Mapping the numbers of deaths against dates produces a graph which reminded me of a seismograph: highlighting some of the most awful days and an awful awful war. Two days in particular stand out – 21st March 1918, the start of the Spring Offensive and 13th October 1915. Both of these battles took a terrible toll of life. There is also a tale of a Brierley Hill hero.
An analysis of the 134 individuals identified on the war memorial illustrates the army’s policy of recruiting into locally based regiments. Almost three quarters of these casualties belonged to the South Staffordshire Regiment (41%) and the Worcestershire Regiment (31%).
Unlocking the secrets of Brierley Hill war memorial – a search for the names on Brierley Hill war memorial has revealed the identities of 134 of the 205 names on the monument, including their birth places, date of death, regiment and battalion, and the theatre of war they died in. The post has a downloadable Excel worksheet to help with your own researches.
This is a lovely poem dreaming of how local places got their names which is quoted in ‘The Folklore of the Black Country’ by Roy Palmer.
The first ever Christmas Tree festival is taking part in Brierley Hill from Saturday 7th – Sunday 15th December 2013. St Michael’s Church is asking individuals and organisations to loan them a Christmas tree (2’-6’) decorated to reflect their activity.
At last things seem to be moving… Funding has been achieved from Community First and Brierley Hill traders…£5,000 in total. Growing has started at part of Stourbridge College/Birmingham Met’s foundation horticultural course. Council has given us a bit of a run around in finding out who to talk to re the correct planters to buy • Read More »
Dr Paul Collins spoke about the tank ‘Julian’ visiting Brierley Hill in 1918 during his recent talk to the Civic Society. A bit of online research resulted in this splendid footage from Pathé films. The first shot is of the tank at the junction of Church Street and Church Hill, next to St Michael’s Church.
Residents demonstrate before council meeting. Planning committee hears the pros and cons of development proposals. Proposal turned down by councillors.
This week’s release of employment data makes grim reading for Brierley Hill and underlines the case for greater efforts to regenerate the area. Those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) amount to 8.7% of the population. This is two and a half times the national average (3.5%) and well above the borough figure of 4.9%. Year • Read More »
The SayNoToCleanPowerEnergyCentreInBrierleyHill Facebook site this morning reported speculation that Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd (RDF) may have ceased trading. The Environment Agency haven’t heard anything to this effect, the on moving new waste to the site from 10th July might be root of rumours. [View the story “RDF: rumour of ceased trading” on Storify]