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
Publications
2025 AGM, 2nd July
The Bromsgrove Society’s Annual General Meeting will be held at Avoncroft Museum on Wednesday 2nd July 2025 at 7.30pm.
In addition to the usual business of the AGM, the meeting will be asked to approve minor changes to the Society’s Constitution. The Constitution was first issued on our formation in 1980 and has not been updated since 1986.
The Committee considers that all of the changes are of a minor nature. They are intended to reflect the evolution in working practices over the last 40 years, as well as the changed circumstances of voluntary societies such as ours, for example declining membership.
In summary, the main changes are:
- A small change in the Society’s aims, to reflect the fact that we undertake minor commercial activities, such as selling books and organising paid events, which was not foreseen in the original powers.
- Updating of the membership categories and removal of stated membership rates.
- Updating of the timing of the AGM, in line with recent practice.
- Revisions to the minimum size of the Executive Committee, the required number of meetings per annum, and the notice necessary for nominations, again to reflect recent practice and circumstances, and modern working techniques.
- Inclusion of electronic means of communication and electronic addresses as legitimate means of promulgating notices.
Further details will be given at the AGM.
June Newsletter
The June 2025 edition of the Society's newsletter has been delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. The newsletter will be going to press shortly and will be distributed as soon as available.
When published, this edition will also be available to read online. Taking the online version often means that you receive the latest edition sooner and saves us money as well. To opt out of hardcopy and request the e-newsletter instead, contact the Membership Secretary, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Back issues of the journal are available to read in our Newsletter Archive.
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.
Latest Newsletter
The Bromsgrove Society Newsletter
 |
The March 2025 issue of the Society's newsletter is now available, containing details of:
Click the links to download the March Newsletter (PDF format). |
Bromsgrove Summer School 2025
This year's Bromsgrove Summer School will be held on 8th-10th 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:
Tues 8th July: Bromsgrove’s Home Front, 1939 - 1945 with Pat Tansell, Vice-Chairman of the Bromsgrove Society. Includes a visit to ‘Step Back in Time’ a large collection of WWII memorabilia. NOW SOLD OUT- Weds 9th July: Victorian Railways and the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway with Tony Condor, former curator of the National Waterways Museum at Gloucester. The visit will be to the former station building at Hunnington.
Thur 10th July: The Arts and Crafts Movement in North Worcestershire with Kirsty Hartsiotis, museum curator, writer, speaker and storyteller. After lunch we will visit Holy Trinity & St. Mary’s Church, Dodford which has examples of work by Amy Walford and the Bromsgrove Guild. NOW SOLD OUT
The 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. To access the booking form or book online, click 'Read More' below.
Read more...Bromsgrove Rousler 2024
The latest edition of the Bromsgrove Rousler, the popular local history magazine, is now available. The 2024 edition – number 39 in the series – features a fascinating mix of personalities and events that have helped shape Bromsgrove’s history.
Topics in this year’s Rousler are:
- Eddie Palmer: The Epic Story of a Boy Seaman
- The Caulcott Sisters
- All Saints Church: Celebrating 150 Years
- Webbs: A Local Success Story
- Forty Years of the Bromsgrove Methodist Church Centre
- Bromsgrove in Old Postcards.
Members will receive their copies shortly. Find a local stockist.
See here to purchase the Rousler from our online bookstall (leaves this website)
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.
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.
About the Bromsgrove Guild
The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was founded in 1898 by the sculptor Walter Gilbert. During the next 70 years the firm developed into a thriving commercial enterprise, acquiring an international reputation for the high quality of its craftmanship in metalwork, woodcarving, plasterwork, stained glass and other media.
Celebrated Guild contracts included Liverpool's famous Liver Birds, ornate metalwork on the great Cunarders Lusitania and Queen Mary, and the statue of Hygiea which stands in the garden of Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence. However, the Bromsgrove Guild's most memorable commission was to create the wrought iron gates of Buckingham Palace. As a result of completing this particular task the Guild received a Royal Warrant in 1908.
When not working such high profile projects, the firm produced large quantities of lead rainwater goods, garden statuary, fountains, sundials, wrought ironwork and bronze light fittings.