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OUR MEETING 16 MAY 2001 In the Parish Hall and Club Room of Holy Trinity Church, Oxford Street, Bilston: |
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This report is a short account of our meeting, who was there and what they did. There are a lot of photos, so please be patient while they load. This meeting was held (on a day when the rain mostly held off) in the Parish Hall and Club Room of Holy Trinity Church, Oxford Street, Bilston: Our thanks go to the Priest and everyone else at the Church for their kindness in letting us use their use their hall
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| Holy Trinity Church Oxford Street Bilston | The Church Hall | Kath Morgan and Jean Taylor |
This is the church hall, shortly after the start of the meeting. A lot of people at the meeting knew this hall well - it used to be their school. It was then divided into three class rooms: nearest the door was Mrs. Hoffler's class, in the middle was the class of the Headmistress, Miss Flora McCabe, and at the far end was Miss Aggie Johnson's class. But to-day, nearest the door and where the children used to hang their coats, were Kath Morgan and Jean Taylor, selling copies of our book - Tom Larkin's compilation of Bilston memories. Next to them was John Hughes with another fascinating selection of his old photographs of the area. Just like at the last meeting, John was so busy we only got a back view of him
 John Hughes, (Left of Picture), |
Right: Reg Humphries was showing some of his paintings, including local scenes and (second from the right) his semi-abstract evocation of the Black Country landscape. (To read Reg's memories of the old characters of Wednesbury market, click here). |
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 Display by City Council |
 Reg Summerfield (on the left) and Gerald Hanrahan |
 Three from MEB: Sheila McTaggart, Kenneth Geairns, Tom Larkin | |
 Trevor Genge |
Right: Trevor is working on the history of the Edge shoe factory ....and here are some of the people who are helping him with it. They all worked at Edge's (except, I suppose, the dog) and they include our Treasurer, Derek Barratt (far right) who found a moment to slip away from the membership desk. The ladies are holding photos of an Edge's works outing. |
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The City Council provided a display about the proposed future development of central Bilston - a very important matter locally as the old town still tries to come to terms with the loss of its industry. Reg Summerfield had a great selection of show business memorabilia, including signed photos of many of the stars who hadappeared in various Black Country venues. Gerald Hanrahan who had his display of photographs and other historic documents.(He is looking at the camera a bit quizzically, as he is a real photographer and the person taking this photo is not!). As ever, a central point of the meeting was Trevor Genge's talk. This time it was about "Christmas Day in the Workhouse", a great evocation of that sad but important institution. He is seen above propping up the bar - only the tea bar, of course. Trevor gave his talks in the club room and afterwards there was a lot more chat and reminiscing.