John Corbett (1817-1901) ‘The Worcestershire Salt King - book signing and talk

Talk and book signing of the new John Corbett biography - Volume One by John Richard Hodges at Chateau Impney on Saturday 30th April 2011.


The talk starts at 7.30pm and admission is free.

Raffle in aid of the ‘Rare books and Manuscripts in Worcester Cathedral Library.’ (Donations of prizes welcome)

Restaurant opens early for those guests wishing to have a meal before the talk.

The book signing of the new John Corbett biography.

Guests will include Mr. Stuart Denlegh-Maxwell and his Mother the great grand-daughter and great, great grandson of John Corbett.

Everyone Welcome (Complimentary glass of wine on arrival for guests, coffee and tea provided during the evening).

Any enquiries please contact John on 07970-770144, richardjhodges@yahoo.co.uk or the Chateau itself on: 01905-774411.

Spring Fair at Ruskin Glass Centre this weekend

Many of the onsite businesses are gearing up for a busy weekend as it is the Spring Craft Fair at Ruskin Glass Centre this weekend. Located on Wollaston Road in Amblecote, Stourbridge.
In addition to the 17 independent businesses on site there are a number of craft stalls on offer all weekend. Whether it is a day out for the family or to buy a special Mothers Day gift there will be something for everyone.
Handmade jewellery is proving to be a popular trade that will be at the Craft Fair, from semi-precious stones to fused glass. The Craft Fair will also be a home to the shortlisted Jewellery Maker of the Year 2010 for this weekend only.
Furnaces are charged in preparation for glassblowing demonstrations throughout the weekend. Vic Bamforth of Stourbridge Glassblowing Studio said today; ‘We are really looking forward to the weekend, especially having the opportunity to demonstrate our work to some new faces’. In addition to the glass demonstrations there will also be local Woodturner transforming pieces of local wood into delicate utensils whilst the public watch.
Ruskin Glass Centre is home to a wide array of glass crafts; from glassblowing studios, respected glass artists, engravers, glass decorators, and glass repair specialists to the diverse yet complementary trades of furniture design, handmade soap, textiles, photography, printing and publishing.
Ruskin Glass Centre Spring Craft Fair is 10:00am until 4:00pm, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March 2011

Photo Competition - Brierley Hillness

There is a heritage and arts project going on in Brierley Hill at the moment which is featured under news on Paul Quigley's 'Distinctly Black Country' website.

Lindsay Newton, a Society's members, has just become the Chair of Dudley Arts Council and has asked me to circulate our members about a photo competition which is on at the moment as part of this project. Could you put this info on the website?

He quotes:-
'There is a good photo competition on www.flickr.com/groups/brierleyhillnesscompetition which closes on 25 March.'

Young Photographers Needed for London 2012 Dance Project

Wolverhampton based Central Youth Theatre are looking for young photographers to take part in their Everybody Dance Now project. Everybody Dance Now is a Dancing for the Games project inspired by London 2012 and part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands. It has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands. It is an international celebration of the history of social dance in Wolverhampton, and will culminate in a city-wide festival from 29th July – 6th August 2011.


As part of the Cultural Olympiad commission, Central Youth Theatre have been able to offer several paid apprenticeship posts in various aspects of the arts including writing, directing, design, technical theatre and now photography. The project is looking to recruit three young photographers to capture the magic of the festival. The photographers will be busy recording all aspects of the festival – the performances, the workshops and the public social dances – and their images will be used in the festival newsletter and website, and will be an important part of the legacy of the festival.

Project co-ordinator Jane Ward says, “We are looking for keen photographers aged 16-24 with a flair for taking a beautiful photograph, especially when capturing live action. It will be an exciting job, following the action from one location to another, so we need people who are confident with a camera. We are going to be working in some unique venues such as the Slade Rooms and the magnificent Low Level Railway Station. This is a unique chance for young people to be involved with an international festival, and be a part of London 2012. It will be fast paced and hard work, and it will be fantastic experience, especially for anyone wishing to pursue photography as a career”.

Anyone wishing to apply must be available for the duration of the festival, and the previous weekend 22nd-25th July when preview performances are being held. If you are interested you can find more information by contacting Jane Ward at jane@centralyouththeatre.org or call Central Youth Theatre on 01902 572091.

Dancing for the Games and the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad:
Dancing for the Games is part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands and is inspired by London 2012. It is a three year programme funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Arts Council England West Midlands and Advantage West Midlands. Dancing for the Games uses the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to get as many people as possible dancing across the West Midlands.
The Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands is already touching the lives of thousands of people. To date some 347,400 people in the West Midlands have been involved in the Cultural Olympiad as audiences or participants, either as part of Open Weekend, the Inspire Programme, or through specific regional programmes. For more information about the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands, please visit, www.wmfor2012.com/culture
Legacy Trust UK is a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival, and is in a unique position to help communities across the UK gain lasting and life-changing benefits from the 2012 Games. The Trust has allocated £40 million of funding to 12 programmes in each nation and region of the UK and four national programmes. This funding will act as a catalyst to link grassroots activities across into the Olympic programme, so that people from all walks of life – not just athletes and sports fans – can be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime event. For more information on Legacy Trust UK please visit http://www.legacytrust.org.uk/

Bostin Fittle in Tipton

Tipton Town Libraries Local History Group have been running for the past few years and have been collecting local material and memories, hosting events and promoting the heritage of Tipton to local school children through a variety of themed lessons
Every September the group and members of Tipton Library hold a special local history day and in the past subjects such as The Bean and Tipton's Sporting Heritage have been featured.
This September the day will focus on Black Country Food and in particular Palethorpes and other local food producers in the area. The group are looking for traditional family recipes and are hoping to hold a 'bread pudding' competiton to accompany the event on Saturday 24th September
The campaign will be launched at the library at a special coffee morning on Thursday 21st April when members of MACE (media archive for Central England) will be showing a selection of film clips on the theme of Black Country Food and encouraging people to bring in their own clips and photographs to add to their archive

