Newsletter: September 2021
NB: This Newsletter contains forms to renew membership or to join as a new member and also to nominate officers to serve for the coming year. If you wish to print it out to fill the form in, you might prefer to download a PDF version. Click here.
Dear Members,
The good news is that the History Society will, hopefully, be up and running again in October, unlike some other Codsall societies which have decided not to continue. However, we have decided to wait until October to see what happens when schools and universities resume.
At our October event, Tony Noble will talk about the Royal Yacht Britannia. The evening will start with a very short AGM, in order to elect the Officers for 2021 who will serve until the next AGM. All the present Committee members are willing to stand again, but we would be very happy to hear from anyone who would like to take a more active role, without necessarily being on the committee. Do please talk to us about how you might like to help. Fresh people mean fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm.
The talk about the Royal Yacht will be about forty minutes long, without an Interval. We did not want to have to ask you all to bring your own teacup. Masks are not compulsory but if you feel safer wearing one then please feel free to do so. There will be hand gel at the entrance and a one-way system will still be in force.
Tony Noble joined the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. During his 17-year career he was privileged to serve on board the Royal Yacht and will provide us with his first-hand account of that experience.
Two more events are booked to take us up to Christmas. In November, David Tordoff’s talk is entitled ‘Remember, Remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot’. We all know the main details of what happened, but how much do we know of the secret meetings beforehand? Was it Catesby et al who planned the plot or did Sir Robert Cecil and the government have a nefarious hand in it?
Tuesday 21st December. ‘Shackleton: by Endurance We Conquer.’ Sir Ernest Shackleton was the epitome of a polar explorer. His first expedition was with Captain Scott who, in 1903, sent him home resulting in a rift between the two men. He made an unsuccessful attempt for the South Pole in 1907. He returned to the Antarctic in 1914 to lead an ambitious expedition to cross the Antarctic continent. His ship Endurance became trapped in ice resulting in the most incredible struggle for survival in history. Shackleton would lead 28 men to safety after an 800-mile voyage in a lifeboat. Andrew tells Shackleton’s story accompanied by music, images, video and sound effects. All the drama and fight for survival is here in an uplifting retelling of the famous voyage.
We hope that our members will become confident about going out into public spaces once again and we will be able to resume our enjoyable activities. If you could send in your membership renewal form, instead of joining on the night in October, this will prevent people queuing around the Membership Secretary in the entrance corridor. There is a request, just before the Renewal Form, for you to indicate whether you hope to attend the first meeting in October. This will help to give us some idea of numbers for the spacing of the chairs.
Because the cost of postage has now risen significantly as well as Speakers’ fees, at the AGM we will be putting forward a proposal to increase the subscription to £10 – an increase of just £2. If members would by happy to receive their Newsletter by email this would help to keep costs down. Once again there is a space on the form for you to indicate your preference. Your email address would be kept safely and would not be shared with other members without your permission.
Website – Hopefully some of you have accessed our newly revamped website at codsallhistory.org. The Newsletter and the Joining Form will be available on the website. Our Publications will not be available at our Meetings just yet. However, they may be ordered through the website. A request to buy a book has just been received from a former resident of Codsall Wood who now lives in Australia. He is happy to send us his recollections of his childhood in the village for us to put on the website. This is something we would like to encourage other people to think about and to donate photographs to add to our collection.
Two of our members are no longer with us and will be sadly missed. Beryl Street was a staunch member of the Arts Festival Committee as well as a Chairman of the Flower Club. Barbara Hodson was chairman of the Gardening Society and a prominent W.I. Committee Member. She was involved in many village activities and was particularly well known among dog owners for looking after their pets whilst they went away.
Codsall man Graham Hughes, although not a member of the Society, was the historian of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, with a stand named after him at Molineux. Graham passed away in February. There are pages of tributes to him on the internet. Please pass on the details if you know of anyone else.
Brewood Civic Society will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary with an Exhibition entitled:
Historic Brewood & Achievements of BCS over Fifty Years. This will be held in Brewood Jubilee Hall on Wednesday 10th November from 2-5pm, then from 7pm with a talk at 7.45pm by David Burton-Pye on ‘A Personal Perspective on Brewood’. There are two talks organised before this date. The first on Wednesday 8th September at 7.45pm in the Jubilee Hall, ‘The Shroppie’, is an illustrated history of the canal through Brewood. On Wednesday 13th October ‘Colonel William Carless: The Hero of Brewood and Boscobel’.
I /We will be attending the Meeting on October 19th at 7.45pm in Codsall Village Hall ………. Please indicate your intention. This will help us to plan the seating.
RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTION 2021-2022
Please make your cheque for £8 per person payable to Codsall & Bilbrook History Society and return it to the Membership Secretary:
Mrs Margaret Dean, 162 Wood Road, Codsall, WV8 1DW.
I/we enclose a subscription of £........................
Name /s……………………………………………………………………
Address ……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………..
Postcode …………………………… Telephone number ………………
[ ] I am happy to receive my Newsletter by email instead of a copy through the post. Your email address will be kept confidential. This is the option which your Committee would prefer. Please tick if you are agreeable.
email: ...........................................................................................
NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE
I wish to nominate:
Chairman: ……………………… Membership Secretary ........................
Treasurer: ………………………
Committee (1) …………………....... (2) ………………………............
(3) …………………....... (4) ………………………............
(5) …………………….. (6) ……………………………....
Name of Proposer ………………...... Seconder …………………..........
Please send this form to Mrs Judy Davies, 16 Wayside Acres, Codsall, WV8 2BS to arrive no later than Tuesday 5th October or to Margaret Dean with your subscription.
Present Committee – Judy Davies (Chairman) Alfred Turley (Treasurer) Margaret Dean (Membership Secretary) Stephen Skinner (Programme Secretary) Val Holland, Janet Evans, Ken Gilks. Peter Birkert, Gill Gogle.
Registered Charity 5038