Other Side of Solihull - Issue 1

Other Side Of

Solihull

A WEDDING day disaster was averted after a bride-to-be was able to find the dress of her dreams at a Castle Brom charity shop.

Carla Przybylak had paid a visit to Acorns Bridal Shop, after having problems with the dress she had

ordered specially from China. The 36-year-old – who had a tight budget for her big day - had tried a couple of local boutiques without success. Luckily she finally found an ideal outfit at Acorns.

Carla will marry fiancé Leon Mann in August.

l Lucy plays with fire page 2

l Laura’s a good

sportpage 5

l Help for hedgehogs page 7

A BITTER row has erupted over plans to build a new supported housing development in Chelmsley Wood.

Over 500 residents have signed a petition against the Ipswich Walk scheme, accusing Solihull Community Housing (SCH) of keeping them in the dark over proposals.

Rumours about the project, which has been branded a “halfway hostel” by some locals, have been escalating for several weeks.

Frustrations grew after a meeting

being organised between residents and SCH officials recently fell through.

Councillor Karl Macnaughton (Green, Chelmsley Wood) said residents had been worried that plans were being “railroaded” through, but welcomed news that a public consultation would be carried out before any planning application was submitted.

“Many residents have been worried about [the plans] feeling rushed, which has made them wonder why that might be, as if there are things to hide.

“It’s good to hear that Solihull

Community Housing will now be holding a consultation event in May or June where there will be proper dialogue between residents and the Housing [SCH].

“Everybody will now have the opportunity to ask the questions they need to ask and I very much hope that we will end up with a development that everyone is happy with.”

The campaign against the scheme started a few weeks ago, with around half the people signing an online petition and the remainder of signatures

After a frantic search, Carla Przybylak found a replacement dress in Castle Bromwich.

MARCH/APRIL2015

Backlash over‘halfway hostel’

collected on the doorstep.

Many residents have raised concerns about an increase in anti social behaviour and parking problems. Although SCH has categorically denied several claims made in a leaflet which was posted to local households by a resident.

In their own pamphlet about the development, the association said that the site would cater for up to 25 people in need of temporary accommodation.

“It is not a drug rehabilitation centre and will not house people leaving prison or persons who have an offending background linked to sexual offences.

“All residents will sign an agreement which will include not causing anti social behaviour. Immediate action will be taken if people living at the centre break their agreement.”

The controversy over the Ipswich Walk scheme follows similar rumours last summer about an application to build a “bail hostel” in Elmdon Road, Marston Green. On that occasion too, the authorities were forced to intervene to deny accommodation was being purpose-built for offenders.

Councillor Karl Macnaughton

Send your Stories or Subscribe -

[email protected] Brom, Kingshurst, Chelmsley Wood, Smith’s Wood and Marston Green

Aisle have that one! Carla’s charity find

WELCOME to the first issue of Other Side of Solihull, a new monthly magazine bringing you the latest news, views and features from North Solihull.

Altogether Castle Brom, Kingshurst, Chelmsley Wood, Smith’s Wood and Marston Green have a population of around 55,000 – roughly a quarter of everyone in the borough.

But because of cuts in local newspapers and the slightly awkward geography of the local area, there’s a surprising lack of media coverage. Too often people find out too late about things which will have a real impact on their lives.

Having spent nearly seven years

working in local newspapers I realise how important it is for people to be kept informed about what is happening in their own back garden. For residents to be able to ask questions, and answer back!

Last year I set up a blog and Twitter account to report on the North Solihull area and I hope this magazine will add to that and encourage more people to come forward with their stories. After all, the success of this project will depend very much on the response of residents.

For our part, we can only make a promise to deliver content that is useful, relevant and, most of all, hopefully interesting.

If unpleasant things happen locally, we will not be afraid to talk about them, but we will also highlight the many positive things happening at

the heart of this community.

Some people will say, not entirely unfairly, that the press itself has played a part in reinforcing negative stereotypes about this area. But really there’s a lot of common ground. Both local papers and this local area have been written off rather too easily in recent years. I’d like to help do something about that…

David Irwin

What’s the story?

A Chelmsley Wood teenager with a burning ambition to become a firefighter recently landed her dream work experience placement.

Not stuck in an office then? Not at all, the 17-year-old wrote to Solihull Fire Station, who agreed to show her the ropes. Not to men-tion the bells, poles and hoses! She is getting the on-the-job experi-ence as part of a voluntary course run by Pertemps People Develop-ment Group (PPDG), which aims to improve the employment skills of young people in North Solihull.

