would be arrested, even for being idol. Records were found, dating back to 1892, for a woman named Elizabeth Taylor who got 3 months for frequenting, meaning being idol. As you can see in the photo of the woman, more than one photo would be taken, showing with and without a hat. This would show the police what the defendant would look like if they was wearing a hat. Descriptions were quite limited in the beginning, so having these photos were very important. Photo below of the man in the bowler hat holding his chin, sometimes photos included parts of the body, this would be done to show missing body parts, in this case, Christopher Charles Davis had missing fingers. Taking photos like this would be much easier than trying to write it down. Samuel Sheldon was a true life peaky blinder, he was what was known as a career criminal, a full time gambler, and some even killed police officers. George Williams ‘Cloggy’ got 18 years for killing a police officer. In 1901 George Fowler was involved with rioting against the police, when he and others were throwing bricks, but it was his brick that hit a police officer and killed him. There were so many fascinating facts that Corinne shared with us, it was very insightful to hear and see the photos of criminals. A trip to the police museum is a must.

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We had the sunniest April on record, with 47% more sunshine hours than the long-term average. It was also the third-warmest April on record and the spring season so far has been the driest in over a century. The driest April on record in the UK was 1938, with only 14.1mm of rain recorded. The next driest was 1974, with 14.6mm of rain. More recent driest Aprils include 2007 (26.6mm) and 2020 (29.1mm). It’s now starting to affect the crops, but we know the rain won’t stay away for long.

Two of our committee members have decided to cut back on the work, through problems with their health. Gladly Geoff Nixon and Lynne Davies will be staying on in an ad-hoc basis. We value any help from all and greatly welcome anyone who would like to join the committee and get involved with organising events. Geoff’s wife, Jo, will still continue making her fabulous handmake cards for the Society, which are available at our coffee mornings.

There has been a short delay in organising our yearly outing, hopefully it will be to Blists Hill, Pam will report more later when we have more information. We had another bit of sad news in April, Trevor McFarlane passed away. Trevor was a good friend to the Society. We have also lost one of our members, Mac Meredith. Our deepest sympathy to their families. As you can see I’m now back as Chairman, nobody wished to take it on and bang the gavel, so my time away from the Chairmanship was brief to say the least. 

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