History West Midlands On Air

No character in Worcester’s long history is so immediately and so intimately linked with the city as is Edward Elgar. Music lovers all over the world associate him with the Malvern Hills and his beloved Worcestershire. He was a complex figure in whom a craving for social success and recognition vied with a resentment that he would always be considered a provincial outsider. But however famous he became, however many honours were bestowed on him, and however much he was lauded as a society darling, he nevertheless always returned to the well-spring of his creativity, Worcestershire, Worcester and its splendid cathedral.

The bronze statue opposite the Cathedral, and the stained-glass window in the Cathedral itself, memorialise one of Worcester’s favourite and most famous sons, the local man who led the renaissance of English music in the twentieth century and whose compositions to this day, more than those of any other musician, popularly embody the emotions of patriotic pride and fervour.

In the mud and blood of the Western Front, military chaplains fought to bring solace and hope, amongst the most famous of them was Worcester vicar the Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy - known as Woodbine Willie. 

Volunteering in 1914 as a zealous fighting man, he told his congregation 'there can be no shirking'. But he soon saw the futility of the conflict writing: ' Waste of blood, waste of tears: waste on youths most precious years".

As the conflict progressed, he focussed all his energy on bringing help and comfort and his trademark became his 'box of fags', as he distributed cigarettes with reckless bravery which won him a military cross.

Surviving the war, Woodbine Willy returned to Worcester to become a popular vicar crusading for social justice.

Historian and author of 'Worcester Moments', Andrew Reekes tell his story.

The burial of Prince Arthur in Worcester Cathedral in 1502 changed British history forever.

The eldest son of Henry VII, educated as a renaissance Prince and married to Catherine of Aragon, he seemed destined to lead England into a new era. But soon after his marriage he died of fever and historians are left to ponder what if...?

What is Arthur had lived and his younger brother Henry had not become Henry VIII?

Historian and author of Worcester moments explored this story.

Birmingham was transformed between 1850 and 1900. Though in 1850 a fast-growing, prosperous manufacturing centre, it was an unplanned, insanitary muddle of a town; by the end of the nineteenth century however it was renowned both as ‘the best governed town in the country’ and as ‘the most artistic town in England.’ An environmental revolution enacted by Mayor Joseph Chamberlain in the early 1870s ensured Birmingham was ‘parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas and watered and improved.’ He and his supporters on the town council were inspired to act to improve the living conditions of Birmingham people by George Dawson, influential minister at the Church of the Saviour, who preached the mission of the ‘civic gospel’. But Dawson also taught that it was the duty of the wealthy, talented businessmen to civilise citizens, to educate, to promote intellectual opportunities, and to cultivate aesthetic appreciation.

This talk by Andrew Reekes is concerned with those Dawson disciples – men largely ignored in standard accounts of the civic gospel in Birmingham - who set about providing schools, adult learning opportunities, libraries, a unique Shakespeare Memorial Library, a museum and art gallery, as well as the foremost art and design schools in the land. More than in any other British city, this cultural and intellectual efflorescence was administered by the town council and its councillors; many of them were the same men who had campaigned for new educational and aesthetic initiatives and who generously gave to the cause. It is a story that deserves to be recorded.

Keywords: George Dawson, civic gospel, Andrew Reekes, Birmingham

Wyre Piddle, Dag Tail End, Cofton Hackett, Finstall and Inkberrow.

Just a few of the strangely intriguing names found on the signposts pointing along the lanes leading to the hamlets, villages and towns of Worcestershire in the rural heart of England.  Each name is special. Every one of them hints at stories of people and events which shaped this quintessentially English county centuries ago. But what do they all mean? What mysteries lie here? Who named these hills and rivers?

These voices form the past have been painstakingly unlocked in a new book by retired medical doctor, Mike Jenkins, in his new book The History of Place Names in England and Worcestershire which is now available from bookshops and Amazon.

