Brendan Hawthorne, poet at Civic Society – Arts Space – 21st Feb 5.30pm

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Brendan Hawthorne – a Black Country poet – will facilitate a workshop for Civic Society members and others (visitors welcome) on Monday 21st February at 5.30pm. There is a change to our normal venue and we will meet at ARTS SPACE, MILL STREET, BRIERLEY HILL .

We are exceedingly lucky in that Suzanne Carter from English Heritage has laid on the special event for us as part of its ‘Brierley Hillness’ project.

Brendan Hawthorne – a Black Country poet – will facilitate a workshop.

The workshop will involve working with the group to look at what is special and distinctive about BH – what are the buildings, spaces and places that make BH the town that it is. The end product may be a collective poem, short piece of writing or just a brain storming session culminating in lots of ideas and words.

Brendan  has asked that members do a tiny bit of preparation to get the session started and bring with them one of the following to share with the group:

  • A photo of a place in Brierley Hill that is special
  • A newspaper cutting about something which sums up the town
  • A photo of themselves standing outside their favourite building or place in Brierley Hill
  • A memory or story (max 2 mins) about what makes Brierley Hill special or unique
  • A description of the town (max 2 mins) using visual images, colours, smells and sounds

Or finish the sentence. “Brierley Hillness is…”

Hopefully this will be a terrific event and really enjoyable.

Please pass on the invitation to anyone you think may be interested.

Brierley Hill in old pictures: talk and presentation 18th October, 5.30pm St Michael’s

Brierley Hill Town Hall in January 1968. The library now stands at this location.

Local historian and publisher Ned Williams will give a talk and presentation entitled “Brierley Hill in Old Pictures” to Brierley Hill Civic Society  on 18th October 2010 at St Michael’s Church Brierley Hill commencing at 5.30pm.

Entrance to the event is FREE and ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.

Given Ned’s track record of talking and presenting this should be a terrific event.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Podcast – witches, fairies, folklore – the Brierley Hill Botanical Walk

Witches, fairies, thunder, lighting, folklore, food and science.  If you missed the Brierley Hill Botanical walk, lead by Pam Smith of www.sited.org you missed a treat.  Now you have a chance to catch up by listening to our podcast of the event.

Simply click here to launch the podcast.  If you wish to download it for you ipod then right click the link and save the target.

Update: To get the best effect it is best to download and listen using a player which recognises Chapters, such as itunes or on an ipod. This enables you to move around the podcast to the track which you are most interested in.

See the new plans for Brierley Hill Campus

Stourbridge College has revealed the plans for its new £11 million state of the art Creative Industries Centre in Brierley Hill.  At a presentation to Brierley Hill Civic Society, Vice Principal Andy Sylvester told the meeting that the Centre, due to open in September 2011 will bring 600 full time students to the heart of the town.  Courses offered will include: fine art, weaving, fashion design, sculpture, graphic design and 3D design. Continue reading See the new plans for Brierley Hill Campus

Brierley Hill Civic Society, Monday 17th May 2010, 5.30pm St Michael’s Church

All residents are welcome to attend the next meeting of Brierley Hill Civic Society which will take place on Monday, 17th May at 5.30pm, St Michael’s Church.

The agenda will be:

Continue reading Brierley Hill Civic Society, Monday 17th May 2010, 5.30pm St Michael’s Church

Proud of Brierley Hill? Civic Society launches on Monday – all welcome to attend

Anyone interested in preserving and promoting the heritage of Brierley Hill Town Centre is welcome to attend the launch of the new Civic Society for the town on Monday, 15th February, 2010 at St Michaels Brierley Hill.  The event starts at 5.30pm.

As well as agreeing a constitution for the Society, the meeting will elect officers and will hear speakers from Dudley Archives Service, the National Youth Theatre and the Ponies 2010 project.

Steering group meetings have set a target end time of 7.30 for meetings and it is hoped that we everyone will find the meeting interesting and worthwhile.

Civic Society to launch on 15th February

The Civic Society want to promote a sense of pride in our town

Brierley Hill Civic Society will be holding its official launch next month at St Michael’s Church Brierley Hill.  The launch will commence at 5.30pm on Monday 15th February.

 The Society is being set up to promote research into the history of area, a sense of civic pride, and local arts and cultural events.  It will also comment on the regeneration plans for the area. Continue reading Civic Society to launch on 15th February

Next Civic Society Meeting: Monday 18th January, 5.30pm, St Michael’s, Brierley Hill

Members of Brierley Hill’s newly formed civic society will get their chance to have a say on the town’s Area Action Plan – a strategic document to guide the development of the town – at its next meeting on Monday, 18th January.  The meeting will start at 5.30pm and all residents are welcome to attend. Continue reading Next Civic Society Meeting: Monday 18th January, 5.30pm, St Michael’s, Brierley Hill

Moor Street Glass Centre visit – photographs

PB164327The Civic Society visited Moor Street Glass Centre on Monday 16th November.  The building was opened in 1904 and funded by Andrew Carnegie.  For many years it provided the town with its library, technical institue and glass museum.

The future of the building is now uncertain.  Dudley College no longer needs to use the building as is looking at disposal of its asset to fund improvements to its estate elsewhere. 

Following its visit the Civic Society felt that it would rather see the building used than left to stand and deteriorate and would like a future use to preserve the strong internal features – it therefore resolved to write to Dudley College to ask them to take this into account in its future plans.

The building is in the new Brierley Hill Conservation area and the Society will also be asking its local councillors to adopt a watching brief on proposals that come forward for the future use of the building.

Photographs of the interior can be viewed using this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennyandtimsunter/sets/72157622828781548/with/4114119021/