Your Solihull Library Card gives you access to hundreds of free eBooks available from Solihull Libraries, and we’re trying to add some local history items to the collection.
Continue reading “Local history eBooks”Local history eBooks
Bookings to view reference items
From 12th April 2021 you are able to book to view particular reference books and local studies documents held at The Core Library, Solihull.
Continue reading “Bookings to view reference items”Solihull War Memorial
The unveiling and dedication of Solihull War Memorial in The Square, Solihull, took place on the afternoon of Sunday 19th June 1921 in a ceremony arranged by Brigadier-General Walter Robert Ludlow (1857-1941) whose youngest son had been killed at the Battle of Beaumont Hamel in 1916. This was not the first memorial to the fallen that Solihull parish had erected – a Calvary shrine had been unveiled at Easter 1917.
Continue reading “Solihull War Memorial”Police Sergeant Harry Brooks GM
On Tuesday 17th June 1941, Sergeant Harry Brooks, of the Warwickshire Constabulary, based at Shirley Police Station, was presented with the George Medal by His Majesty King George VI at Buckingham Palace. The George Medal was instituted in January 1941 to reward “acts of great bravery” and arose out of the strong desire to reward acts of civilian courage during the Blitz.
Continue reading “Police Sergeant Harry Brooks GM”Solihull Poor Law Union
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 allowed parishes to join together to form a Poor Law Union, electing a local Board of Guardians to oversee the administration of poor relief and the Union Workhouse.
Continue reading “Solihull Poor Law Union”“Wayfarer”
Walter MacGregor (“Robbie”) Robinson (1877-1956) was a cyclist and writer from Liverpool. He worked for many years as an official for the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company and lived at Lyttleton Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham from at least 1925 until his death in 1956.
Continue reading ““Wayfarer””Catherine-de-Barnes War Memorial
At 5pm on Trinity Sunday, 22nd May 1921, the Bishop of Birmingham dedicated the war memorial at Catherine-de-Barnes mission church, five years after a war memorial fund was begun.
Continue reading “Catherine-de-Barnes War Memorial”National Cyclists’ Memorial, Meriden
The 30-ft tall granite ashlar obelisk was unveiled by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Birkenhead, on Saturday 21st May 1921 in the presence of between 10,000-20,000 cyclists. In 1963, a plaque was added to commemorate cyclists who died in the Second World War. The memorial was given a Grade II listing by English Heritage in 2001.
Continue reading “National Cyclists’ Memorial, Meriden”Maengwynedd Outdoor Education Centre
The outdoor education centre was the former Maengwynedd County Primary School in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Denbighshire, Wales, situated in the foothills of the Berwyn mountain range.
Continue reading “Maengwynedd Outdoor Education Centre”German war deaths in Solihull
On the night of 10th/11th May 1941, a German Heinkel He111 bomber was brought down by a Lewis gunner at a Searchlight Battery near Fulford Hall Farm in Rumbush Lane.
Continue reading “German war deaths in Solihull”Evans’ Convalescent Home
The Evans Convalescent Home for Children, Widney Manor Road, Solihull was set up in 1881 by Susannah Sarah Evans (née Lee). She was the wife of Rev. Canon Charles Evans (1824-1904) who was Rector of Solihull 1872-1894. The above photo shows the home c.1940.
