It’s turning into spooktactular tradition each year for the Great Wyrley villagers and the surrounding areas. People are coming together to join in on the Halloween Walk around Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay. It’s now been running for 6 years and was started during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Local lady Sarah Wiggin, (founder of the Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay ChitChat social media group on Facebook), founded the Halloween Walk back in 2020 whilst trying to think of things for herself and the family to do during the pandemic. Sarah’s friend Carrie Lawrence suggested dressing the houses, as she did hers every year for 1 night only. That was when the Halloween Walk was born. It was only intended to be for 1 year,  but it proved to be that popular, residents asked for it again and again. It’s got bigger every year since, with a section of Hilton Lane being closed between 5pm-8pm this year, due to the amount of people joining in on the walk.

In 2020 Great Wyrley Carnival was cancelled due to the pandemic, locals felt they needed an alternative way to celebrate. Sally-Anne Ashford was credited with started the Great Wyrley Scarecrow trail and then Sarah Wiggin came up with the idea of the Halloween walk, (as restrictions got more relaxed and people were able to mix at that time before the second National Lockdown began a few days after the walk). It was a great way to get people out in the village and help them feel less isolated. 

Each year more and more people are getting involved, by either dressing up and joining in on the Halloween Walk around the village. Or decorating their homes and giving sweets out to the children. Both homes and businesses are getting into the full spooky Halloween style, from giant skeletons, spooky ghosts, and now for the second year running, the introduction of the Halloween Scary Maize (bought to you by The Great Wyrley Carnival Community), which was on the grass at the back of the community centre last year. This year, due to windy weather conditions, the Halloween Maze got moved inside the community Centre, giving you that full scary experience as you walk through the different sections of the maze, until it opens out into the large hall with a Halloween disco for the kids, face painting, glitter tattoos and crafts for the kids to do. To enter the maze it’s £3 per person, which helps to raise money for the events that the carnival community host throughout the year.

Continue reading “Great Wyrley Halloween Walk, now running for 6 years – 25th October 2025” →

Our Open Day at the Senior Citizens Centre on Broadlane Lane, was a great success. We had loads of visitors coming though the doors to see our exhibition. There was over hundred photos on display with hundreds more in our books for visitors to look through. As well as maps and a plan of Great Wyrley cemetery. We had one visitor that came looking for a passed relative who was supposedly been buried in the cemetery, but had been having problems finding them. Our graveyard map gave a full listing of all the people buried there and he was able to locate his relative’s location on the map. The display of photos and artefacts was well received by everyone, it showed calculation instruments that was used to calculate planning of the mines.

Our guest speaker- Valerie Campbell, who gave a interesting talk about Churchill’s Secret Circle. Valerie talked about a woman, J Baker, that claimed to be part of this circle. Valerie started to dig deeper into J Baker’s claim and then found another book that was written by a man, unrelated to J Baker. It was like seeing a carbon copy of J Baker’s book, word for word. It turned out that J Baker was nowhere near Germany at the time she claimed to be part of Churchill’s Secret Circle, in fact, at that time J Baker was in Holloway prison.

(Awaiting on photo and more information)

Don’t forget our OPEN DAY on the 18th October held at the Senior Citizens Centre, Broadmeadow Lane, Great Wyrley, 11am-3pm.

There will be photos of Then and Now, and a Coal mining display, also our archives will be open for anyone to view. There will be someone on hand to help you get started with your finding your relatives in the 1921 census. Bring your old black & white photographs and get them changed into a colour print for only £1 to members (Theses colour prints will need to be ordered and will be delivered to your home or can be collected at the next coffee morning).

Old photos from previous open days

The History of Great Wyrley Wesley Methodist Church and Metthodism – 100 Years and Beyond. Guest Speaker – John Devey

This year we celebrate 100 years of the current Wesley Methodist Church building, which opened in 1925 at the corner of Shaws Lane and Walsall Road. It is the first church building on this site but it is the third Wesleyan Methodist church built in the village. But the story of Methodism in Great Wyrley goes back much further, nearly 240 years. So really, we’re standing on the shoulders of generations who kept the flame burning long before these walls were even built.

Let’s start right back at the beginning, with the man whose name we all know: John Wesley.
He was born in 1703, became a priest in the Church of England, and through his very methodical approach to Bible study and devotion, gave rise to what we now call Methodism. That’s actually where the name came from: his “methodical” way of living out his faith.

Wesley travelled thousands of miles across Britain and Ireland, mostly on horseback, preaching in fields and market squares, anywhere people would listen. He gathered ordinary folk into small groups to pray, study, and look after one another. Under his guidance, Methodists became leaders in many causes of the day; from education to the abolition of slavery, and he even encouraged women to preach, which was quite something in the 1700s!

Continue reading “Coffee Morning – 18th September 2025” →