At the Annual Assembly of the Great Wyrley Parish Council, a brief presentation was given by Daz Buttler from Cheslyn Hay Society on the project he is undertaking re:- Cheslyn Hay burial records. Our Society members were in attendance. It is possible that a similar project might be undertaken for Great Wyrley burial records and the Society could be asked to partner the project in some way, if possible. We await the Parish Council re: – their preferred next steps.

Members of the Society attended the annual thanksgiving service and celebration for voluntary and community groups arranged and hosted by the Chairman of Great Wyrley Parish Council, Kath Perry, at the Community Centre. Gary Smith gratefully accepted a donation on behalf of the Society from the Chairman’s 2012 / 2013 fund-raising initiative at the celebration.

The monthly coffee morning address was given by Paul Ford on Zeppelin raids in Walsall and surrounding areas. The hugely entertaining talk included many unknown facts providing numerous contrasts between the defences at the time of the possible raids and nowadays. Arrangements have been finalised for our participation in the Great Wyrley Carnival being held on June 29th. Members have been asked to support the activities during the day and, in particular, visit the Society stand on the ‘Star’ field.

Efforts are being made to arrange a visit to the Mother of Pearl factory run by Geoff Hook, as requested by Society members. The likely timeframe is October. Places will be offered on a ’first come first served’ basis and details will be confirmed to members as soon as possible.

Enquiries asking for family information have been received from Australia and Thailand. They are being checked out in order to provide further details, if and where possible. Gavin Williamson, our M.P. has provisionally confirmed he will join us at our ‘Open Day’ being held at Harrisons club on 16th November. An extensive program for the day has started to be arranged and will be further developed in the upcoming weeks.

A group licence has been discussed for the Ancestry software. This would provide further support for the ‘Genealogy for beginners’ sessions that are being held on the 4th Thursday of each month and a final decision will be made in the next few weeks. Background data to commemorate the Great War (World War 1) continues to be sought (and provided at times) and is further sought by numerous local Societies. As part of the efforts, a number of documents are forwarded electronically. For example, a Radio 4 program about German soldiers on Cannock Chase. Members expressed interest in being kept informed of on-going progress. Should any member wish to receive a copy of electronic information that is received, could they please send an e-mail to ron.myatt@sky.com and efforts would be made to share the information as much as possible.

A quick straw-poll with members at the coffee morning indicated a strong preference for these monthly web-site newsletters to be copied and left on tables for attendees to view at the monthly coffee mornings. This will be arranged, whenever possible.

The project to re-index our archives and artefacts continues to move forward. It is enabling us to receive further contents and efforts are being made to achieve this objective. Church, voluntary and community groups are being contacted in the near future and members are to be asked if they could look further into their personal, and near family, collections to see if they have other contents. It has resulted in 4 personal pictures being forwarded that did not seem to have a more general interest. A daughter in ‘special’ gear for a carnival in 1980 and a bell-ringing class at school in 1981 did not seem History Society material to me, for instance. Our Society Photo Archivist, Sue Challenger, quickly explained why I was wrong. Every member is being asked to re-look so we can further build up our archives for us, and future generations. Many thanks.

Ron Myatt

The good weather on April 20th helped to ensure a good St. Georges Day celebration was held in the village. A procession through the village was well received and the Society fully participated in the events held at Harrisons Sports and Social Club in Wharwell Lane. Trevor Pearce and Derrick Hazzard can be seen manning the outside booth and Rob Caddick leading the procession on horseback.

Much background activity is on-going in readiness for the World War 1 (Great War) commemoration. This is being done locally, regionally and nationally with Staffordshire playing an active leading role.

David Barker, the Staffordshire Great War Trail Project Manager visited the Society to share information on World War 1 commemoration plans and to assist us as and when we might wish to move forward in some way. Bob Brevitt joined the meeting on behalf of the Cheslyn Hay & District Local History Society and informal contact will be maintained to see if neighbouring Societies might want to move forward in some co-ordinated fashion.

