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
Local History Talks 2025/26
The 2025/26 season of Tuesday evening local history talks starts with
- 16th September :Recent Discoveries at Hartlebury Castle, speaker Tim Cornah.
Further talks until the end of the year are:
- 21st October 2025: Herbert Austin and the Longbridge Story with Max Hunt
- 18th November 2025: Bromsgrove Boulders, Born of Fire, Carried by Ice with Julie Schroder
- 2nd December 2025: Over by Christmas with Quintin Watt.
The full programme is available here.
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.
Special General Meeting, 2nd Dec
The Bromsgrove Society’s Annual General Meeting was convened on Wednesday 2nd July at Avoncroft Museum. Unfortunately, the formal business could not be completed because not enough members were present.
A Special General Meeting will be held to formally conduct the business of the AGM on Tuesday, 2nd December at 7.30pm at the Methodist Centre, Stratford Road, Bromsgrove prior to the Tuesday Talk.
Agenda for the Meeting:
- Agree the Year End Accounts, dated 5th April 2025
- Vote on the updated Constitution
- Elect Officers and Accountants Copies of the accounts, the updated constitution and nominations for Officers will be made available in advance at the Tuesday Talks in September, October, November and posted on the website shortly.
We hope that members will arrive in time to support the SGM, which we anticipate will be concluded before the scheduled talk start time.
Latest Newsletter
The Bromsgrove Society Newsletter
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The September 2025 issue of the Society's newsletter is now available, containing details of:
Click the links to download the September Newsletter (PDF format). |
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.
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.
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.
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.