Walsall Local history Centre is moving – be prepared. Image from the Centre’s Facebook page.

This is just a quick note to flag up some really important news regarding opening hours at Walsall Local History Centre which will, from April 1st 2017, only be open for two days per week, to enable moving of the service to the Central Library in Walsall.

Stuart Williams, from the Local History Centre, said:

Change Of Walsall Local History Centre Opening Hours

From Saturday 1st April 2017 the Centre will be open to the public as follows: Tuesday 10.00am – 4.00pm Wednesday 10.00am – 4.00pm.

During 2017 the Local History Centre and Archives in Walsall will be moving premises from Essex Street to the centre of Walsall on Lichfield Street. The Local History Centre will be relocated within a building also housing the central library service.

This means the public will have access to both services and will have facilities to research and locate archival material in a modern facility. To ensure that all the necessary preparation is made to remove the archives and local history services successfully and safely, the Local History Centre will be revising it’s opening hours to the public.

Opening hours for the general public will reduce to 2 days a week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10am – 4pm) with effect from 1st April 2017.

Where the Local History Centre is closed to the general public time will be spent cataloguing collections and packaging documents for moving the Local History Centre and Archives successfully to the new location.

This change in opening hours to the general public is a temporary measure and will remain in place until the move is completed.

To keep you informed of progress with the move and of any changes that may impact you as our customers we will post regular updates through social media (see our Facebook page here) and local postings in the Local History Centre.

I am concerned, as are many in the local history community, that this change should not be allowed to become permanent and that access must be eventually restored to the commonwealth of Walsall History of which Walsall Council are, after all, only custodians.

In saying this, I intend no reflection on the people staffing the place, just those wielding the axe. My regard for the staff is huge and I wish them all the very best for the future.

The local history centre experts have made some remarkable contributions to the Brownhills Blog, and I’d like to draw readers attention to some of them, like  the Yates Map of Staffordshire and The great Walsall Wood subsidence mystery or even The lost mortuary in Bullings Heath.

There is an excellent team at Walsall Local History Centre who provide a largely free service to everyone from serious family historians to muppets like me involved in the most bizarre bits of local history. This service is the jewel in Walsall’s cultural crown and we need to cherish and protect it.