Keywords: Worcestershire; Mike Jenkins; places

As Britain emerged into the mid-twentieth century, change is everywhere. Cities were shifting from smog-filled industrial hubs to more efficient centres of commerce and, despite the country once again being blighted by war, society was shifting towards a more modern, forward-thinking era. But change was not limited to these ordinary men and women; under the surface, the criminal underbelly, too, was evolving, anxious to exploit new opportunities.

And so, in the third instalment of his best-selling series, historian Carl Chinn examines this new era in the landscape of Britain's gangs. After the violent reign of the Peaky Blinders, the intimidation of the Birmingham gang and frequent gang wars up and down the country, from the wreckage new groups are emerging with new ways of making money and causing trouble, and, like those who came before them, they left havoc and destruction in their wake.

In our new podcast Birmingham social historian and author Carl Chinn reveals this violent and murky world and its social consequences.

Keywords: Peaky Blinders, Carl Chinn

Women's lives were transformed in the Black Country between 1945-1968.

During these years of prosperity and full employment new appliances relieved some of the domestic drudgery that had dominated domestic life in earlier years.

For the first time many working class families had the income to buy new cookers and other appliances - many of which were made in Black Country factories.

At the same time the landscape was changing for the better.  Derelict land was being reclaimed and most importantly the region's notoriously poor housing was being systematically swept away.

And for young people there were new schools and plenty of well paid jobs for both girls and boys with many companies keen to hire apprentices.

In these post-war years the Black Country was truly forging ahead.

Simon Briercliffe, a historian and author based at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) discusses this vibrant period and describes how it will be celebrated in the exciting new extension to the BCLM currently under construction.

Keywords: Black Country, Women, Smethwick, Wolverhampton

The Black Country (1945-1966)

The post-war years transformed the Black Country of the English Midlands.

The region was a driving force in the country's industrial recovery and this was a golden era of working class prosperity with full employment and high wages.

But it was also a time of social tension.  The region's industry desperately needed labour to satisfy continuing demand. Attracted by the promise of high wages, an increasing number of men came to the Black Country towns like Smethwick and Wolverhampton from the Caribbean and the Indian Sub-Continent to fill these jobs.

Racial tensions grew, fuelled and encouraged by some local politicians.

Simon Briercliffe, a historian of the Black Country based at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) discusses the causes of these tensions with our publisher, Mike Gibbs.

Keywords: Black Country, Race Relations, Enoch Powell, Smethwick, Wolverhampton

The end of the Second World War ushered in a period of great prosperity in the Black Country of the English Midlands.  It began two decades of full employment and high wages, widespread urban regeneration with thousands of new homes being built and new labour saving appliances changing the domestic lives of men, women and children forever.  Many of the products in these homes came from Black Country companies which were now known around the world for their innovations and it was in these towns that the vital components for the cars which furled so much of Britain’s post-war recovery were made.

Wherever you looked, the region – Britain’s industrial heartland – was changing.  But prosperity had to be maintained and  jobs had to be filled.  So families came  - first from Europe and Ireland and then from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent to help the Black Country continue to forge ahead.

In this programme, the first of three podcasts, historian and author, Simon Briercliffe, of The Black Country Living Museum, explores this post-war story with History West Midlands publisher, Mike Gibbs.

Keywords: Black Country, Black Country Living Museum, Industry, World War Two

Historically, widows have often been portrayed as pitiful figures dressed in black who required charity to survive. This was certainly true of the lives of many working class women over the centuries for whom day-to-day existence was already marginal.

But for others, widowhood released them from a domestic life where they could own nothing and in which they were totally subjugated to their husband’s will.  Now, as widows they found themselves suddenly empowered and free to conduct themselves as they wished with an independence of thought and action and a defined role in society.

In their new book Widows: Poverty, Power and Politics West Midlands historians Professor Maggie Andrews and Dr Janis Lomas explore the lives of these women – famous and unknown.

LISTEN to Professor Andrews talk to the publisher of History West Midlands, Mike Gibbs,  about some of the stories which the book reveals.

Keywords: Women, widows, Maggie Andrews