And does Lovatt love it? Absolutely. Lucy said that since starting her five-month placement she is more eager than ever to join the fire service. She’ll be breaking new ground too. Women have traditionally been under represented in the fire service - just four per cent of the current workforce is female.

Smith’s Wood woman Sian Clarke saw her weight drop to three and a half stone during a battle with anorexia. She battled back against the crippling eating disorder and now wants to help other sufferers.

There were 51 crimes reported in the Moorend Avenue area in 2014. Turn to Page 5 for more details.

A Castle Bromwich man was ordered to pay £305 in fines and costs by the court, after dropping a cigarette end in Birmingham city centre.

CycleSolihull is organising another bike ride from Chelmsley Wood later this month.

The 10 mile trip will be taking place on Sunday, March 29, at 1.30pm.

The ride is free and there is no need to book in advance. For more details visit www.cyclesolihull.org.uk

Other Side of Solihull

Keeping you informedLETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Editor: David IrwinDesign: Justine Flavell

Facebook.com/NorthSolihull

@North_Solihull

June 2012: West Midlands Police hail the opening of the Bluebell Centre, a new front-office facility in Chelmsley Wood as an “innovative and groundbreaking” venture.

February 28, 2014: The Bluebell Centre closes as part of a major cost-cutting drive.

MERIDEN MP Caroline Spelman (left) is the overwhelming favourite to retain her seat at this spring’s General Election, according to bookies.The Conservative, who will be standing for a fifth time, is 100-1 on to win, claim betting firm Ladbrokes.

Mrs Spelman has represented the constituency - which includes North Solihull - since 1997 and increased her majority to over 16,000 five years ago.

@ChelmundsCross

Followers: 323

Tweets: 1103

Content: Regular updates on the Chelmund’s Cross development.

One to Follow: Definitely.

Meet the Tweeter

l Fare-dodgers blitz POLICE have pledged to crack down on fare-dodgers on local bus routes.

On March 2, officers boarded services in the Chelmsley Wood area and issued five fines to people who didn’t have valid tickets.

A sixth passenger was arrested on suspicion of a theft at Birmingham Airport.

l Odds on favourite

l Cash for questionsA CHARITY quiz night will be held at Arden Hall, Castle Bromwich next month.

The event, organised by the parish council, is taking place on Friday, April 17, starting at 7.30pm.

Teams of six, £7.50 per person. Call 0121 747 6503 to book.

l Breathe-Easy groupA NEW support group has started at Chelmsley Wood Library, helping people with lung conditions.

Breathe Easy: North Solihull meet on the third Friday of every month, between 2-4pm.

For more information, call 03000 030 555 or email [email protected]

l Bird watch at Babbs Mill NO FOOLIN’! A dizzy duck race will be held in Babbs Mill Park on April 1.

Visitors can pick the quickest looking bird and watch it race down the river – with a prize for the fastest waterfowl.

The event runs from 11am-12.30pm. Meet by the play area.

Other Side Of

Solihull

Email - [email protected]

Get in Touch:

LuCy LOvATT: aspiring firefighterIntroducing

Out & About

Month in Numbers

Then & Now

Other Side Of

Solihull


A ROW has erupted over whether Solihull Council can afford to increase the salary of some of its poorest paid workers.

Last month councillors considered the Budget which sets out the borough’s spending plans for the next 12 months.

Always a heated occasion, this year’s meeting was dominated by a debate about whether the council should introduce the Living Wage - guaranteeing its core workforce a minimum of £7.85 an hour.

The Green Party, who set out the proposals, argued the increase in earnings would make a massive difference to thousands of people locally who are struggling to make ends meet. North Solihull would have been a major beneficiary, since wages in the regeneration wards are on average 30 per cent less than across the borough as a whole.

Councillor James Burn (Green, Chelmsley Wood) said it was “hard to understand” how the Living Wage could be refused; the rate is already paid by Birmingham City Council.

‘No’ to rise in salary for poorly paid

Fines to stop verges looking like ‘ploughed fields’TOUGH new measures to tackle problem parking - which could see drivers slapped with a £70 fine - may be rolled out to areas including Castle Bromwich.

Residents in the suburb have grown frustrated with selfish motorists who churn up grass verges or park on the pavement.

At the moment, Solihull Council relies on bollards and double kerbs to try to deter drivers, but many continue to flout the law.

