Romsley & Hunnington History Society -

Meeting Report - July 2016

Sometimes we need to be reminded that we live in a wonderful part of the country, with its rolling hills and valleys and a place rich in history. As part of the 50th Anniversary of the Romsley and Hunnington History Society, on Sunday, July 3rd, in St. Kenelm's School, "The Ballard of St. Kenelm, AD 821," by Francis Brett Young, was performed by members of the Francis Brett Young Society. The words were set to music by Andrew Downes. The Hagley Community Orchestra and Central England Ensemble, conducted by Cynthia Downes, accompanied them.

Over the years, the sad story of the boy king, Kemelm, has been told in many ways. This time, the mood of the music, which blended with the words of the poem, highlighted the drama, the sadness, the retribution, and the final triumph of this fascinating tale of St. Kemelm's martyrdom, set under the shadow of the Clent Hills. Not many villages have such a legend, and on a beautiful sunny afternoon, the villagers of Romsley and Hunnington gathered to hear the story and listen to the dramatic music, while watching background slides of H.R. Wilson's illustrations, making us realise what a fund of talent we have in our local area. This was a fitting celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the Romsley and Hunnington History Society.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 27th September at 7.30pm in the Church Hall. Everyone is welcome.

Meeting Report - May 2016

A LITTLE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE THREE KENELM PAGEANTS

(See Pat Evan's excellent report in last month's magazine)

Three pageants took place in St. Kenelm's Church during the 1960s as the result of a suggestion made by a female dramatist, Miss Winifred Dawes, who visited the church and was very taken by the legend of the boy king and his murder by a jealous sister and her lover.

In the event the first pageant, which depicted the actual legend, was based on a school play by a Stourbridge schoolmaster, Mr Geoffrey Pearson. This simple script for children was adapted for mainly adult performers by Mr George Smart, producer of the Halesowen-based drama group, OHADA.

This first pageant, "The Play of St. Kenelm", took place in 1962 and was quickly followed by "At the Spring of St. Kenelm" in 1963, which showed various pilgrims visiting the shrine over the centuries. After a gap of three years, in 1966, the final pageant was "The Path of a Queen". This dealt with the aftermath of Kenelm's murder and Quendreda's subsequent disgrace.

All three pageants were written and produced by George Smart.

Meeting Report - Sep 2016

The meeting of the Romsley and Hunnington History Society, which took place on Tuesday, 27th September, was the first of the new season and was very well attended. The speaker for the evening was Joe Hawkins, Head Landscape Architect of Hagley Hall. He gave a talk on, "Hagley Park, Past and Present." From the beginning, it soon became clear that Joe was a dedicated expert on Landscape Gardening and he gave a breathtaking and enthusiastic talk about his job at Hagley Hall.

In the 18th Century it was fashionable for stately homes to have elaborate, formal gardens, but George, Lord Lyttelton, had a vision of an informal, romantic landscape, having been influenced by the paintings and literature of the period and the sights he had seen on his, "Grand Tour of Europe." He set about constructing a wonderful vista in his own parkland at Hagley. This was much admired at the time but over the years, for various reasons, the gardens were neglected, the pools silted up, and the cascades buried under layers of vegetation.

However, Lord Cobham, who now owns Hagley Hall, decided that something must be done to restore the grounds. In 2014 along came Joe Hawkins, full of enthusiasm, with his love of nature and history, and with imagination and curiosity and most importantly his expertise in landscape gardening. His task was to rescue Hagley Park and transform it into a thing of beauty, once again.

It wasn't easy! Joe's research began by looking for clues in old pictures and drawings of what the park once looked like. Then he set out to piece together the enormous jigsaw by exploring the sites of the man-made features, all lost in the ever encroaching wilderness. He had many setbacks and it was all hard, manual work, but gradually the old landscape began to reveal itself and from the slides Joe showed us, all the work was well worth it.

Throughout his talk it became apparent that Joe's work was his life, and he is still making new discoveries every day and the Park is evolving under his care. So far the restoration has cost well over 3 million pounds. Some of the money has come from grants and Lord Cobham has contributed a great deal of his own money, but eventually it is hoped, that by opening it to the public, it will be self supporting. As to the idea of a romantic landscape, it must have worked as Joe met and married his wife while working on the project and they now live in the grounds of Hagley Hall.

The next meeting will take place in the Church Hall, on Tuesday, 25th October, at 7.30pm, when Diana Clutterbuck will give a talk on, "The Young Diarist of Hartlebury." Everyone is welcome.

Pat Evans