Romsley & Hunnington History Society -

Meeting Report - Nov 2016

Over 50 members attended the meeting of the Romsley & Hunnington History Society on Tuesday 22nd November. The speaker was Max Hunt who gave a talk on, "Herbert Austin and the Longbridge Story". Most of the audience knew of the Austin Motor Works and its role as one of the largest employers of the local workforce, but Max gave us an insight into how the works began and the amazing range of products manufactured over the years.

Max and his brother, Julian, grew up in Romsley and he remembers the male population of the area catching the train at Hunnington Station to go to work at the car factory at Longbridge. The instigator of that factory was Herbert Austin. Herbert was born in England in 1866 and from an early age he was interested in mechanical things. After a short spell in Australia where he got married, he designed a sheep shearer. He came back to England to live in Birmingham and developed an interest in designing cars, working for the Wolseley Company for a time.

In 1905 he decided to branch out on his own and bought an old factory site at Longbridge. Before long he had 270 employees and was producing Austin Cars. The 1914 war intervened and the factory took on many women workers and began to make aeroplanes and armoured cars as part of the war effort.

Herbert Austin always looked after his workforce and in order to encourage more workers, he had houses built in Austin Village. After the war he employed Stanley Howard Edge, a young designer, to produce a small family car and in 1923 the Austin 7 was born. This car became very popular and the basic car appeared in many disguises, as vans, London Taxis and even a racing car! The range of cars grew as cars became more popular as a means of transport and Italian designers were brought into the factory. Herbert Austin was knighted in 1938 and became known for his support of Cancer Research.

The Second World War saw Hurricane and Lancaster planes being made at Longbridge but sadly Herbert died in 1941. From then on the factory had a very chequered history. It had many different owners and some success. By 1965 it had produced a million Austin Minis. Gradually the factory fell into decline and one wonders what Herbert Austin would have made of all the changes. Max, an obvious car enthusiast himself, illustrated his talk with photographs which showed the development of the Motor Car over the years.

Everyone enjoyed the talk and discovered so much more about the factory which had given so much employment to local people.

There will be no meeting in December or January. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 28th at 7.30 in the Church Hall, when Derek Clarke will be giving a talk on, "Repair Work at the old Naval College in Greenwich." Everyone is welcome.

Pat Evans

Meeting Report - March 2017

Forty-nine people attended the meeting of the Romsley and Hunnington History Society held on Tuesday 28th March, when Michael Pearson gave an interesting talk, illustrated with slides, taken from his book, "The Black Country in the Great War." Although most of the 1914 to 1918 War took place in Europe, it had an enormous effect on the lives of the people in the Black Country.

In 1914 many of the young men were called up to fight and they were drafted into the South Staffordshire or Worcestershire Regiments. This was probably the first time they had left their homes and certainly the first time they had travelled abroad, many of them never to return.

The "Black Country" was already an important centre for industry and never more so, now that the country was at war. The new weapon of destruction, the Tank, was made and tested for the first time in Wednesbury and Oldbury. Many of the factories began making shells and ammunition. The men had all gone to war and so the women, who up until then had worked in domestic service, had to work in the factories, as bank clerks, and even had to drive the trams, which was considered highly dangerous! This gave the ladies a new sense of independence, which resulted in them being allowed to vote.

The production of food became a priority, and everyone was encouraged to grow vegetables and produce more eggs for the Troops, as they realised that good nutrition was essential.

In 1915 the Black Country was subjected to German Zeppelin airship raids, and many lives were lost. Even in those hard times, there was a great deal of fundraising to support the troops, and the great spirit of the Black Country people rose above all the devastation and deprivation, until the war ended in 1918.

Paul Share, our Chairman, sadly announced the death of Barbara Lay, who together with her husband, Edmund, were two of the first members of the History Society.

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 25th, at 7.30pm in the Church Hall, when Max Keen will give a talk on, "Richard III." The Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday, 23rd May when the speaker will be our President, Julian Hunt. Everyone is welcome.

Pat Evans

Meeting Report - April 2017

There were 54 members and visitors present at the meeting of the Romsley and Hunnington History Society on Tuesday, 25th April. Our speaker's reputation had gone before him and we were delighted to welcome, once again, Max Keen, who gave a talk on "Richard III".

Max made his dramatic entrance dressed in armour, with threatening weapons, and declared himself a supporter of Richard III. Richard, who has always been a bit of an enigma, was in the news recently when his body was found, buried beneath a car park in Leicester. We could see from Max's photograph of his skeleton that he did have a deformity as depicted by Shakespeare, but Max put forward the idea that not all that has been written about his life was necessarily true and many assumptions were certainly false! Perhaps he was one of the first victims of "Fake News"!

As Max explained, England in the 15th Century was in a state of unrest. The War of the Roses was in full force and there was brotherly rivalry within the Royal Family, with hints of illegitimacy. There was also the unexplained mystery of the "Princes in the Tower" and consequently the ultimate prize, the Crown of England, was at stake! However, Max has a knack of making all the characters and intrigues of history come alive and his tales are full of the unexpected. Only he could demonstrate the tactics of a battle by using his arms and elbows!

Richard's reign, which lasted only two years, ended in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, which Henry Tudor won, together with the Crown. Two years is not long, but Richard set in motion several policies such as the granting of bail and preventing the intimidation of juries, which are still in place today. Max gave a dramatic and fascinating talk and we all look forward to his next visit to the History Society.

Future events for your diary:

• The next meeting of the History Society will be the Annual General Meeting on 23 May, when Julian Hunt will give a talk on "Romsley and Hunnington in 1939."
• The Annual Dinner will take place on 2nd June at Churchill and Blakedown Golf Club and on the 19th July there will be a visit to and guided tour of Croome Park.
• The next meeting of the Court Rolls Group will be on Wednesday 14th June at 2.30pm in the Church Hall.
• The last meeting of the season will be on Tuesday 27th June at 7.30pm in the Church Hall when Tim Bridges will give a talk on, "Victorian and Edwardian Buildings of Birmingham and the Black Country." Everyone is welcome.

Pat Evans