However, the success of a pilot scheme to tackle similar issues in Dickens Heath has opened the door

to more rigorous restrictions being introduced in other parts of Solihull.

Last month, Councillor Ted Richards, cabinet member for transport and highways, was presented with a report on the effectiveness of the trial, which started just over 12 months ago.

Road chiefs recommend that the system of introducing Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) and fining those who ignore the rules should be considered as a way of dealing with future problems.

The introduction of TROs will also be looked at

when plans for new housing developments - likely to lead to parking problems - are brought to the local authority.

Coun Richards, who represents Castle Bromwich, has previously criticised those who leave verges looking like "ploughed fields" and force wheelchair-users and mums with buggies to walk in the road to get past.

18 months ago, a joint initiative - backed by the parish council and local police - was launched in his own ward in an attempt to try and bring the problem under control.

A TEENAGER has pleaded not guilty to causing the death of a young motorcyclist by careless driving.

Lauren Roberts was killed in a road crash at the junction of Forth Drive and Chester Road, in Fordbridge. Despite the best efforts of paramedics the 20-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

The collision between Lauren’s Honda motorbike and a Vauxhall Astra happened on September 25 last year.

Callum Lewis, 19, of Menai Walk, Chelmsley Wood, will appear before Birmingham Crown Court on July 2. In the meantime he has been granted unconditional bail.

WALK off the chocolate eggs with Solihull Striders & Strollers.

The group is organising a saunter from Marston Green Library on Easter Monday (April 6.)

No need to book, just meet outside the building at 10.15am. The stroll will last up to an hour and is suitable for all ages.

l Living Wage: Since the late 1990s, all employers have to, by law, pay their employees the national Minimum Wage (currently £6.50 an hour). but many believe that too many families on low incomes still struggle to get by on the statutory sum. This led to a campaign, launched in 2001, for the introduction of the so-called Living Wage (£7.85 an hour outside London). Today more than 1000 employers, including several FTSe 100 companies, have pledged to pay the rate to staff.

A previous living wage protest in Solihull

Lauren Roberts

l Walk on

Teen in court after death of 20-year-old

The idea won the backing of the Lib Dems, Labour and Solihull’s sole independent councillor, but was cut down by the ruling Conservative group, who argued that the policy would cost the cash-strapped authority over £300,000 .

Councillor Ken Hawkins (Con, Blythe) claimed it was “madness” to spend this year’s surplus and added that there was no notion of where the money would be found to pay the increased wages in future years.

“How can any political group seek to spend money we do not have and might not have in future?” he asked.

While the Living Wage proposals were dismissed, the budget approved for 2015/16 will nonetheless see council tax frozen for the fifth consecutive year. However, increases in precepts from parish councils will mean that some residents will still see their bills go up

Speaking after the meeting, the Leader of the Council, Bob Sleigh, said that in spite of an ongoing squeeze on council finances, the borough’s essential services remained at a high standard.

“Along with the rest of the public sector, the council faces a massive challenge in the next few years to deliver public services with a much lower level of funding than previously,” he said.

“However, these are also exciting times for Solihull, with managed growth in the borough’s economy increasing the income we generate locally.”

SIGNS OF SPRING: A hyacinth peeks out of the ground at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens. The bright blue flower is one of 600 species thriving at the site.

A CROOK who conned a local pensioner - charging £2,500 for appalling repair work – has been jailed for two years.

Callous Daniel Fitzpatrick posed as a concerned tradesman, cold calling a Kingshurst man last September and claiming that he’d spotted loose tiles on the roof of the property.

After a quick inspection, the conman claimed that an upstairs bay window was also damaged and the following day added chimney re-pointing to his list of emergency repairs.

Fitzpatrick, 42, demanded £500 up front to pay for scaffolding and three days later handed over a bill for £2,500.

The victim duly paid up by cheque and savings from his building society account.

However, the following week, the man contacted West Midlands Police, fearing that he’d been duped.

On November 4, Fitzpatrick turned up again, suggesting that follow-up work was needed and this time the pensioner dialled 999.

When the repair work was confirmed as “dodgy” by a chartered surveyor, detectives arrested the rogue trader at his home in Elmdon Lane, Marston Green.

He denied deliberately duping the 73-year-old and claimed to be a labourer acting on behalf of an unnamed firm – but he later admitted fraud and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on March 2.

Det Con Mark Delaney, from Solihull CID, said: “It was the classic rogue trader scam: cold-calling elderly residents they deem more susceptible

to their patter and who they can convince into handing over large sums of money.

