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Although out
of date as 'news', these items are retained on the website because
of the information they contain.
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OLD
NEWS ITEMS |
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The
Pauper Memorial |
The
unveiling of the memorial on 21st November 2008 |
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The
Bells will ring out |
Appeal
for Christchurch bells - now operational again |
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Worcestershire
Regimental Museum |
Details
of display on the regiment's history |
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St
Michael & All Angels, Langley |
Threat
to church building after closure |
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Mortuary
Chapel, Oldbury Cemetery |
Demolition
of last mortuary chapel |
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'BLESSED
ARE THE POOR' - THE PAUPER MEMORIAL UNVEILED
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On an otherwise
cold and grey day, weak sunlight greeted the unveiling of the Pauper
Memorial in Heath Lane Cemetery, West Bromwich on Friday 21st November
2008. It was symbolic of the light and warmth they seldom found
in life once the stigma of poverty and pauperism had struck them.
Why is this
relevant to Oldbury? The pauper buried in unmarked graves were those
from the workhouse for the West Bromwich Poor Law Union, which included
Oldbury, Langley and Warley. Some of the paupers will have come
from Oldbury.
The memorial
at last gives recogition to the hundreds interred in the green spaces
of the cemetery - it was illegal to add a headstone to a pauper's
grave. It has been carved in grey granite in India, and shows a
pauper family, the father and mother bowed down, but the child looking
up, perhaps in hope.
It is estimated
that 2,500 paupers are interred in the cemetery, many of them in
mass graves, but there are no records of who was buried in any particular
plot. The memorial will provide a focus for those wishing to pay
their respects.
More information:
www.westbrompaupers.org.uk
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photographs show Professor Carl Chinn addressing the crowd before
the unveiling, the unveiling by Carl Chinn and the Mayor of Sandwell,
Cllr Bob Price, and the blessing of the memorial by the Vicar of All
Saints Church, West Bromwich. ----------- ----------------------[Photographs:
Terry Daniels] |
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THE
BELLS WILL RING OUT
Note:
there is a more detailed article on Christchurch Clock and Bells
on the main website, together with a recording of the bells at their
opening ceremony after restoration.
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Christchurch in the October sunshine
flying the Sandwell Flag for Mayor's Sunday [Photo:
Terry Daniels] |
You
may have noticed that the clock in the
tower of Christchurch
, Oldbury has been striking the
hours again for some months. A new clock is linked to one of the
bells in the tower with a striking mechanism.
New striking mechanisms have been
added now to all of the eight bells so that the bells can be rung
electonically for local and national celebrations, and strike the
Westminster
chimes on the quarter hours during
the day. They
should burst into life shortly!
The
peal of eight bells was originally installed in 1887 to mark Queen
Victoria's Golden Jubilee following generous donations of the eight
bells and a public subscription which raised £320 for the work,
The tower had to be raised by 16 feet (5 metres) to accommodate
the bell chamber, which is why the brickwork for the top section
of the tower does not match that of the lower part. The bells were
originally swung from a ringing chamber below the bell chamber,
but, following the alterations to the church in the 1990s, this
area now houses the central heating for the building, and the tower
is deemed to be too weak to swing the bells anyway.
A
clock was installed four years later which struck the hours and
played the Cambridge (or Westminster) chimes on the quarters - the
original clock has long gone, but the dial and hands remain, operated
by a modern mechanism.
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The
inside of the tower showing the No 7 bell
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Tenor
bell showing the mechanism for swinging the bell and the original
striking mechanism for the 1890 clock.
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The
original clockface and the recently installed clock mechanism.
Photographs: Terry Daniels, October 2008
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THE
WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENTAL MUSEUM
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Members of Langley
Local History Society visited the Worcestershire Regimental Museum in September. This followed a
talk by John Lowles earlier in the year on the history of the regiment,
in particular the history of the Oldbury Volunteers. The Volunteers
existed from 1860 to 1908, when they were disbanded on the inauguration
of the Territorial Army.
The story of the Oldbury
Volunteers is available as an Adobe Acrobat file.