A Staffordshire – wide conference sponsored by the County Council was attended. Upwards of 70 Organisations and Groups attended and an array of on-going and planned World War 1 commemoration activities were outlined. A BBC reporter also attended and shared the outline plans for the extensive cover that is being arranged. This includes drama productions from the Birmingham office and detailed news coverage of local and regional events.

A quick straw poll of attendees at the April coffee morning indicated that members wished to be kept informed as more detailed World War 1 commemoration activities were being planned locally, regionally and nationally.

A delightful coffee morning was held and thoroughly enjoyed by the attending members. Kate Denny is a Great Wyrley reared lady who now lives in the South-East of England. Her mom and dad still live in the village. Kate spoke of growing up in the village and her love of music from an early age with glowing references to Lawrence Smallwood’s skills and leadership. Kate is now an established folk singer who performs at clubs throughout the country. A number of self-penned songs have been produced that tell of her family life and historic events in and around the village. At conclusion, with support from her guitarist, Kate gave us a selection of songs from her repertoire and the picture below shows Kate during her performance.

During the coffee morning, approaches were made by some members to see if the Society could arrange a visit to the Mother of Pearl factory run by Geoff Hook. Everyone felt the presentation at the March coffee morning had been excellent and wanted to see Geoff’s version of ‘Steptoes yard’ (His words, not mine). Feedback will be presented to members at a future coffee morning as soon as possible.

The annual Open Day has been confirmed for Saturday, November 16th to be held at Harrisons club in Wharwell Lane. At the April coffee morning, Ron Myatt gave an incorrect date. Could members please note the correct details. Themes are being raised and a start has been made with further new materials for the day.

The genealogy for beginners classes have been started and will be continued on the 4th Thursday of each month for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, Ray Franks has had to withdraw for the immediate future and the Society is grateful to Bob Brevitt (from the Cheslyn Hay Society) for stepping into the breach and providing his specialist skills. Bob has kindly agreed to continue until Ray is able to resume.

Due to Ray’s absence, a change of speaker for the May coffee morning has been arranged. Our Society Archivist, Paul Ford will provide an absorbing address about Zeppelins in the areas in and around Great Wyrley. Thanks are afforded to Paul for stepping in.

April ended in a pleasant manner as Gary Smith, Pam Ball and Pauline Kelsey were invited to join Carl Chinn on his radio WM show to speak about the Society, Great Wyrley and the Society book ‘Reflections Over The Years’. Click here to listen to the show

Arrangements have been made to participate in the St. George’s Day celebration being held at Harrisons Sports and Social Club on April 20th. The Great Wyrley Carnival Committee is planning the day’s activities with support from the Royal British Legion. The traditional start will be held and, having learned the lessons from previous celebration, provision has been made for both outside and inside stalls to be manned depending upon the variable English weather. The Society has formed a sub-committee to make our definitive arrangements and the theme of our displays will be ‘children’. The background research and possible activities to commemorate the start of the ‘Great War (World War 1) continues to gather pace. The Society has been invited, along with numerous Societies and Organisations, to attend an exchange of information, and ideas, being led by Staffordshire County Council. Staffordshire has a distinctive profile, particularly in and around the Cannock area, associated with World War 1 and it is hoped that an interesting program of activities can be put together. Also, the County Council Project Manager will be calling in to Broadmeadow Lane to speak informally with us regarding possible next steps.

The possible visit to Shugborough previously mentioned has been further considered and will not now be taking place due to other commitments already made for the same time. The Society Open Day for 2013 has been confirmed for Saturday, 16th November. It will be held at Harrisons Sports and Social Club in Wharwell Lane. The Society considered various alternative dates and decided to hold the Open Day later in the year than has been the case in previous years. Further contents will be listed as the definitive details and schedule of activities are prepared. An extensive re-cataloguing of the Society photo archives is being undertaken in background mode. The Society has an extensive library and the efforts being made will enable even further contents to be included as and when donations are kindly made. The exercise may result in a slight time delay with requests for photo searches and similar but it is hoped that this will be kept to a practical minimum, whenever possible. A thoroughly entertaining and informative coffee morning was held with Geoff Hook. He is the last ‘Mother of Pearl’ practitioner and his examples of the raw materials plus the wide range of final products was illuminating. A number of ‘sad’ comments were subsequently received that this heritage-laden profession would be lost forever unless some group (or Organisation) could be found to preserve this distinctive skill (and it’s old labour-intensive machines).

