The Bromsgrove Society - Pride, Preservation, Progress
Welcome to the Bromsgrove Society
The Bromsgrove Society exists to preserve the history and promote the sustainable development of the town of Bromsgrove in north Worcestershire.
Read more about Our Work and How to Join
Bromsgrove Summer School 2026
This year's Bromsgrove Summer School will be held on 7th-9th July. It offers three courses over the three days, celebrating the rich agricultural, industrial, architectural and cultural history of Bromsgrove and district.
This year's topics are:
- Day 1, Tues 7th July: Birmingham and the General Strike of 1926, with Andrew Reekes. Andrew followed a career in education and has now returned to studying history in the West Midlands. In the afternoon Julian Hunt will look at how the General Strike affected Bromsgrove.
- Day 2, Weds 8th July: A History of Kidderminster; a town renowned for its Carpet Industry, with Julian Hunt, local historian, founder of the Summer School and a former editor of this newsletter. The afternoon visit will include a view of surviving carpet factories and handloom weavers’ cottages.
- Day 3, Thurs 10th July: The Bromsgrove Guild - New Evidence and Insights, with Professor Ben Bennett. Ben is a former Bromsgrove resident with an in-depth knowledge of the Guild. His recent research has revealed previously unknown works. In the afternoon we will visit the site of the remaining Guild workshop and some of the Guild features at Bromsgrove School.
The standard fee for each course is £55, or £50 for members of the Bromsgrove Society. The cost for attending across all three days will be £150 or £135 respectively. This year there is a new option of attending the morning session only up to lunchtime. To access the booking form or book online, click 'Read More' below.
Read more...Latest Newsletter
The Bromsgrove Society Newsletter
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The March 2026 issue of the Society's newsletter is now available, containing details of:
Click the links to download the March Newsletter (PDF format). |
Bromsgrove Rousler 2025
The latest edition of the Bromsgrove Rousler, our popular local history magazine, is now available. To celebrate the Rousler's 40th anniversary, this year's edition is a special bumper issue packed full of stories on people and events that have helped shape Bromsgrove’s history.
Topics in this year’s Rousler include:
- Big Bertha: The Story of a Railway Icon
- Bromsgrove's influence on the poet A.E. Housman
- New research on the Bromsgrove Guild
- The Remarkable Walford Sisters
- Albert Malin's War
- Thomas Swift and the Electric Picture Palace.
Follow these links to purchase the Rousler from our online bookstall
(leaves this website) or One-click Purchase through Paypal
Bromsgrove Society Members will receive their copies shortly. Find a local stockist.
Rouslers make an ideal Christmas present, especially for friends now living elsewhere.
Back issues and a wide variety of books can be bought through our online bookstall.
Local History Talks 2025/26
The final talk in our 2025/26 season of Tuesday evening local history meetings is:
- 19 May 2026: Red for Danger, with Quintin Watt, talking about early railway accidents in the West Midlands and their impact, 1830-1860.
There is no meeting in April due to the Easter holidays. Our 2026/27 programme will be announced shortly.
The talks are held at The Methodist Centre, Stratford Road, B60 1AS. Doors open 7.15pm, all talks begin at 7.45pm. All welcome. Admission: Members £3, Non-Members £4.
Annual Lecture Now Online
Kevin Ward's lecture on the history of town criers and his 40 years as Bromsgrove's Town Crier is now available on our YouTube channel.
Society Review 2023-24
The Bromsgrove Society’s AGM was held at Avoncroft Museum on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 at 7.30pm. Twenty-eight members attended.
The Chairman, Jo Slade, read her review of the year, thanking the committees and society members for their work and support in what had been another successful year. John Gerner gave a review on environment matters and Chris Nesbitt delivered her final review as chair of the Local History Group. Chris was thanked for all her contributions and was given a token of appreciation. The reports are available here. Members agreed to give the Executive Committee authority to sign off the Annual Accounts which were still to be finalised. They will be made available on the website.
Members re-elected the officers and committee members: Chairman Jo Slade, Vice-Chairman Pat Tansell, Treasurer Julian Dyer, Secretary Sue Beaumont, Membership Secretary Sue Skidmore, Executive Committee John Gerner, Julian Hunt, Alastair Moseley and Mike Sharpe. Mike agreed to chair the Local History Group.
After the meeting Helen Voyle gave a very interesting talk about her work in cataloguing boxes of documents relating to the Court Leet going back to the 1700s. She related fascinating anecdotes taken from letters, which gave some idea of the people involved, their attitudes and activities in days gone by.
Annual Lecture 2024 Online
Alastair Moseley's lecture on the history of the Wychbold masts is now available on our YouTube channel.
This presentation was given at Routh Concert Hall, Bromsgrove School on Tuesday 9th April 2024, as the 37th Annual Bromsgrove Lecture. In the presentation, Alastair describes how the BBC Transmitters came to be located near Bromsgrove, explains their role, and why they have been important, both nationally and internationally, for the past 90 years.
The presentation includes the 1935 film "Droitwich: The World's Most Modern Long Wave Transmitter", by John Griegson. A high-resolution version of the film is available at the British Film Institute website.
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