The Bromsgrove Society - Pride, Preservation, Progress

Local History Talks 2026/27

Our new season of Tuesday evening local history meetings resumes with:

• 15 Sep 2026: Remembering the Swinging Sixties, with Ray Sturdy, talking about the decade we can never forget. 

Other dates before the end of the year are:

• 20 Oct 2026: Dry Bones: Medieval Archaeology at Worcester Cathedral, with Fiona Keith-Lucas
• 17 Nov 2026: Clent Village, A Brief Look Back, with Paul Timmins
• 01 Dec 2026: Christmas Songs Through the Ages, with Richard Churchley

The full programme is available through the About Us tab above.

All talks are held at The Methodist Centre, Stratford Road, B60 1AS.

Doors open 7.15pm, all talks begin at 7.45pm. All welcome. Admission: Members £3, Non-Members £4.

2026 AGM and Blue Bird Talk, 25th June

The Bromsgrove Society’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 25th June 2026 at New Guesten Hall, Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, B60 4JR. Meeting commences at 7.00 p.m.

The agenda and nomination forms are available here.

Following the A.G.M Julian Hunt will give an illustrated talk, telling the story of Blue Bird and Harry Vincent Ltd, the Birmingham confectionery company who built the new factory and model village at Hunnington in 1927. The talk will cover the company’s history from its foundation in 1895 to its closure in 1998.

After the talk refreshments will be served and attendees will be able to mingle and chat. The AGM and talk are free to attend. We would be grateful to hear in advance from those planning to attend. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we have an idea of numbers for refreshments.

Bromsgrove Summer School 2026

This year's Bromsgrove Summer School will be held on 7th-9th 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:

• Day 1, Tues 7th July: Birmingham and the General Strike of 1926, with Andrew Reekes. Andrew followed a career in education and has now returned to studying history in the West Midlands. In the afternoon Julian Hunt will look at how the General Strike affected Bromsgrove.
• Day 2, Weds 8th July: A History of Kidderminster; a town renowned for its Carpet Industry, with Julian Hunt, local historian, founder of the Summer School and a former editor of this newsletter. The afternoon visit will include a view of surviving carpet factories and handloom weavers’ cottages.
• Day 3, Thurs 10th July: The Bromsgrove Guild - New Evidence and Insights, with Professor Ben Bennett. Ben is a former Bromsgrove resident with an in-depth knowledge of the Guild. His recent research has revealed previously unknown works. In the afternoon we will visit the site of the remaining Guild workshop and some of the Guild features at Bromsgrove School.

The standard 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. This year there is a new option of attending the morning session only up to lunchtime. To access the booking form or book online, click 'Read More' below.

Bromsgrove Rousler 2025

The latest edition of the Bromsgrove Rousler, our popular local history magazine, is now available. To celebrate the Rousler's 40th anniversary, this year's edition is a special bumper issue packed full of stories on people and events that have helped shape Bromsgrove’s history.

Topics in this year’s Rousler include:

• Big Bertha: The Story of a Railway Icon
• Bromsgrove's influence on the poet A.E. Housman
• New research on the Bromsgrove Guild
• The Remarkable Walford Sisters
• Albert Malin's War
• Thomas Swift and the Electric Picture Palace.

Follow these links to purchase the Rousler from our online bookstall
(leaves this website) or One-click Purchase through Paypal

Bromsgrove Society Members will receive their copies shortly. Find a local stockist.

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.

Annual Lecture Now Online

Kevin Ward's lecture on the history of town criers and his 40 years as Bromsgrove's Town Crier is now available on our YouTube channel.

 

This presentation was given at Routh Concert Hall, Bromsgrove School on Tuesday 8th April 2025, as the 38th Annual Bromsgrove Lecture. In the presentation, Kevin looks back at some of the highlights he has experienced since taking the role of Bromsgrove Bellman and Town Crier in 1985, as well as his town crier heritage.

 

Kevin's recent interview with Tom Edwards of BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester is also available .

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.