Admission to the coffee morning is free by advance ticket and tickets can be reserved at the library on 0121 557 1796. The local history group meets on the first Thursday of the month at Tipton Library at 10.30am

Photo shows members of the group with some of the material they have collected

 

Robert Hazel (Community Library Manager)

Distinctly Black Country Network - Paul Quigley

This is just a short circular to supporters of distinctly black country to update you on the progress of the network. I’m pleased to say we now have thirteen supporting organisations with a wide range of expertise and interests.
Our website, http://www.distinctlyblackcountry.org.uk/, is also continuing to develop. We now have financial support for a formal launch event, and I will be in touch with more details of this.
In the meantime, thanks very much to those of you made comments on earlier versions of the website … and if you have any more don’t hesitate to get in touch. We want to use it as a forum both to discuss what is different about the area, but ultimately to encourage people to explore the landscape for themselves (which is why we are including a ‘Where can I find it?’ question against every entry on our A-Z page).
Within the network we want to promote joint working and awareness of each other’s work. To that end our news page aims to be a place where we can post items about initiatives that promote a connection with the landscape (and particularly any community involvement). I should particularly draw your attention to the ‘Brierley Hillness’ events underway at the moment, but please get it touch if there is anything else you would like to post in this way.
Lastly, we have been in discussion about possible joint projects with network organisations and hope to develop this further.

Paul Quigley (t: 01902 552046)

Youth Theatre Go Digital For Web Project

Young members of Wolverhampton’s Central Youth Theatre swapped their scripts for computer screens last week, as they embarked on a half-term web design week for their Everybody Dance Now project. Everybody Dance Now is part of Dancing for the Games, the West Midlands contribution to the Cultural Olympiad, inspired by London 2012.


Nine members of the youth theatre travelled to the web design studios in Birmingham to get hands on experience, creating the project’s exciting new website. The group are exploring the history of social dance in Wolverhampton, including popular dancehalls such as Queen’s Ballroom, the Civic Hall and Catacombs. Heritage Lottery funding is helping them create an original piece of legacy work – virtual 3D recreations of the dance halls, complete with music and fashion from each era.

The youngsters involved in the web-week have been helping to create this music using computer software, and researching the dance halls to contribute to the 3D recreations. Marketing Assistant Jessica Collings, who accompanied the group, says, “It was great to give the kids the chance to do something different, to get involved with the project beyond just appearing on stage. You could see they got a buzz out of learning new skills from the professionals, and soon their work will go live for everyone to see. They will be able to feel great ownership for the legacy of the project”.

The website will compliment an exhibition of dance hall memories to be shown at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and the Everybody Dance Now festival at the start of August, which will see local dance groups and youth theatres from Wolverhampton and across Europe perform in the city.

Youth theatre member Jack Baggott, 18, says, “The website is a brilliant idea because it will really appeal to our generation. We have helped in creating the final version of the website, which will be up soon, all shiny and professional. We have all thoroughly enjoyed our experience!”.

The digital recreations will be found at www.centralyouththeatre.org within the next couple of weeks.
For further information, or to organise an interview, contact Marketing Officer Jessica Collings on Jessica@centralyouththeatre.org or 07912647362

Young People Bring Dance Memories to Life

Young people from Wolverhampton and the Black Country are working hard to bring together an exhibition based on local memories of social dancing and dance halls, which will be shown at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. The exhibition, entitled “And We Went Dancing…” will form part of a lasting legacy of Central Youth Theatre’s (CYT) Everybody Dance Now project.
The project is part of Dancing for the Games, part of the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands, inspired by London 2012. As well as a city wide international youth theatre festival in August, the project includes the exhibition, an interactive web-based recreation of local dance halls and a documentary film exploring the history of Asian dance. The exhibition and website have been funded by the Young Roots scheme of the Heritage Lottery Fund, to help the young people find out about this important part of local history.
Throughout the past few months, members of CYT have met and interviewed over 100 locals, researching dance memories from the 1930s to the 1970s, and the decades in between. Joseph Twilley, 20, who is leading the team organising the exhibition says, “It’s incredible that so little reminiscence work has been done in this area – speaking to local people has shown us just how important these dance halls were to people. They were where you socialised, met your friends, and fell in love. We’ve had some amazing stories from people from all eras, and all the young people who have been involved so far have told me how much more connected they feel to the history of the town”.
CYT are now on the search for dynamic photographs of dance halls and dancing in Wolverhampton between the 1920s and 1970s. Joseph added, “What we need now, to bring these memories to life, are photographs. But we’ve really struggled to find any documentary pictures, particularly of the dance halls. We need people to search through their old photographs and get nostalgic!”.
If anyone has any suitable images of dancing days – the halls, the outfits or the dancing itself - they should contact Central Youth Theatre director, Jane Ward, at twwajane@aol.com, telephone 01902 572091, or you can write to Central Youth Theatre, Newhampton Arts Centre, Dunkley Street, Wolverhampton WV1 4AN. The youth theatre will make sure that all photos are cared for and returned to their owners.
The exhibition will be shown at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery from mid-July and during the festival week of 29th July to 6th August 2011.

For further information please contact Marketing Assistant Jessica Collings – Jessica@centralyouththeatre.org or phone 01902 572091/07912647362

Photo Competition

There is a good photo competition on http://www.flickr.com/groups/brierleyhillnesscompetitionwhich opens today (8/3/2011) and closes on 25 March.