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Selected
old items from 'News and Events', which contain lasting information,
are available on a new page.
It
has information on The Pauper Memorial - The Worcestershire Regimental
Museum - St Michael and All Angels Church closure - The Mortuary
Chapel demolition at Oldbury Cemetery, Rood End
Go
to Old News
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CURRENT
NEWS |
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GO |
For
sale - Grade II building |
Old
courthouse building for sale |
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Oldbury
Local History Week |
1
- 5 November, illustrated talk 'Made in Oldbury' |
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St
Hubert's Church and School |
A
new book on their history |
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GO |
Oldbury
Library - 'Jack Judge House' |
Work
starts on new offices & library for Oldbury in Halesowen |
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GO |
Jack
Judge Blue Plaque Appeal |
Project
to raise funds for 'blue plaques' to commemorate Jack Judge |
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Langley
Maltings |
Fire
destroys part of Grade 2 listed builing |
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GO |
Sandwell
Faith Trail |
Sandwell
Council leaflet available on buildings representing the main
faiths in Sandwell |
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GO |
Oldbury
Heritage Trail Leaflet |
Sandwell
Council leaflet available on sites of historic interest in Oldbury
and Langley |
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GO |
Langley
Ancestry Meetings |
Informal
meetings at Langley Library with advice on using 'Ancestry'
to trace family history - free! |
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FOR
SALE - GRADE II LISTED BUILDING
Three
Careful Owners - Lawyers, Policemen and Librarians
When Oldbury
Public Library moves to the new Jack Judge House towards the end
of the year (see below), it will vacate a building nearly 200 years
old, for which Sandwell Council is seeking a purchaser. It is grade
II listed, and one of the oldest buildings in Oldbury, being erected
in 1816 as a Court of Requests. From 1846, when the Court of Requests
was abolished, it housed the Magistrates Court and County Court,
until the latter was transferred to West Bromwich in 1889.
From 1904, it
became Oldbury Police Station, the Magistrates Court also remaining
there until it moved to a new building in Low Town. In 1977 Sandwell
Council transferred Oldbury Public Library into the building.
The buildings
include the original courthouse with its 1816 datestone, the magistrates
court and jail cells dating from early in the twentieth century.
It is to be hoped that any new owner will respect its history and
fabric, and presevre as much of the old buildings as
possible. We trust that Sandwell Council
will ensure this - after all, it is part of the expanded
conservation area for Oldbury that was recently approved. What a
fine museum and heritage centre it would make, even in these austere
times!
For more information
on the 'Court House and Prison' see article
003
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OLDBURY
LOCAL HISTORY WEEK, 2010
Oldbury
Local History Week will be held during the first week of November
with a talk entitled
'Made
in Oldbury' by Terry Daniels
The
illustrated talk will be given at each of the libraries in the Oldbury
area:
November 1st at Rounds Green Library, Martley
Road - 10.30am
November 2nd at Oldbury Library, Church Street - 2.45pm
November
3rd at Langley Library, Barrs Street - 10.45 am
November
4th at Bleakhouse Library, Bleakhouse Road - 2.30 pm
November
5th at Brandhall Library, Tame Road - 10.30 am
There
is no charge, and all are welcome
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ST
HUBERT'S CHURCH AND SCHOOL, WARLEY
A
new book has just been launched setting out the history of the Catholic
Church and School
well known because of its large white cross on the Wolverhampton
Road at Warley
"A
Dream Comes True
A
History of St Hubert's Church and School"
by
John McGhee and Gay Smallwood
A4,
colour cover, 128 pages, copiously illustrated with black and white
pictures
£7.50
plus UK post and packing £3.35
All
proceeds to the School and Church for the 75th Anniversary
Copies
can be obtained from the address below - not from this website:
Gay
Smallwood, 19 Edward Road, Oldbury, B68 0LZ
gsmallwood66@tiscali.co.uk
Cheques
payable to: St Hubert's RC Primary School
The
blurb says: 'It was the dream of Major Hugh Galton that a Roman
Catholic Church be erected for the people of Warley. This book is
a celebration of how that dream was realised. It charts the history
of the church and school with an expanding Roman Catholic population
in the area during the 1930's; it describes the effects on the school
of political influences both in wartime, afterwards and through
educational legislation; events at the school, photographs of teachers
and pupils, sports days, memories of many ex-pupils and much more
...'
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OLDBURY
LIBRARY - 'JACK JUDGE HOUSE'
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Work is
now well underway on the construction of a new library and
offices for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in Halesowen
Street, Oldbury.
It was
previously the site of Oldbury's Bus Station, and, before
that, was occupied by various shops. The clearance was begun
by a bomb dropped in December 1940 by the Luftwaffe, resulting
in the contents of the draper's shop being strewn over all
the wires and cables of Halesowen Street.
By the
1970s, the remaining buildings were very dilapidated, and
cleared as part of Oldbury's regeneration.