A Genealogy for beginners class has started and will be held on the fourth Thursday of each month. This is in response to a number of informal enquiries from Society members plus other people in the local community. The sessions are directed by Ray Franks who has detailed practical knowledge arising from his own personal efforts on his family (and wider –reaching relatives).

In 2014, it will have been 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1. The Society has been contacted about a number of planned and potential celebrations and, in principle, will support as many as possible that acknowledge this unique landmark. Members will be notified of actual details as soon as they are defined.

We have been asked to speak on the Professor Carl Chinn show on WM radio in April. This is held on Sunday lunchtimes. The specific dates and timings will be confirmed in March and notified to members as soon as possible thereafter.

An enquiry has been received on the web-site from the U.S.A. asking for support with findings to date that suggests their family may be linked with the origins of Great Wyrley. This is being followed up by Ray Franks who will be liaising with the enquirer on any further information that is unearthed. It is one example of others that have been received. It has been agreed that similar requests will be shared periodically with members at coffee mornings so that their knowledge and experience can be incorporated with any responses that are issued. Subject to permission being received from the enquirer, it is also planned to include any subsequent findings in the quarterly magazines that are issued to members.

Preliminary costings have been confirmed of a visit to Shugborough that may be held to coincide with our A.G.M that is scheduled in June. They will be finalised in the near future and presented to members at a coffee morning for their consideration and agreement as to their preferred next steps.

A further pleasing aspect has arisen with our book ‘Reflections Over the Years’ issued in December 2012. Versions had been issued to a number of public establishments in the local area and a further number have now been requested by the County Library Service. It means a wider spread of availability will be made for the general public using the Library service in surrounding areas.

The coffee morning was well supported. It provided a good example of how a voluntary group i.e. Landywood Voluntary Help Centre can start from an initial idea of one person thirty plus years ago and continue to the present day to be part of the activities in the community.

Our book ‘Reflections over the years’ has continued to be well received following the formal public launch event on December 12th at the Community Centre. Commendations have been received from Lord Cormack, our M.P. Mr Gavin Williamson and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Requests for the book are being regularly received and distributions arranged. These include a number of international locations.

The book has been distributed to local schools and libraries. The Society has been particularly pleased with its acceptance into the William Salt library in Stafford. This library is the official reference point for formal information enquiries within the County and it is extensively used by a wide range of public and private Organisations.

Our ‘Great Wyrley Review’ publication issued in 2011 also continues a steady selling profile. However, the last box of books was opened recently and current indications are that it will be sold out in the near future. Please contact Gary Smith, Trevor Pearce or Tony Newell for further information. Their details are included at the end of the ‘Were You There?’ article.

At the book launch on December 12th, we were delighted to be handed a letter dated 1901 to the Parish Council from Whitehall on behalf of the King offering thanks for support following the death of Queen Victoria. At the January 2013 meeting of Great Wyrley Parish Council, it was agreed that the Council would take a good copy of the letter and the original could be bequeathed to our Society. Steps are being taken to ensure it is preserved, stored in the Society archives and made available for exhibitions and other events that are supported by the Society.

Despite the horrific weather, an excellent turnout came to the coffee morning. The speaker gave an entertaining talk on ‘Shugborough and its hidden treasures’. Several examples were displayed and ‘eyes were opened’ as to the gem that is virtually on our doorstep! Afterwards, a number of members informally asked about visiting Shugborough and further details will be sought in the near future.