Because our usual venue, Housman Hall, is being refurbished, our students assembled at the Learning Resources Centre, a spacious modern building with a large foyer and raked lecture theatre. This proved ideal for our purposes with ample room for our reception desk and book stall and plenty of seating for those having coffee before the courses commenced. On each day, the course with the largest attendance used the Lecture Theatre whilst the smaller group walked to Cookes Room, the oldest building on the campus. Lunches were served in Housman Room, a large room convenient for both the Lecture Theatre and Cookes Room. As usual, the catering provided by Bromsgrove School was excellent.
It was unfortunate that Alan Petford, a very popular speaker at previous Summer Schools, was prevented by illness from leading Tuesday’s course on timber-framed buildings. His place was taken in the morning by our own Jenny Townshend and Julian Hunt, and in the afternoon, Stephen Price of Worcester, a noted expert on local architecture, led a visit to “Rainscourts” the four-storey timber-framed house next to Lloyds Bank. On the same day, Andrew Maund, another popular speaker at previous Summer Schools, introduced his audience to the poetry of William Shenstone and joined the students on a very enjoyable afternoon visit to “The Leasowes”, Shenstone’s famous landscape garden at Halesowen. Shenstone’s house is now the home of Halesowen Golf Club, whose Vice-President, Trevor Bytheway, very kindly provided tea for the students at the end of their walk.
On Wednesday Julian Hunt brought students up-to-date with the latest research on St John’s Street. He was followed by Richard Bradley, the archaeologist who led the dig in St John’s Street last year. In the afternoon, the students visited Steps House where they were shown around by Joyce Collett. Meanwhile, at Cookes Room, Ian Beckett, Professor of Military History at the University of Kent, gave his view of the outbreak of the Great War, followed by Philip Bowen, who gave a moving account of those former pupils of Bromsgrove School who served and died in the war.
On Thursday, Simon Carter, Director of Avoncroft Museum, addressed the largest group of the Summer School on the Gunpowder Plot in Westminster. He was followed by Jenny Townshend who told the strange story of the plotters retreat to and capture in Worcestershire. In the afternoon, the students visited Coughton Court, home of the Throckmortons, one of the leading Catholic families in the Midlands. Those studying Women’s Suffrage were entertained by Liz Oakley outlining Laurence Housman’s role in the campaign, and by Jill Liddington, who described the women’s boycott of the 1911 census. In the afternoon, the students visited Coombe Cottage, Finstall, once the home of suffrage activist Claribel Horton. Here Liz Oakley, Judy Wright and Frances Page entertained the group with recitations from campaign literature. Frances Page gave a brilliant performance as a diffident young woman attending an anti-suffrage meeting chaired by the lady of the manor. In describing the anti-suffrage meeting and summarising the speeches, she unwittingly gave a concise argument for women gaining the vote.
Thanks are due to all the speakers, to Chris Nesbitt our Secretary for her able administration, and to Jenny Bossard of Bromsgrove School, for making the facilities available to us. We are already planning the Bromsgrove Summer School 2015 which is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Laurence Housman. The short list of courses includes Stone Buildings, Droitwich and the Salt Industry, the Life and Works of Laurence Housman, and Bromsgrove in 1865.
