Village news from Helen Price – 3/5/18

Published 30 April 2018

Village Jumble Sale

Thanks to everyone who helped in any way with the Jumble Sale in the Village Hall on 14th April, whether donating items, sorting or helping in the afternoon. Particular thanks go to Peter Gee for organising the event. The excellent sum of £480 was raised for church funds.

Best Kept Village Competition

The Parish Council is entering the village into the Best Kept Village competition again. There will be a general clean up on Sunday 29th April and all volunteers will be welcomed. Please display your BKV flyer in your front window and keep your front garden as neat and litter free as possible. Thank you.

Open Gardens

Kings Bromley Open Gardens will take place on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June, from 12 noon to 5 pm. So far we have 9 confirmed gardens, including 4 which have never been opened before. The WI will be ‘yarn bombing’ again and providing teas in the Village Hall on the Saturday. There will be ‘fairy finding’ for the kids and there might be some musical entertainment – watch this space.
At a preliminary meeting, it was decided that the profits would again go to the Village Hall Refurbishment fund; so far the Open Gardens has contributed £4000 to this worthy cause.

Kings Bromley Show, Saturday July 28th ‘Celebrating Staffordshire’

We have all the usual fun of the fair with children’s entertainment, a magician, animal shows, trade stalls and craft fair. The competitive marquee provides an ideal opportunity to display your favourite Staffordshire landscape, capture that local beauty spot on camera, show off your family’s special Staffordshire oatcake recipe – the scope is endless! The arena displays include daring cycle and motorbike stunt acts.

There’s plenty of opportunity to get involved in the organisation of the Show and lots of fun to be had in the process. In particular, help is required to run the Young Crafts tent. If you would like to help in any way, please contact Kirsten Harber on 07766 316316. For further details please see our website: www.kingsbromleyshow.co.uk.

Village news from Helen Price – 26/4/18

Published 23 April 2018

Royal Oak Anniversary Celebration

Since re-opening a year ago, the Royal Oak has gone from strength to strength thanks to Gillian, Roger and their friendly team. On Saturday afternoon they treated their loyal customers to a BBQ, entertainment, and also a performance by Kings Bromley’s very own Village Harmony choir.

Also cause for celebration was recently being awarded the 5 Star Food Hygiene rating. Congratulations and well done to everyone!

More news

Published 16 April 2018

2Wednesday Club

“Chasing Paper Skeletons” was the subject of April’s talk given by Marion Armstrong a genealogist and former registrar for North Staffordshire.
Marion introduced us to the basics of beginning the search for our ancestors. Most people know the names of their parents and possibly their grandparents but very little besides. Marion explained the importance of birth and marriage certificates as the starting point for any search. Birth certificates provide not only a child’s name and date of birth but the name of the father, his occupation and the mother’s maiden name. Marriage certificates – in addition to the names of the couple being married – provide their ages, date and place of the marriage, their address and the names and occupations of both fathers. The birth certificate of your father will therefore provide your paternal grandfather’s name and occupation and your paternal grandmother’s maiden name. The marriage certificate of your grandparents will then provide the names and occupations of both great grandfathers and so on. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837 for earlier dates parish registers are required. Once you have the necessary information – name, date of birth and area in which your ancestor lived it is possible to search the census returns. The census is taken every 10 years and returns are available from 1841 – 1911. There is a one hundred years rule on the disclosure of census information and the next census – the census of 1921 – will be available in 2021. The census return provides names, ages, marital status and occupation of everyone within a particular household on the date of the census. Marion provided some humorous examples from the 1911 census – the first to be completed by the actual householder. The father who gave his 3-year-old year son’s occupation as – “running about” while another gave the name of the family servant as “Peter Tabby” occupation “Mouser” and a farmer who under the section headed “Infirmity” added “short of cash.” Additional sources of information providing an insight into the lives of our ancestors include newspaper archives, wills, passenger lists and prison records many of which are available online.
To conclude her talk Marion shared with us the weird and wonderful names children have been given over the centuries. It seems that this is not just a modern trend! Examples included: A girl born in 1892 surname Waters – Christian name Mineral. A girl born in 1883 with 25 Christian names one for each letter of the alphabet apart from P – her surname was Pepper. Boys fared no better. One boy “Timeof” was named after his father and grandfather before him – their surname – Day. Most unfortunate of all perhaps was young master Goldstone whose parents gave him the name “Onetoomany” Goldstone. Poor child!
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday May 2nd when we will be visiting Matlock Bath.

