Solihull Gas Works

The first general ordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Solihull Gas Company Ltd was held at Solihull Town Hall, The Square, at 10am on 20th October 1869. The limited liability company was formed by a number of local people who wanted gas and the company started with capital of £2,500.

Land was purchased in Wharf Lane and the gas works was built on this site adjoining the canal – presumably to keep the smell and smoke away from residential areas. There were very few houses in the vicinity at the time – the whole area around Lode Lane and Elmdon Heath was farmland.

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26 November 2022 0

V. J. Day in Solihull, 1945

V. J. Day, 15th August 1945, marked the day when the Second World War effectively came to an end as Japan surrendered and all hostilities ceased.

The Warwick County News, 18th August 1945, summarised local events with the headline “Neighbourly co-operation was the keynote of Solihull’s VJ-Day celebrations” and the observation that the day was marked by a “mood of quiet thanksgiving or in the exuberant relief of pent-up feelings according to age or nature.”

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15 August 2020 0

18th September 1918

Two men with a local connection lost their lives on 18th September 1918 whilst on active service – Private William Cleaver, 10th Battalion Notts and Derby (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment and Private William John Reynolds, B Company, 12th Battalion,, Hampshire Regiment.

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18 September 2018 0

26th August 1918

Sergeant Edward Clarke MM was killed in action on 26th August 1918 whilst serving with the 7th Battalion Border Regiment. He died just ten days after returning from two weeks’ home leave, during which time he married Mabel Annie Florence, a widow, at St Alphege Church, Solihull.

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26 August 2018 0

22nd August 1917

Four local men died on 22nd August 1917: Corporal Alfred John Collins, 2nd/4th Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry; Private Charles Edmund Frost, 6th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry; Private Albert Maybury, 2/4th Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry; and Private Frederick George Skidmore, 1st/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The first three have no known grave and so they are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

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22 August 2017 0

10th June 1917

Gunner Abraham Birch Stowe, of Solihull, was killed in action on 10th June 1917 serving with the 138th Heavy Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery. A regular soldier, he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in October 1908 and, in 1911, was stationed at Fort Tigné, Malta.

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10 June 2017 0

4th March 1917

Two local men died on 4th March 1917 as a result of their war service. Private Ernest William Clifford, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, and Private Walter James Painting, 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

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4 March 2017 0

24th February 1917

On 24th February 1917, Acting Corporal Walter George Riggs was killed whilst on duty in the trenches in Vimy Ridge with the 26th Battalion (New Brunswick Regiment), Canadian Infantry. His foot was blown off by the explosion of an enemy fishtail bomb. Comrades rendered first aid and he was taken to a dressing station and evacuated to No. 42 Casualty Clearing Station where he died. He is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France.

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24 February 2017 0

13th February 1917

Private Sidney Britt died of wounds on 13th February 1917, serving with the 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. He was the youngest of ten children from Elmdon, three of whom died in the war. Serving regular soldier, Albert Henry, was killed in 1914 and his brother, William Henry (who served in the militia 1900-1902) died in November 1917. Sidney was the second of the brothers to die in the war.

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13 February 2017 0

25th September 1916

Gunner William John Allen was killed in action, aged 29, serving with the Royal Field Artillery. He was baptised at St Alphege Church, Solihull on 27th February 1887, and was the eldest of the eight children (five daughters, three sons) of parents William (a house painter) and his wife, Emma.

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25 September 2016 0

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