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The building
will be called 'Jack Judge House', a tribute to the
Oldbury-born composer of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary",
the popular WW1 song. It should open in the Autumn of 2010.
| Artist's
impression of the new building as shown in the latest
edition of Sandwell Library's magazine 'Cover to Cover'. |
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Oldbury
Local History Group meets at the present library in Church
Street, and will transfer to more spacious facilities in the
new building. The Group has been promised display facilities
enabling it to exhibit aspects of Oldbury's history at the
library.
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| The
site of the new library in the1970s, showing the junction with
Canal Street and some of the dilapidated shops in Halesowen
Street. [Photograph: Brian Cownley] |
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It would
be appropriate for the first exhibition to celebrate the life
and achievements of Jack Judge. We would welcome the loan
of any items related to Jack - if you have material, please
contact us at: general@historyofoldbury.co.uk.
To whet
your appetite, we show below four postcards illustrating the
three verses and the chorus of 'Tipperary'. If you don't know
the verses, they may come as a surprise!
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JACK
JUDGE BLUE PLAQUE APPEAL
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One
of Oldbury's most famous sons is Jack Judge, fishmonger and
entertainer. He is celebrated as the writer of the song "Its
a Long Way to
Tipperary
", sung as a marching song
throughout the First World War in many languages. The composition
of the song has caused controversy for many years, but there
is no doubt that Jack was a renowned entertainer born in Oldbury.
He
is ill-remembered in the town, although a new block of council
offices and library to be built in Oldbury is likely to be
named after him.
There
is also an appeal to erect 'blue plaques' at those
houses still standing where he lived in the borough, and an
appeal is being made for £800 to enable two plaques to be
put up.
With
the help of a small grant from Oldbury Local Area Budget,
money raised and money promised, theis appeal now has sufficient
to proceed with the erection of the two plaques.
Both
Oldbury Local History Group and Langley Local History Society
are supporting the appeal.
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Jack Judge
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LANGLEY
MALTINGS
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On
the evening of 8th September 2009 fire broke out in
the derelict Maltings in Western Road, Langley. Half
of the roof of the grade two listed building was destroyed
before the fire was put out, and three of its characteristic
outlet towere destroyed. So, another iconic building
in the history of Oldbury is damaged or lost.
The
maltings were erected by Walter Showell around 1880
on the side of the Titford Canal to supply malt to his
new 'Crosswells Brewery' a hundred yards away across
the railway line. This was one of the largest breweries
in the area, and Showell's Ales were distributed throughout
the Midlands. Local barley was used in the malting process,
supplemented with grain brought in by barge and, later,
by railway.
Malting
ceased in 2006, and the building was sold by its owners,Wolverhampton
and Dudley Breweries, in 2007, since when it has been
allowed to deteriorate. It was one of the last maltings
to still use the traditional 'floor' malting process:
the grains of barley were steeped in water and then
spread over the floor of the maltings, the mass being
frequently turned to permit even germination. At the
end of the twentieth century, there were only five maltings
in the country still using this process.
It
is a striking building, rising from the side of the
canal, the water at the base of its walls, and a feature
of the canal walk from Oldbury locks to Titford Pool.
This was not its first major fire. On 25th September
1925 the maltings caught fire and half of the building
destroyed. Added hazards in 1925 were the location of
the Shell-Mex petroleum tanks next to the maltings,
and tar wagons in the railway yard opposite: both long
since gone. On that occasion,the maltings were part
of a commercially successful operation, and were quickly
rebuilt. Their future now is much less certain, but
it is to be hoped that they can be retained and a new
use found for them.
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SANDWELL
FAITH TRAIL
Sandwell
Department of Leisure and Tourism and Sandwell Multi-Faith
Network have launched a 'Sandwell Faith Trail' booklet
covering the six towns of Sandwell and the faiths of
Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism.
The Oldbury sites that are featured are the New Testament
Church of God in the former Wesleyan Methodist Church in Church Street, The Church of Our Lady and St Hubert
Roman Catholic Church on the Wolverhampton Road at Warley, and the Shri Venkateswara
(Balaji) Temple on the Dudley Road East at Tividale
Copies are available at Public Libraries in the Oldbury area
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OLDBURY
HERITAGE TRAIL LEAFLET
The leaflet
describing the Oldbury Heritage Trail has been issued
by the Sandwell Department of Leisure and Tourism in
conjunction with the local history societies. It describes
sites of historical interest in Oldbury and Langley,
with a canal walk between the two centres.
Copies are available at Public Libraries in the Oldbury area
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LANGLEY
'ANCESTRY' COFFEE MORNINGS BECOME COFFEE AFTERNOONS
The family
history website Ancestry.com
is now available free of charge at all libraries in
Sandwell.
Langley Library, Barrs Street have been holding 'Ancestry Coffee
Mornings', where people interested in tracing their
family tree meet together, with guidance from experienced
family tree tracers and a free cup of coffee. The time
of these has changed, so they have now become 'Ancestry
Coffee Afternoons'
These are being held on the first Tuesday of each month
from 2.00
to 3.30
For further details contact Langley Library on 0121 552 1680
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