sharing Solihull's local history
Throughout December 2017, there was an exhibition in the Heritage Gallery on the first floor of The Core, Theatre Square, Solihull relating to Tudor Grange Special School, which provided residential and day accommodation for children with physically disabling conditions such as polio and cerebral palsy.
26th September 1917 saw the official opening of Solihull Cemetery, described in the opening brochure as being at the junction of Robin Hood Road and Olton Road, although the cemetery’s address is now usually given as Streetsbrook Road.
The 42-acre-site was chosen as the most suitable place for a cemetery, as it is “easy of access from all parts and is sufficiently removed from the residential districts not to be in any way detrimental to the same.”
Continue reading “Opening of Solihull Cemetery 1917”
For many years, Charlie the Chimp could be seen somersaulting in the window of Gordon Scott’s shoe shop in Solihull High Street.
In 2014, after becoming completely exhausted, Charlie came to spend his retirement at The Core Library, Solihull. His place in the shop window was taken by his “younger brother”, Gordon.
100 years ago two cousins in their 30s met for the first time in Solihull and fell in love.
At the Core Library, Solihull, we have photocopies of some letters written by an Australian First World War soldier – Private Frederick William Forder – from a convalescent hospital in England in 1916 and on board a ship home to Australia in 1919 (our ref.: D125).
The letters were sent to his wife, Edith Forder (née Hobbins) whom he had married at St Alphege Church, Solihull on 5th June 1918. It seems that after six months of married life in England, the couple were parted when Frederick returned to Australia in January 1919, and they never saw each other again.
Berkswell Rectory was used as an Auxiliary Hospital during the First World War. These hospitals for wounded soldiers were administered by the British Red Cross Society, and were used as convalescence hospitals – a stepping stone between treatment at a general hospital and discharge home.
The Red Cross had set up Voluntary Aid Detachments (V.A.D.) in each county to provide supplementary aid to the Territorial Forces Medical Services in the event of war. Members came to be known as ‘V.A.D.s’ and were all trained in first aid and nursing.
Continue reading “Berkswell Rectory Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital”
Tuesday 8th May 1945, Victory in Europe Day, saw much rejoicing as the fighting in Europe officially came to an end and some of the men held as prisoners of war started to return home. At 3pm on Monday 7th May Prime Minister Winston Churchill made the official announcement that the following two days would be public holidays. However, it’s clear from newspaper articles in the Warwick County News that people were very mindful that war with Japan was still ongoing. The newspaper summed up the local celebrations as:
Continue reading “V. E. Day in Solihull, 1945”“typical of others throughout the land where people had gathered together to give thanks that the nightmare of the last grey years was over, and, while remembering that men in far distant lands were still in danger of their lives, to enjoy the day that their individual effort had made particularly their own” (Warwick County News, 12th May 1945)
At Solihull Central Library, we have copies of the Solihull parish magazine for the First World War period. The magazines give a fascinating insight into life on the Home Front, and show a tightly-knit, active and caring community.
Paul Gustave Désiré Quinet (surname pronounced key-nay, or keeney by some) was born on 7th April 1899 in Koekelberg, Brussels. At the age of four and a half, he moved with his parents to Persia but returned to Brussels in 1906 to go to boarding school, where he remained until 1914.
His mother died in childbirth in Persia in 1908 and his father remained working there until returning to Brussels in 1913.
In 1914, after Paul proudly told his father that he had seen German troops in nearby woods, the family quickly gathered together belongings and left Brussels for the Belgian coast, taking the last train to leave before the entry of the German troops into the city.
Continue reading “Paul Quinet, a former Belgian refugee”
In 1909, the British Red Cross was tasked with helping the Territorial Forces Medical Service in the event of war. It set up local units called ‘Voluntary Aid Detachments’, and members were trained in first aid and nursing.
Auxiliary Hospitals, attached to military hospitals, were established – the following are known to have operated in Solihull:
Solihull was the only former Rural District Council to become a Metropolitan Borough Council in its own right under the 1972 Local Government Act, which came into effect on 1st April 1974. A little more than 40 years before, workers were taking up the cobbles in Solihull’s High Street – a graphic illustration of the incredibly rapid growth of the Borough. The population had more than doubled in 7 years, from just over 25,000 in 1932 to 52,610 by 1939.
Solihull Life 