History of Oldbury, Langley and Warley
   
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Updated 7 June 2010
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NEWS AND EVENTS

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

 

    CURRENT NEWS  
  GO For sale - Grade II building Old courthouse building for sale
  GO Oldbury Local History Week 1 - 5 November, illustrated talk 'Made in Oldbury'
  GO St Hubert's Church and School A new book on their history
  GO Oldbury Library - 'Jack Judge House' Work starts on new offices & library for Oldbury in Halesowen
  GO Jack Judge Blue Plaque Appeal Project to raise funds for 'blue plaques' to commemorate Jack Judge
  GO Langley Maltings Fire destroys part of Grade 2 listed builing
GO Sandwell Faith Trail Sandwell Council leaflet available on buildings representing the main faiths in Sandwell
GO Oldbury Heritage Trail Leaflet Sandwell Council leaflet available on sites of historic interest in Oldbury and Langley
GO Langley Ancestry Meetings Informal meetings at Langley Library with advice on using 'Ancestry' to trace family history - free!

 

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'

 

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.

 

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'.

 

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.

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]

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!

Postcards from Marie Stanley collection

 

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JACK JUDGE BLUE PLAQUE APPEAL

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.

Jack Judge

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LANGLEY MALTINGS

 

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.

 

The maltings today  

Inspecting the scene after the fire, 10th September 2009

Photos: Dr Terry Daniels
Happier times - a picnic in front of the maltings at a recent BCN Rally Photo: Dr Terry Daniels
The maltings and the Shell-Mex stoage tanks in the 1920s, before the first fire  

 

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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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© 2008 The Local History Societies of Langley, Oldbury and Warley