“His victim did the right thing in reporting his suspicions to police and, when he appeared again to try to get even more money, we got patrol officers on the scene quickly to intercept his van and take his details.

“This wasn’t just a case of poor building work. Fitzpatrick conned a vulnerable man out of a hefty chunk of his savings for work experts rated as dreadful and, if anything, had done more damage than good.”

The chartered surveyor who had assessed Fitzpatrick’s handiwork described the chimney re-pointing as among the worst workmanship he’d ever seen and said that a competent builder would have charged around £350 to do the work to a professional standard.

TEENAGE gymnast Jessica Browne has passed her coaching exams with flying colours.

The 16-year-old, from Castle Bromwich, was one of nine young women from the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club to complete her Level 1 and Level 2 Women’s Artistic Coaching qualifications.

The Solihull School pupil started with the club a decade ago and is now well on the way to teaching the eager youngsters stepping out on the mat for the first time.

Phil Barrow, the club’s international performance coach, said the young women were among the region’s “brightest and best.”


Rogue tradergets prison for scamming OAP

Daniel Fitzpatrick

Multiple multiplexesAGENT 007 and a band of Jedi Knights will be coming to a cinema nearer to you later this year…

It has now been confirmed that the borough’s second multiplex will be opening this summer, a stone’s throw from North Solihull.

The Cineworld, with 11 screens, will form part of Resorts World, a £150m leisure and retail complex at the NEC. The venue will boast IMAX and 3D screenings.

Plans for the site, around four miles from the centre of Chelmsley Wood, have been welcomed by film buffs, many of whom have to travel into Solihull town centre to see the latest movie releases.

The new development is expected to reduce journey times considerably, with those who rely on public transport able to catch a train to Birmingham International or board the No 97a/966 bus services.

While an exact date for the grand opening is yet to be confirmed, the premises will be open in time for some of the year’s biggest films, including SPECTRE – the latest instalment in the James Bond series - and the eagerly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Resorts World, which has also attracted restaurant chains including Pizza Express and TGI Friday’s, is expected to create around 1500 jobs.

Dream teen gets coaching skill

Pitching in to battle litter blight RESIDENTS turned out in force to take part in community litter picks around North Solihull.

Efforts to spruce up Babbs Mill Park, Chelmsley Wood town centre and Kingshurst Parade were part of the Community Clear Up Day initiative.

The nationwide campaign encouraged people to pitch in and tidy up public spaces blighted by litter. Events locally started on March 21 and continued into the following week. The campaign follows hard on the heels of a recent report which suggests that littering has become endemic in parts of England and cost taxpayers £850m a year.


Laura’s rugby try-out

Moorend Avenue is now a safer place to live

l Try Tai Chi

l Church music

l Porn arrestCLASSICAL singer Laura Wright recently swapped the hallowed turf of Twickenham for Chelmsley Wood’s sports pitches

The 24-year-old, known to millions as the England rugby team’s official anthem singer, took part in a training session with students at the Grace Academy.

As an ambassador for the All Schools Rugby campaign, Laura is currently touring the country, working to promote the sport at a local level.

As an avid player herself – she is a full-back for a women’s team in London – she is also hoping to inspire more girls to get involved.

“I loved playing all kinds of sport when I was at school, however rugby was not an option; a missed opportunity I feel. I have found the sport now in my 20s but, if rugby was introduced to women at a younger age, their potential could be realised sooner and for greater results.

“A sport with such complex rules and the discipline needed takes time to learn and I feel it has just as rightful a place as hockey, tennis and netball.”

The former Brit Award-nominee, who has also performed at Wembley and the Olympic Stadium, was joined at the training session by players from Moseley Rugby Club.

Grace Academy Principal Darren Gelder said it had been “fantastic” to welcome Laura to the school and felt that, on the day, it was the female players who had taken the bragging rights.

“I thought the girls gave the boys a whopping,” he said.

The training session was such a success that a follow-up fixture was arranged almost immediately – the sporty soprano invited the students to join her on stage at the Bramall Hall, Birmingham.

In front of a packed venue, the Grace Academy team joined Laura in a chorus of Jerusalem.

CRIME has been cut by more than a third in a Chelmsley Wood street which had become notorious for the sheer number of offences reported.

In 2013, Moorend Avenue had the dubious distinction of having the second highest number of incidents anywhere in Solihull – with around 80 crimes recorded. Although more than half the offences actually happened in Meriden Park; the main entrance to which is off this road.

