At the April coffee morning, Sue Plant provided an entertaining and thoughtful talk on the life and times of her dad, Jack Plant. It especially addressed his war time prisoner of war efforts working on the notorious Sumatra railway line.
Reg Fullalove will be the speaker at the May coffee morning. The A.G.M. will be held at the June coffee morning and will be followed by a talk by Gary Smith outlining his on-going work with the owner of Landywood Farm.
The St. Georges Day celebration went well. This was probably helped by the good weather with the procession and the side stalls (including ours) at Harrisons Club reporting an enjoyable day. Pictures from the day, including some unusual transport are displayed below.
Paul Ford gave an interesting address at an evening meeting at the Centre on April 28th. The topic was ‘Walsall during the Great War period’. It covered various aspects of the town and the community, as seen by the following pictures.
Ron Mattison and Dave Dunham had previously spoken at a coffee morning about the training huts on the Chase during the Great War. They have since issued an invitation for the Society to visit the huts on a specially arranged visit. Gary and Pam extended the invitation to members at the April coffee morning. It is likely that transport can be arranged for a small party to visit in the June / July time-frame, with costs therein borne by the Society. It is hoped that details will be completed to share with members at the May coffee morning and places would be filled on a ‘first come first served’ basis with a ballot being held if it is over-subscribed.
The background research and other work on the Great War continues apace. Numerous current activities are on-going, and future planned activities are being scheduled. It is hoped to summarise the details with members at the May coffee morning. Members may also be especially interested in a wyrleyblog site run by Paul Ford. It has interesting news and also demonstrates the linking threads between the local communities and the Societies therein.
The Society received a photo of an ‘unknown soldier’ some time ago. It was followed up by Tony and Diane with the resultant findings being reported in an article in the Chronicle. We are delighted to receive further similar contents and a recent example is displayed below.
We have initial details and any findings will be shared with members at the May coffee morning. At the same time, it will be inserted in our Great War Facebook page so that feedback can also be received from other audiences to help our research.
Community News
Excellent feedback has been received from attendees visiting the National Memorial Arboretum in March. The visit arranged by the Parish Council office was supported by allowances from the District Councillors on the Parish Council and further visits are scheduled for later this year. It is understood that a substantial number of bookings have already been made. Members should contact Sian or Debra at the Parish Council office on 414768 for further information and are recommended to make bookings before the ‘house full’ signs are displayed.
South Staffordshire Council support a range of ‘walking for health’ activities. Therein, a program has been raised ‘commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak 0f World War 1’. On 6th September, a Great Wyrley & Cheslyn Hay Memorial Circular walk is arranged with both Societies providing supporting talks and displays. Everyone is invited to join the walk and are asked to speak with Cath on 07817 507954 for further information.