The Bromsgrove Society - Pride, Preservation, Progress

Bromsgrove Summer School 2025

This year's Bromsgrove Summer School will be held on 8th-10th July. It offers three courses over the three days, celebrating the rich agricultural, industrial, architectural and cultural history of Bromsgrove and district.

This year's topics are:

• Tues 8th July: Bromsgrove’s Home Front, 1939 - 1945 with Pat Tansell, Vice-Chairman of the Bromsgrove Society. Includes a visit to ‘Step Back in Time’ a large collection of WWII memorabilia.
• Weds 9th July: Victorian Railways and the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway with Tony Condor, former curator of the National Waterways Museum at Gloucester. The visit will be to the former station building at Hunnington.
• Thur 10th July: The Arts and Crafts Movement in North Worcestershire with Kirsty Hartsiotis, museum curator, writer, speaker and storyteller. After lunch we will visit Holy Trinity & St. Mary’s Church, Dodford which has examples of work by Amy Walford and the Bromsgrove Guild.

The fee for each course is £55 or £50 for members of the Bromsgrove Society. The cost for attending across all three days will be £150 or £135 respectively. To access the booking form or book online, click 'Read More' below.

Annual Lecture 2025

The 38th Bromsgrove Lecture "Plenty to Shout About!" will be held in
Routh Concert Hall, Bromsgrove School on Tuesday 8th April at 7.30pm.

Join Kevin Ward as he celebrates 40 years as Bromsgrove Bellman and Town Crier.
In a lively presentation, Kevin will talk about his town crier heritage and look back at some of
the highlights he’s experienced since taking on the role in 1985.

Attend in person: tickets cost £7.50 from the Bromsgrove School website and include a complimentary drink.
Watch from home via Live Stream: link costs £5.00.

Click to hear Kevin's recent interview with Tom Edwards of BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester.

Bromsgrove Rousler 2024

The latest edition of the Bromsgrove Rousler, the popular local history magazine, is now available. The 2024 edition – number 39 in the series – features a fascinating mix of personalities and events that have helped shape Bromsgrove’s history.

Topics in this year’s Rousler are:

• Eddie Palmer: The Epic Story of a Boy Seaman
• The Caulcott Sisters
• All Saints Church: Celebrating 150 Years
• Webbs: A Local Success Story
• Forty Years of the Bromsgrove Methodist Church Centre
• Bromsgrove in Old Postcards.

Members will receive their copies shortly. Find a local stockist.
See here to purchase the Rousler from our online bookstall (leaves this website)

Rouslers make an ideal Christmas present, especially for friends now living elsewhere.
Back issues and a wide variety of books can be bought through our online bookstall.

Society Review 2023-24

The Bromsgrove Society’s AGM was held at Avoncroft Museum on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 at 7.30pm. Twenty-eight members attended.

The Chairman, Jo Slade, read her review of the year, thanking the committees and society members for their work and support in what had been another successful year. John Gerner gave a review on environment matters and Chris Nesbitt delivered her final review as chair of the Local History Group. Chris was thanked for all her contributions and was given a token of appreciation. The reports are  available here. Members agreed to give the Executive Committee authority to sign off the Annual Accounts which were still to be finalised. They will be made available on the website.

Members re-elected the officers and committee members: Chairman Jo Slade, Vice-Chairman Pat Tansell, Treasurer Julian Dyer, Secretary Sue Beaumont, Membership Secretary Sue Skidmore, Executive Committee John Gerner, Julian Hunt, Alastair Moseley and Mike Sharpe. Mike agreed to chair the Local History Group.

After the meeting Helen Voyle gave a very interesting talk about her work in cataloguing boxes of documents relating to the Court Leet going back to the 1700s. She related fascinating anecdotes taken from letters, which gave some idea of the people involved, their attitudes and activities in days gone by.

Annual Lecture Now Online

 
Alastair Moseley's lecture on the history of the Wychbold masts is now available on our YouTube channel.

Summer School Success

At the Summer School three speakers gave interesting and informative talks. Tony Condor spoke on ‘The Canal World’ and led a rainy afternoon visit to Tardebigge. On day two Pat Tansell looked at Benjamin Sanders and button making in Bromsgrove with a visit to sites associated with the Sanders family and their legacy. On the final day Julian Hunt and Jenny Townshend spoke about ‘The Inns and Public Houses of Bromsgrove’ with a visit to sites occupied by inns and pubs past and present.

Everyone involved was delighted to receive very positive notes of thanks. One person said “Another brilliant Summer School! Well planned, delivered, and universally enjoyed! My favourite time of the year!” Another said “Thank you very much for organising a super Summer School this year. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the three days and learnt so much - even about subjects that I thought I already knew a lot about! The hospitality was good too and I thought the lunches were excellent.”

Thank you to Chris Nesbitt for ensuring the Summer School ran smoothly; to everyone who assisted with practical tasks; to Bromsgrove School for accommodating us so well; to the speakers for all their hard work in preparing and delivering their subjects; and to Julian Hunt for arranging the programme.