Solihull Council said that significant work had

been carried out to make the area safer, with CCTV installed and paths being better lit.

The new measures have had a considerable effect on the crime rate, the number of offences recorded fell to 51 in 2014 and there has been a marked drop in the number of robberies.

18 muggings happened in 2013, but the number fell to four the following year.

A council spokesman said: “Whilst anti-social behaviour is still an issue within this park it is positive to see the severity of crimes against the

person incidents has greatly reduced.”

As the Moorend Avenue study suggests, there is, however, still some work to do in tackling crimes such as vandalism. Last year, for instance, the Adventure Playground was repeatedly targeted by arsonists.

Almost a quarter of people recently surveyed in North Solihull are concerned that the authorities aren’t doing enough to tackle anti social behaviour. In total, 23 per cent were dissatisfied with the response, up from 15 per cent in 2013.

LOOKING for a different way to unwind? Why not try Tai Chi?

Weekly classes, instructing residents in the ancient martial art, have started at Bosworth Community Centre, Chelmsley Wood.

They run from 12.30-2pm every Wednesday afternoon.

A MUSIC concert will be held next month to celebrate half a century of St Wilfrid’s Church, Castle Bromwich.

The 50th anniversary event, featuring a performance by Castle Bromwich Singers, takes place on Saturday, April 18.

Doors open at 7pm. Tickets £2 for adults, accompanied children free.

A NURSERY worker from Chelmsley Wood was this month arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

The 47-year-old, who works in Warwickshire, was arrested by officers on March 11. Computer equipment was seized from his address.

The man has been released on bail, with conditions he does not have any unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 or access the internet. Inquiries continue.

Laura Wright left and above taking part in a change to the training session

‘I have found the sport now in my 20s but, if rugby was introduced to women at a younger age, their potential could be realised sooner and for greater results’

WHEN you think of photos of council estates then the

same five or six things spring to mind.

There are those pictures of foreboding tower blocks, shot from below and preferably against an iron grey sky. Walls splashed with graffiti or bits of crisp packet blowing around the sort of waste ground that you usually see in Crimewatch reconstructions.

These images of inner city living are everywhere. They appear in the pages of national newspapers every time that journalists in well-heeled parts of London want to demonstrate just how desperately depressing it is for people growing up in places like North Solihull.

It’s no surprise that the recent TV documentary, People Like

Us, had lots of lingering shots of high-rise blocks – even though the majority of people in Chelmsley Wood actually live at ground level.

The trouble with these pictures is that they’re a rather selective view of council estates. Those who live there know that there’s a lot more to their lives than lonely looking washing lines or gloomy underpasses. And fortunately some photographers have found rather more creative ways to capture the communities of North Solihull.

One such man is Tony Cornish, who has ventured out at all hours of the day and night to photograph his local area.

Last autumn, the self-taught snapper started to take classes at the Arts Space, on Kingshurst Parade, offering up tips to others on how

to take images that really stand out.

One thing is for sure, you have to be patient and get plenty of practice if you want to get the shots that you’d be proud to hang on your kitchen wall.

Over the course of the past few months, Tony has shown us just some of the pictures that he has taken – many of them just a few miles from the street where the photography classes are held.

There are photos of a red sun sinking over Babbs Mill Lake, a moon hung in the sky over Chelmsley Wood and the M6 motorway at night, cars passing by in trails of white light.

What is quite clear is that getting yourself in the right place at the right time (even if that time is 5am) is part of the secret. Leaving the house before dawn or wading out into freezing streams is all part of the process. Not to mention braving the stares of surly looking teenagers who wonder what business you have walking around with a long lens and tripod.

“I have been out by myself on canal towpaths at 11 o’clock at night and wish I hadn’t been,” Tony confesses on one occasion. “But the shots I’ve managed to get have been incredible.”

Another week he explains how several elements have to come together to get the perfect picture.

“You can go out at Babbs Mill and take a photo of the lake. But then you start to think ‘what time is the sun going to be between those two trees’. And then you might go and take that picture a hundred times and one day, just as you get there, a swan is swimming past at just the right time…”

For those who take fright at the

thought of getting up before sunrise, there are lots of other ways you can make a photo stand out. Getting down on the floor or scrambling up on a bench can change the perspective of a picture.

There are lots of tricks in a photographer’s arsenal. Slow exposure photos can make a street heaving with shoppers look empty or turn a stream of traffic into something slightly psychedelic. You can create some amazing effects without even touching Photoshop.

