sharing Solihull's local history
If you look up above the Crescent Arcade in Touchwood, you will see a series of relief sculptures on the bulkhead between the Map Room (now known as the Atrium) and John Lewis. The sculpture group consists of 14 panels and was described by Touchwood’s architect, Eric R. Kuhne (1951-2016) in 2000 as “The Solihull Sonnet.”
Continue reading “The Solihull Sonnet(s)”
Ramsgate, just off Solihull High Street, was perhaps the closest to back-to-back housing that Solihull had. One of the cottages (no. 20. High Street, pictured above) faced the High Street, whilst 14 other cottages together with wash-houses, water-closets, coal-houses, ash-pits and a communal pump were situated around a courtyard off a party entrance from the High Street.
Continue reading “Ramsgate, High Street, Solihull”
The first recorded mention of Hampton Manor estate appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086, and today the current manor house still stands in the heart of the village of Hampton-in-Arden just along from the Parish church where a church has stood since Saxon times.
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To mark the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 6th May 2023 – the first coronation of a British sovereign for 70 years – library staff have been researching how previous coronations were celebrated in Solihull.
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Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, made six official visits to the Solihull Borough during her 70-year reign. There were other visits when she passed through the Borough, e.g. arriving at or leaving from Birmingham Airport, but there were only these six official visits, as far as we are aware.
Continue reading “Royal Visits: Queen Elizabeth II”
Former Gunner Walter Stanley Zair died on 30th March 1923 of pulmonary tuberculosis, caused by his war service.
Stan, as he was known, was born at Lindenhurst, Trafalgar Road, Moseley on 12th February 1881 and was the youngest of the nine children of whip manufacturer, George Zair (1839-1914), and his wife, Fanny (née Blackburn) who had married in Great Barr in 1865. His siblings were:
Continue reading “30th March 1923”
On Sunday 11th September 2022 in Solihull High Street, the Worshipful the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Ken Meeson, read the official Proclamation of the Accession of King Charles III. It seems that this was the first local Accession Proclamation ever to have been read officially in Solihull.
Continue reading “The King’s Accession Proclamation”
The Mayer Society evolved from the Solihull branch of the British Federation of University Women, which was established in 1973. In 1993, the Solihull association decided to separate from the national group and take the name of the branch’s second president – Marjorie Mayers (1898-1982) – whose widower, James (“Jack”) Bowen Mayers (1901-1990), bequeathed £250 to the group. For the sake of simplicity, the ‘s’ was left off the group’s name. The Mayer Society closed in October 2021.
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The Middle Ages were a turbulent time and moated properties were quite a common sight. Although they were initially built for defence they were later used more as status symbols. The Hobs Moat site has been traditionally referred to as a castle, so was probably fortified.
Continue reading “Hobs Moat Ancient Monument”
On 28th January 1943 22-year-old Pilot Sgt Cecil Francis Beechey 656761, a pilot with 197 Squadron RAF, was killed when the tail of his Typhoon IB DN364 broke off and the aircraft crashed in East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland. His family home was in Hall Green and he was buried at Robin Hood Cemetery, Solihull on 4th February 1943.
Continue reading “Sgt Cecil Francis Beechey (1920-1943)”
Solihull Life 