Search Results for: Ogley hay school

May I make a correction?

An interesting mail winged its way in here a couple of weeks ago from longstanding reader Keith Jemison-Mills who was a pupil at Ogley Hay School and featured in a couple of the wonderful May Day celebration photos we’ve featured … Continue reading

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Can we solve the mystery of an old Ogley Hay influencer from the 60s?

A quick enquiry here from reader Ray who yesterday sent me in this headscratcher of a question which seems ideal for a Sunday. He wrote: Hi Bob I was hoping you may have information that can help me out. Whilst … Continue reading

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Accession to the throne Brownhills stye

Following Janet Bullock’s wonderful photo posted here in the last few weeks there has been a terrific response to the Ogley Hay May Day them, with a further image of the same event being Kindly donated by Kate Dixon, and her mum May Queen Linda Horobin – now we have a further great image sent in by Sheila Kelly of May Day the following year.

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Details of 2021 local Remembrance events – live list

This post is pinned to the top until Sunday – new material will appear below. Remembrance Sunday 2011 Aldridge, by Andrew Watson, posted in his Flickr photo stream. As usual in a normal year, I will try and share with … Continue reading

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May be? Ogley Hay infants in the early 1960s

Reader Janet has sent me an absolutely gorgeous school photo from the early 1960s at Ogley Hay infants in Brownhills – from the activity and dress depicted, I think this may be a May Day celebration which I believe was customary at the school at the time?

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Fit for a queen

Following Janet Bullock’s wonderful photo posted here a few days ago – which turns out indeed to be the May Queen celebrations at Ogley Ha Infants School in Brownhills – there was much discussion here and on social media about this traditional event, and reader Kate Dixon turned up local history gold.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Ogley Hay Class 4A, 1963

A lovely photo comes in via reader Malcolm Kelly, who’s dug out an excellent photo of Class 4A at Ogley Hay junior Schooling 1963, and is wondering if readers can help with the faces he can’t recall?
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Blooming canal volunteers impress judges

Tom Reid from the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust has been in touch to let us know about the efforts their volunteers have made for Lichfield’s entry in the annual Britain in Bloom competition, with a Garden of Memory and other … Continue reading

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You don’t have to be puddled to help restore a lost, local canal… but puddling helps!

Tom Reid from the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust has been in touch to let us know about the progress they’re making at Fosseway Heath, south Lichfield, and to send out an appeal for volunteers to help push the restoration forward. … Continue reading

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Christmas, 1957 – but who’s that girl?

As anyone who reads my other channels will know its been a hard week, and frankly, I’ve been too knackered to properly manage the blog – sorry for the lack of content over the last week and thanks for bearing with me.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blooming hard work for canal volunteers – can you help?

Tom Reid from the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust has been in touch to let us know aboutGarden of Reflection they’re creating near the canal under restoration near Lichfield, and how they’re helping with Britain in Bloom. If you’re unaware of … Continue reading

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Can you help with memories of a popular Brownhills school Caretaker?

I have a very unusual enquiry here from friend of the blog Tara Hackett relating to her Grandfather, Tony Hackett – he was a popular local school caretaker for years, and is a bit under the weather at the moment, and Tara thinks it would be great if anyone has any memories relating to Tony they can share.

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Anthony ‘Tony’ Hackett – funeral details available

A short while ago it was my sad duty to report the passing of Mr. Anthony ‘Tony’ Hackett, a well loved and respected Brownhills gentleman who spent may years as a local school Caretaker and scout leader – the many touching tributes and kind words about Tony from his friends and former school pupils were lovely and a comfort to his Granddaughter Tara and family

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Anthony ‘Tony’ Hackett – rest in peace

Earlier this week I posted a request for memories of Mr. Anthony ‘Tony’ Hackett, who was unwell; his Granddaughter Tara was keen to gather reminiscences of Tony, particularly in his occupation as local school caretaker, to help him remember good times.

