Following the end of World War One residents in Brierley Hill wished to erect a war memorial. A design was chosen and the ex-servicemen’s association was asked who should model for photographs from which the sculpture was designed. They chose Stanley Harvey, the first Brierley Hill man to win the Distinguished Conduct Medal in the • Read More »
Designed by Walby Pugin the St Mary’s Church was opened on Wednesday 15th October 1873. The Birmingham Daily Post of 17th October contained the following article describing the events of the day. Even in those days there were worries about the condition of the building – foundations had cracked and the bell tower was (and is) yet to be be completed. During many toasts at a celebration in the public hall Brierley Hill dignitaries pledged the loyal support to Her Majesty “…if the socialistic, horrible, and infidel days which seemed imminent were to arrive”!
This is a fantastic video of Round Oak steelworks, taken in 1984, not long before it was demolished to make way for the Waterfront Business Park.
The video is embedded from The Only Way Is Dudley Facebook site, and may take a second or two to load. It is worth the wait.
The video appears to be taken from a vehicle travelling along Dudley Road and then turning into Level Street.
It has already had over 50,000 views on The Only Way Is Dudley Facebook page and there’s lots of comments reminiscing about the works underneath.
Nikolaus Pevsner wrote and published a 46 volume series of books on the buildings of England. The last volume to be published (1974) covered Staffordshire and included buildings in Brierley Hill, Quarry Bank, Brockmoor and Pensnett. It also included some odd comments about Brierley Hill flats and the Black Country.
Terry Church’s new book recalls over 100 clubs now lost to the area, including many in Brierley Hill. Stuart Crystal, Brierley Hill Alliance, Round Oak, Richard Thomas and Baldwin’s, and Marsh and Baxter. Those last three sports ground belonged to massive industries which at one time employed over five thousand people. The book reminds us that the collapse of industry locally had implications reaching beyond the work place and into the social fabric of our community.
Brierley Hill’s UDC Book of Remembrance contains the names, addresses, ranks and date of death of those who lived within the borough’s boundaries and lost their lives in service during World War Two.
Reading the addresses of the fallen is very moving, and brought home to me the emotional impact of the loss. These people could have been neighbours of mine.
The Brierley Hill book of remembrance records the names of those who fell during the second world war and who lived the former Brierley Hill Urban District Council area. I found leafing through the pages and recognising the places where people lived extremely moving.
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.