This photo was taken December 1968, the first year that Great Wyrley High School formed a brass band. Rehearse took place in the school hall with ex-Yorkshire miner Jim Sharp on trombone. Music teacher Margaret Howell poses with a baton, using mainly donated instruments. Old Jim Sharp – trombone, Andrew Perks – cornet, Valerie Love – cornet. Georgina Onions – euphonium. Tim Perks – cornet. Rosemary Wiznieski on tenor horn and Terry McGrath on tuba.
Great Wyrley marked Remembrance Sunday with a service in the memorial garden on the Walsall Road. It was a fantastic turn out, as villagers gathered to join in as we remembered those who have given their lives.
Lead by the British Legion, all the different school, groups, societies charities came to pay their respects and to lay a wreath. Children from local Scouts groups and Browies, carried their flags as they marched through the memorial garden.
Jacob and Oliver from Great Wyrley Academy did the school proud this morning, has Jacob read out the names off the plate of the soldiers from the Great War and his brother Oliver laid a wreath.
Reverend Morris Price – Parish Community Minister, conducted the service as he lead us into hymns and prayers. Remembrance Day is a symbolic act of honour, gratitude, and collective memories, what has been passed on to the next generations. Wreaths – especially those made of poppies, are laid at war memorials to pay respect to members of the armed forces and civilians who lost their lives in conflicts, particularly the First and Second World Wars.
Red poppies first became a symbol for Remembrance Day, as they were amongst the first plants to grow in the churned-up soil of the Western Front (particularly in Flanders). Their sudden appearance amid destruction made them a powerful symbol of both loss and renewal.
The Royal British Legion sold their first poppies in the UK in 1921, funds went to help veterans of World War I. Poppy sales continue today to support veterans, serving members of the armed forces and families affected by service. Over the years since, poppy wreaths have became a central feature of Remembrance Day services.
The Two-Minute Silence began one year after the First World War ended. On the 11 November 1919, King George V requested a national silence, so that everyone, no matter where they were could pause to remember those who had died. The original idea of the two minute silence came from a South African, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, who suggested: One minute to remember the fallen and One minute to honour the living who served. This silence lets people honour sacrifice, think about loved ones that lost their lives and show respect in a peaceful and shaded way.
The fighting in WWI stopped when the Armistice between the Allies and Germany took effect at 11am, on 11 November 1918
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month
We Will Remember Them
For your tomorrow, we gave our today
Article by Soeli Thomas
It’s turning into spooktactular tradition each year for the Great Wyrley villagers and the surrounding areas. People are coming together to join in on the Halloween Walk around Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay. It’s now been running for 6 years and was started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Local lady Sarah Wiggin, (founder of the Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay ChitChat social media group on Facebook), founded the Halloween Walk back in 2020 whilst trying to think of things for herself and the family to do during the pandemic. Sarah’s friend Carrie Lawrence suggested dressing the houses, as she did hers every year for 1 night only. That was when the Halloween Walk was born. It was only intended to be for 1 year, but it proved to be that popular, residents asked for it again and again. It’s got bigger every year since, with a section of Hilton Lane being closed between 5pm-8pm this year, due to the amount of people joining in on the walk.
In 2020 Great Wyrley Carnival was cancelled due to the pandemic, locals felt they needed an alternative way to celebrate. Sally-Anne Ashford was credited with starting the Great Wyrley Scarecrow trail and then Sarah Wiggin came up with the idea of the Halloween walk, (as restrictions got more relaxed and people were able to mix at that time before the second National Lockdown began a few days after the walk). It was a great way to get people out in the village and help them feel less isolated.
Each year more and more people are getting involved, by either dressing up and joining in on the Halloween Walk around the village. Or decorating their homes and giving sweets out to the children. Both homes and businesses are getting into the full spooky Halloween style, from giant skeletons, spooky ghosts, and now for the second year running, the introduction of the Halloween Scary Maize (bought to you by The Great Wyrley Carnival Community), which was on the grass at the back of the community centre last year. This year, due to windy weather conditions, the Halloween Maze got moved inside the community Centre, giving you that full scary experience as you walk through the different sections of the maze, until it opens out into the large hall with a Halloween disco for the kids, face painting, glitter tattoos and crafts for the kids to do. To enter the maze it’s £3 per person, which helps to raise money for the events that the carnival community host throughout the year.
Our Open Day at the Senior Citizens Centre on Broadlane Lane, was a great success. We had loads of visitors coming though the doors to see our exhibition. There was over hundred photos on display with hundreds more in our books for visitors to look through. As well as maps and a plan of Great Wyrley cemetery. We had one visitor that came looking for a passed relative who was supposedly been buried in the cemetery, but had been having problems finding them. Our graveyard map gave a full listing of all the people buried there and he was able to locate his relative’s location on the map. The display of photos and artefacts was well received by everyone, it showed calculation instruments that was used to calculate planning of the mines.
Our guest speaker- Valerie Campbell, who gave a interesting talk about Churchill’s Secret Circle. Valerie talked about a woman, J Baker, that claimed to be part of this circle. Valerie started to dig deeper into J Baker’s claim and then found another book that was written by a man, unrelated to J Baker. It was like seeing a carbon copy of J Baker’s book, word for word. It turned out that J Baker was nowhere near Germany at the time she claimed to be part of Churchill’s Secret Circle, in fact, at that time J Baker was in Holloway prison.
(Awaiting on photo and more information)