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Miss Hall’s girls

by reader Mandy Cockram, whose mother went to Ogley Hay Girls School in Brownhills in the e

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

September 1993 – A day to remember!

Continuing the scans of the Brownhills Gazette – I present issue 48 of the long lost freesheet, from September 1993 for you to peruse and download – I’ve had an incredible response to featuring these long, lost publications here on the blog.

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Details of 2016 local Remembrance events

Following my request for information to make a list of local Remembrance events, I can again share with readers a list of local Remembrance services taking place locally this Remembrance Sunday, 13th November 2016.

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It’s a special occasion – get on your Sunday best!

A couple of great images reach me from top blog contributor the young David Evans, and reader Maria Fitzgerald – both are of kids in their Sunday best clothes in celebration.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall community, Walsall Council, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

June 1991 – Is the waiting nearly over?

Continuing the scans of the Brownhills Gazette – I present issue 21 of the long lost freesheet, from June 1991 for you to peruse and download. I’ve had an incredible response to featuring these long, lost publications here on the blog.

Brownhills Gazette June 1991 issue 21_000001
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56 bus service: Travel West Midlands to fill the gap

Excellent news from Councillor Steve Wade on the future of the 56 bus service from Brownhills to Birmingham following his meeting with Travel West Midlands last Thursday.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Clayhanger stuff, Environment, Events, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Just plain daft, Local politics, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A gift from Brian…

Reader Brian Clenton today landed us with a surprise: some excellent photos of Brownhills and Clayhanger life, mostly in the 1950s – these beautifully scanned images are wonderfully diverse, but Brian didn’t say much about them.
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January 1995 – Environmental nightmare continues with latest mining bid

Continuing the scans of the Brownhills Gazette – I present issue 64 of the long lost freesheet, from January 1995 for you to peruse and download – I’ve had an incredible response to featuring these long, lost publications here on the blog.

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Sweet James

That there Clive Roberts – documenter of the history of the Shire Oak Inn and collector of local postcards – has been at it again He’s picked up another postcard of Brownhills at a fair, and mailed me scans of the front and back to post here on the blog.

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I’m after all the tanners!

The Mavis Woodhouse material featured here of late is a local history gift that just keeps giving, and yesterday, I had a fascinating email very kindly sent to me by Ann Grinstead, the lady who edited the initial copy of Mavis’s family history, subsequently later edited for the blog by the young David Evans.

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Old Holland

Over the past couple of posts, the subject of Holland Park in Brownhills has come up, and reader Peter asked where it got it’s name – I knew it was named after Hyla John Holland, one of the great names in the history of Brownhills, but I realised I didn’t know much about the chap, or exactly what he did beyond being a councillor.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, Local politics, News, Panoramio photo discussions, planning, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Council, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

On a clear day

The wonderfully generous and knowledgable Sir Gerald of Reece recently sent me some scans of aerial images dating from 1948-52, taken of Brownhills and and stored on transparency, which I feature here today.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Chasewater, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Staff card?

Here’s an interesting thing. Reader Clive Roberts mailed me with an image of six rather serious looking ladies on a postcard, bearing the handwritten note ‘Staff at Ogley Hay School’.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Bradford on Brownhills

Here’s something found by Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler in the newspaper archive that crosses over from the Ogley Hay school into the area covered by Doctor Bradford’s predecessor, Dr. Maddever in his report to the health of Brownhills in 1910.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Clayhanger stuff, Environment, Followups, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, Local politics, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Such was his devotion

Back to William Roberts, then – railway plate layer, ganger, publican, entrepreneur, civic stalwart, JP and philanthropist – a very rare man in his time, he appears to have been generous, considerate, imbued with a real sense of social justice, and was undoubtedly a sharp-dealing rogue too.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Local History, Local media, Local politics, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Dancing was allowed

Well, here it is – not merry Christmas (although that’s bearing down upon us) but the fourth and final instalment of the history of Ogley Hay, as researched and written by local historian Gerald Reece, in his remarkable book ‘Brownhills A Walk Into History’.