Village news from Helen Price – 9/4/18

Published 16 April 2018

Kings Bromley WI
Our postponed AGM was held in April and we also had a fascinating speaker in Rowena Lovatt, who gave us an entertaining talk on the life of a lingerie designer. Rowena wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do when she left boarding school but her father had other ideas and arranged an interview at a mill in Leek. The company was called Lux Lux and they designed and made items of nightwear and lingerie. She was sent to Art school and attended a day release scheme to gain a City and Guilds qualification in dressmaking. The company was very keen for their staff to gain lots of experience and Rowena was allowed to visit relatives in America as long as she brought samples back with her and was able to stay for two months.
On her return she made her way to the Design room, which was where her creative flare and skills at pattern making came into play. The company had large accounts with Debenhams and Littlewoods. Rowena’s talk was entertaining and funny and we could all see how proud she was of her achievements.
We continued the meeting with a cheese and wine buffet and then the formal business of the AGM. Sue Penfold shared her memories as President during the year and Pauline Greatrex read out the Annual Report highlighting the year’s events and achievements. The financial report was read and the accounts look to be in a healthy position. The committee were all given a gift of a bottle of wine from Sue as appreciation of their hard work and a raffle was held. Sue is in office for another year and the ladies are grateful for her commitment to our Institution. A unique rag doll of a WI lady was presented to her and also to Viv Leyland who has supported us for many years as president and on the committee.
Our next meeting will be in the village hall on 3rd May when we will look at the National Federation’s resolution on Mental Heath Matters which needs to be discussed and voted on for the National AGM in June.

Village news from Helen Price – 5/4/18

Published 2 April 2018

Manor Park Sailing Club
RYA Push the Boat Out 2018 is getting the nation on the water!
This national event will see hundreds of sailing clubs and training centres up and down the country offering free or low cost ‘have a go’ sailing taster sessions and open days. RYA Push the Boat Out is all about getting people out on the water locally and giving them the chance to find out just how easy it is to get involved in sailing. So, if learning to sail is on your ‘to do’ list this is your chance.

Your local sailing club, Manor Park Sailing Club will be hosting their Push the Boat Out event on Saturday 12th May 2016 as part of their spring open day.

Come along to the club between 10 a.m. and 4p.m., and weather-permitting we will get you out dinghy sailing with experienced members, explore the 3 lakes in a powerboat and experience the club facilities. Bring a waterproof coat, old trainers that you don’t mind getting wet, towel and a change of clothes.

We can’t guarantee to turn you into the next Ben Ainslie or Ellen Macarthur, but we can guarantee that whether you’re looking to simply relax on our lakeside patio, potter around with the family on our three lakes, or live out your Olympic fantasies in our weekly racing events, Manor Park Sailing Club is the best place to be for great days out on the water. We offer junior (from 7 years old) and adult training and can take you from complete novice to confident sailor over the course of the year.
Visit the club website for more details: https://www.manorparksc.co.uk/ or contacttraining@mpsc.co.uk or 017814 541942 for more information.
You’ll find us on the A513 halfway between King’s Bromley and Armitage.

Kings Bromley Gardening Guild

The meeting of the Gardening Guild on 19 March started with the AGM. There was a review of another successful year, followed by the re-election of committee members for the coming year. Additional members are always welcome to join the committee! Once the AGM was completed, Paul Woolley gave a short talk on looking after the lawn in spring, then members enjoyed a glass of wine with nibbles and a gardening quiz. We now know what a tayberry is, that Chantenay red cored is a carrot and that all parts of lily of the valley are highly poisonous.
The next meeting will be on 16 April, when Ruth Williams will be talking about “The Living Churchyard”.

Historians, Friday 30th March

Elizabeth Marsh (born 1748) was an extraordinary woman. She married William Hervey in 1774 and was widowed 9 years later with two young sons, Thomas and William.

After her husband’s death, she travelled extensively but in 1792 she began to write a journal every day until the day before she died in 1820. She not only kept a record of her daily life but commented on the wider affairs of the time; the French Revolution and Wars, statesmen, persons of note and gossip all contribute to reveal a contemporary view of historical events.

These journals amount to 77 books each about 90 pages. They are kept in the Record Office in London and one of our members showed us what fascinating reading they make.

Allan then related the connection to the Lane family of Kings Bromley when Susan Ann Vincent (William Hervey’s granddaughter) married John Henry Bagot Lane. A very enjoyable “in house” meeting.

On Saturday 19th May we will be visiting Beamhurst Museum in the morning and after a pub lunch, Izaak Walton’s cottage. Please contact Allan or Val if you would like to join us.