The museum traces
the history of the regiment from its inception as the Farrington's
Regiment of Foot in 1694 to the latest action of the Worcestershire
and Sherwood Foresters Regiment. Members of the society were impressed
by the displays and recommend a visit.
The Worcestershire
Regiment Museum
is open Monday to Saturday at The Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery, Foregate Street, Worcester, WR1 1DT
Regimental Museum website: http://www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk/coll/worcs/worcind.htm

The Bugle presented
to the Oldbury Volunteers by the Ladies of Oldbury in 1860
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Oldbury Volunteers
who served in the Boer War 1900-1901

A volunteer's uniform from the 1880s
Photographs: Terry Daniels, 2008
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FACING
DEMOLITION - ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, LANGLEY
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The church of St Michael and All Angels at Causeway Green Road, Langley Green was the parish church for
Langley from 1890, replacing the smaller
Trinity Church, Langley. Recently, with falling congregations,
it proved impossible to maintain the fabric of this large late-Victorian
church, and, after due process, it closed this year. The last service
was held on 1st July 2007, ironically as always on these occasions,
with a large congregation of people associated with the church across
the years, but no longer attending!
The Birmingham
Diocese has been unable to find a purchaser for the building to
date, and it is now likely that the building, at the heart of the
Langley community for nearly a century,
will be demolished.
The building contains
many interesting features, including a Nicolson organ, tablets and
memorial stones to leaders of the Langley area, and several fine stained
glass windows. These windows are of concern to local people and
Langley Local History Society.
One is a fine
window dedicated to Gladys Pryor, the daughter of the Vicar, who
died at the age of twelve in 1900. This was made by the Camm studio
in Smethwick, and includes Gladys as one of
the children gathered at the feet of Christ.
The east window
contains a fine crucifixion panel showing Mary, St John and Mary Magdalene at the foot
of the cross. There is also a three-light window in memory of Mary
Amphlett, with the pastoral theme of Christ the Good Shepherd, and
a modern baptistry window showing the progress of the soul from
conception to rest in heaven.
Of particular
concern are the two war memorial windows commemorating the dead
of Langley in the Great War. The main window
depicts in its three lights St George, Faith and Hope. It also lists
the names of sixty-four men of the parish who died in the Great
War, the only public record of these men. The second window commemorates
Cecil Percy William Lloyd, who was associated with the church, and
was killed on the Somme in 1916.
Langley
Local History Society accepts that the closure of such buildings
may be inevitable when they are no longer viable, and takes no view
on the decision for closure itself. It is concerned, however, that
the historic fabric is preserved and adequately protected during
the period when the building is not in use, and suitably re-sited
following any decision to demolish the building.
Colour
photographs: Dr Terry Daniels, 2005
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St
Michael's Church and Schools, 1900s
The
nave and sanctuary of St Michael and All Angels Church
Detail
of the Gladys Pryor window
The
Langley War Memorial window
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DEMOLISHED
- THE MORTUARY CHAPEL IN ROOD END CEMETERY
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The
remaining mortuary chapel in Oldbury Cemetery, Rood End has been demolished. This
was a lovely building with polychrome brickwork erected when the
cemetery was opened in 1857 by the Oldbury Burial Board. The cemetery
originally featured two chapels, the one just demolished on the
'unconsecrated' side of the road, and a similar chapel taken down
many years ago on the Anglican 'consecrated' side. The chapel had
been neglected for many years, becoming no more than a splendid
pigeon house. Nevertheless, it is a pity such a fine building of
historic interest had to be pulled down.
Langley
Local History Society did manage to save a blue, a red and a yellow
brick from the chapel, and two souvenirs, the carved faces of a
man and a woman which were sited on the outside of the east window.
These were blackened after 150 years in Oldbury's industrial atmosphere,
and slightly damaged on removal, but they will be restored as a
reminder of the old mortuary chapels.
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The
chapel awaiting demolition, autumn 2007 [Photo:
Terry Daniels]
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-Coffin
carrier used in the cemetery in former times
[Photo: Janet Smith]
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