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Methods of dance

Here’s a great follow-on post to the Ogley School staff image featured here last weekend. Top reader and local historian Andy Dennis has sent me a couple of lovely school group photos featuring his mother, thought to be from the 1936 sports event at Chase Terrace, which was mentioned by Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler in comments to the same post.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ugly Ay it?

Today, it’s long overdue that I expand on a thread I commenced some weeks ago; that of Charles Foster Cotterill – you may remember that I raised the question of the man’s history as the named Bankrupt in a sale notice Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler found in the Birmingham Gazette in 1850.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Panoramio photo discussions, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

A foreign Exchange

The subject of the Royal Echange pub in Walsall Wood, and the families who were connected with it, continues to be the subject of much local historical study – in fact, I don’t think any other pub or building, apart from perhaps The Shire Oak Pub that has generated so much local historical interest.
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Class of… when, and who?

I’ve been contacted by David Evans, with the following request – I’d really like to name the submitter as it could help greatly with the identification of folk on the photo, but I’m not sure if I can – It looks early sixties to me, maybe Ogley Hay, anyone recognise themselves or any other kids?
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Clayhanger stuff, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Fit for a queen

Continuing the Carnival theme (can there be a better one for such a summery spell?) Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler has been weaving his rapscallion magic and dredging the newspaper archive, finding two pieces in the Lichfield Mercury of 12th July 1935 and 25th July of the same year.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A spectator writes…

What I really enjoy about doing this blog is those times when we get a historical snippet, then explore it through various avenues, take it and run with it. Often, this not only reveals the story to be different to that originally stated, but also a fascinating journey through what would otherwise be lost local history.
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School’s out… or is it?

I’m trying to find out the status of local schools tomorrow, Monday 21st January 2013.

Theoretically, there’s a list of all schools closed in Walsall on Walsall Council’s website here, although Serco, the body charged with running education in Walsall, hasn’t bothered to update it since Friday at the current time of publication (9:20pm, Sunday 20th January)…
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Clayhanger stuff, Environment, Events, Express & Star, Followups, It makes me mad!, Just plain daft, Local Blogs, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Council, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The times they were a-changin’

Here’s a great one from Andy Dennis, which just came in this morning. I’m sure readers will have stuff to add to this. It’s a remarkable artefact and I’m hugely grateful to Andy for sharing it with us. Happy new … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Features, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Meanwhile, in court a century ago…

Reader Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler has again been ferreting in the newspaper archives, and this time has taken a look at crimes coming before Brownhills Petty Sessions – a magistrates court for the town, that sat regularly and dealt with low-level crime.
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From one end to the other…

Here’s another ride video of Walsall Wood and Brownhills for the expats, exiles and vicarious cyclists, but especially Trevor in Australia. Hope all is going well, old chap, and that the treatment isn’t knocking you about too much. We’re all thinking of … Continue reading

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Eighteen years later

Once again, Gareth Thomas from Lichfield District Council has gifted a whole bunch of fascinating geographic material to readers of the Brownhills Blog. If anyone had told me when I started this adventure that I’d have images like this donated … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Clayhanger stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The end of the pier

Local author, Clayhanger Kid and friend of the blog Brian Stringer got in touch last week with an interesting bit of ephemera relating to the Pier Hotel, the long-lost pub that used to stand at the end of Pier Street … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Clayhanger stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Goo play up yer own end!

I had this press release from the Walsall Council media control bunker drawn to my attention today, (Thanks, Edditer!) so I thought I’d share it with you readers. It’s good to see money being spent of facilities for kids in … Continue reading

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If the kids are united

It’s about time the children of the past got a look-in with the old pictures feature, so this is for them; the kids who, in whichever decade, played knock and scarper, fell in the cut or played cowboys and indians … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Followups, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments