Rowley, John Thomas

Advertiser 18 Dec 1915 Advertiser 25 Dec 1915 BRIERLEY HILL SOLDIER’S DEATH. On Tuesday Private John Thomas Rowley, 1/5 S. Staffords, died in the Military Hospital, Wordsley, from diabetes. He was the son of Mr T Rowley, 37, Albion Street, Brierley Hill. The funeral is today at Brierley Hill Church. County Express 18 December 1915 • Read More »


Brierley Hill WW1 hero’s story which inspired painting

Last year it was revealed that Dudley Council had lost the historic painting of Sg William Jordan’s act of heroism in saving a wounded colleague. The painting was by Francis Gibbons, an artist of some renown who had exhibited at the Royal Academy and had also started the Gibbons and Hinton tile works at Buckpool. Now a trawl through Dudley archives have a revealed and article in The Advertiser of 21st August 1915 in which Sgt Jordan told of the exploits which were to inspire the painting.


Civic Society minutes 15th June 2015

At this June’s Civic Society we heard Dudley Council’s conservation officer Jayne Pilkington and planning policy officer Dave Piper talk about proposed changes for the local listing of buildings. Concern was expressed about trees being damaged in Marsh Park and news was received regarding Brierley Hill in Bloom and the Christmas Festival.


Civic Society, Monday 6pm St Michael’s Church

You are cordially invited to the next meeting of Brierley Hill Civic Society which will take place next Monday, 15th June at St Michael’s Church, Brierley Hill. The main topic on the agenda will be the future of historic buildings in the borough.




1914: Brierley Hill soldiers describe the famous Christmas Truce

These extracts from the County Express 100 years ago contain letters from Brierley Hill soldiers who were serving at the front in 1914 when the famous Christmas Truce took place. There is also an article which describes how much the town raised to send parcels to serving soldiers and where they were stationed.



1983 poem by A. Billingham on the closure of Round Oak #NationalPoetryDay

This poem, by A. Billingham, published in the Black Country Bugle in January 1983, is really moving. The late seventies and early eighties were terrible times for local industry. Factories that had been providing employment for over 100 years disappeared, seemingly overnight. With them went the sports and clubs which provided social networks for local communities. The town has never recovered.