COMMUNITY MAGAZINES
Village Voice
PRESERVING THE COMMUNITY
SPIRIT IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
SEDGLEY, GORNAL & COSELEY -
The summer of 1917 was particularly hot and production in the factories and ironworks of the Black Country was suffering.
To try to combat this permission was given for “light beer” to be sold in works canteens throughout the area. Being just 2% proof and with an Original Gravity of 1020°, the beer was fairly innocuous—which was just as well as it generally sold for just 2d (1p) a pint!
This was an important outlet for many local breweries as, since 1915, the licensing trade had been subject to a number of new regulations including reduced opening hours and the ’no treating’ law that forbade the buying of drinks for others. The final straw for many breweries was an increase in duty from 7s 9d to £1 3s 0d per barrel.
One local brewery that specialised in light beer was J.P. Simpkiss’s Home Brewery in Quarry Bank which won contracts with many of the local ironworks and foundries. Their efforts were even recognised by Sedgley Town Council who suggested that council workers should also be able to purchase light beer during their lunch breaks.
ALCOHOL AT WORK ON THE MENU
If you think that road rage is a new phenomenon think again! We came across this report of a court case at Dudley County Court from 1882.
The case was brought by Thomas Hartland, a carpenter from Coseley against Josiah Smith who was a boatbuilder from Tipton. The claim was for £15 as damages for alleged reckless driving and assault. It would seem that Hartland was returning from a day out at Walsall with his wife and father in a pony and trap but when they were in Sedgley Road they saw Smith driving a similar pony and trap at “excessive speed”. Hartland tried to pull in to the side of the road but the two traps collided and Hartland was thrown out of his trap which itself suffered considerable damage. Although shocked and bruised Hartland picked himself up and remonstrated with Smith—who promptly punched him in the face, causing the hapless Hartland to end up in the gutter. The court heard that Inspector Walters was called to the scene and he reported that Smith was indeed nine inches over the middle of the road when he hit Hartland’s trap. Hartland was awarded the full £15 plus costs.
ROAD RAGE -
Coseley once had two railway stations. The first one to open was Princes End & Coseley which was on the old Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway (which later became part of the Great Western Railway). This station became operational in 1853 and closed in 1962. The other station—on the LNWR line—opened in 1863.
In 2005 (the latest figures that are available) only 45.9% of those car drivers taking their test at the Lower Gornal Driving Test Centre actually passed. However, the national average was even less at 42%.
Christ Church in Coseley was the first Anglican church in the township and was consecrated in 1830. The first bell was installed the following year. It weighed about 10 cwt. In 1847 it was replaced by a ring of eight bells. The bells are still rung for Sunday morning (and occasionally evening) services as well as weddings and special occasions.
Allegedly the top of the Sedgley Beacon tower is the highest point between Sedgley and the Ural mountains in Russia. It is also said that from the top of the tower you can see the mountains of South and North Wales and the Severn estuary.
A medallion commemorating the centenary of Sedgley Park School 1763-
DID YOU KNOW?
In early 1912 a strange new building was constructed in Redhall Road, Lower Gornal.
Timber-
With a capacity of just over 400, the cinema became the highlight of the social life of many locals who would flock to see the films which changed twice a week. Known to one and all as ‘The Bump’ (after the noise made by the generator providing all the power to the building) it was, however, to be the site of a tragedy.
In August 1931 the “talkies” were due to come to Gornal and the necessary sound equipment was installed at the Alex. However, during testing a fire broke out and Francis Danks, the projectionist, lost his life in the blaze and the whole cinema was destroyed.
After much agonising the owner—Ernest Jones—decided to rebuild the cinema and it
re-
The Alex, though, could not compete with television and in 1966 the final presentation at Gornal’s own picture house was ’Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines’.
© 2010 ARCOS DESIGN
Previous issues
Previous issues
DID YOU
KNOW?
The distribution of VILLAGE VOICE changes every month. This ensures that regular
advertisers have their advertise-
If you would like to ensure that you receive your own copy of VILLAGE VOICE every month then just send us a book of postage stamps and we will send you a copy as soon as we receive them from the printers.
A MAN OF SUBSTANCE
One of the heaviest men ever in the West Midlands is believed to have been Samuel Murfitt of Coseley. Born in 1831, at his heaviest Murfitt weighed almost 50 stone and had a girth in excess of 100 inches. He died on 21st January 1887 at the Rising Sun in Princes End, Tipton and was buried in Darkhouse Cemetery in Coseley. Special arrangements had to be made for his funeral including a specially reinforced (and widened) coffin and an extra wide grave. A total of eight pall bearers had to carry the coffin to the graveside and a ramp had to be constructed to lower it into the grave itself.