One night last year the class went out into Kingshurst to attempt to take “light trail” shots. While the rush of red and white headlights was rather less dramatic than the ones Tony had taken from the motorway bridge, our amateur efforts showed that it didn’t take much to turn an ordinary looking street into something rather different.

And there wasn’t a scrap of graffiti in sight…


OSOS visits Kingshurst Arts Space to learn more about the art of urban photography…

Tony’s got adifferent point of view

l Kingshurst Arts Space runs

photography classes on Thursday

evenings, starting at 6.30pm. To find

out more about the venue and other

activities that take place there, go to

https://kingshurstartspace.wordpress.

com/

l Search Tony Cornish on Flickr to see

his shots in and around the local area.

TONy’S TIPS

l Breathe in when you take the shot. It allows you to hold the camera steady.

l Think about what you’re trying to achieve with the image.

l Practice! Many shots won’t come out, but the more you do, the greater your chance of success.


RESIDENTS in North Solihull are being urged to get behind a borough-wide project and do their bit to help out hedgehogs.

The animals, once a common sight in local gardens, have seen their numbers plummet in the past 20 years.

Now the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has launched an initiative to turn Solihull into one of the UK’s first Hedgehog Improvement Area (HIA).

The charity’s campaign will draw attention to the massive drop in the population and look at various ways to protect the species.

While a lot of national news coverage earlier this month focused on a special

sanctuary being created in Elmdon Park, the project covers all of Solihull and people in areas including Castle Bromwich, Kingshurst and Chelmsley Wood are encouraged to get involved.

When Other Side of Solihull contacted the wildlife trust for more information on the campaign, we were told that residents who reported sightings or offered to get involved in surveys would be giving the initiative a massive boost.

A spokeswoman said: “One the first tasks for the HIA is to improve our sightings data, because when we know roughly where hedgehogs are present (and absent), we can very specifically target conservation work.”

All sightings will be fed into a community map, giving conservationists a better idea of the population spread across Solihull.

Simon Thompson, the trust’s newly-appointed hedgehog officer, said that even simple steps like making a five inch hole in your garden fence (roughly the size of a CD) would be a massive help. Part of the problem at present is that solid barriers make it difficult for hedgehogs to seek shelter, forage for food and find a mate.

To find out more about the project or getting involved in the hedgehog survey visit www.helpforhedgehogs.co.uk

l Force move

l Tech plan

THE police team responsible for Marston Green are now based at nearby Chelmsley Wood Police Station.

Residents hope that the relocation of officers will improve the police presence in the village.

You can contact the team on 101: extension 8926090.

A UNIVERSITY Technology College is scheduled to open in Chelmsley Wood in just 18 months’ time.

The campus will cater for over 600 14 to 19-year-olds and a planning application is set to be submitted to Solihull Council within a matter of months.

Meriden MP Caroline Spelman has said the academy will offer young people far “greater choice” when it comes to education, although concerns about the proposed location have been voiced by some local residents.

IF you think parties today are rowdy affairs, consider the “shocking outrage” that happened in Castle Bromwich over 140 years ago.

The Birmingham Gazette was quick to file a report about disgraceful behaviour which had rather spoiled the village’s annual club feast.

During the course of the evening, a quarrel arose between two or three Birmingham men and the locals, both groups being rather “excited” by the festivities.

In this early skirmish, it was the Brummies who saw the worst of it. But the trio returned the following day with 20 friends. The gang, armed with sticks, set about those who they had fought

the night before and a number of other locals, who hadn’t even been involved in the previous quarrel.

The punishment was so fierce that many of those attacked were not able to work for several weeks.

The Gazette was only too quick to point out the failings of 19th century law enforcement…

“Unfortunately Castle Bromwich has at present no police, the only policeman of the village having died the day previously, so the roughs had it all their own way,” grumbled the reporter.

“We learn that some of the leading men of the village are taking the matter up, and as many of the perpetrators are known, we trust they will speedily be brought to justice.”

LOOKINGBACK1 JUNE 1868

FACTbOXl Hedgehogs have between 5000-7000 spines.

l The animal gets its name from its pig-like grunt.

l Hedgehogs may roam up to 2km in a single night hunting for food.

We’refirst in drive to help our pricklyfriends

Disgraceful behaviour spoiled village event

Other Side Of

Solihull ONLINE


For more news, views and events from around north Solihull, visit northsolihullnews.blogspot.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @North_Solihull

Other Side of Solihull - Issue 1

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