"Welcome to Our Town Of Bromsgrove

Their are a lot more unique pictures to be added to this page, so keep paying a visit

• Sidemoor   

• Bromsgrove

• Surrounding area's

 Sidemoor Village

A visitor to Sidemoor would not be able to distinguish the village from it’s close neighbour Bromsgrove Town. The center of Bromsgrove is only a stones throw away.

Sidemoor is mentioned in the ‘Doomsday book’. For much of its history Sidemoor was closely aligned to farming and agriculture, although at one time marshland and fields surrounded it.

By the 17^th & 18^th century Sidemoor had well and truly committed itself to the 'Nailmaking'. The large families  of that time, including the children would all be involved in the cottage industry of Nailmaking. They would live in very cramped conditions in the one up and one down nailmakers cottages, in the gardens there would normally be an outbuilding that housed a forge, except for the very young or old, the whole family would be up and working at the forge before dusk, and continue on and beyond sundown. They were hard days and it took hard people to withstand the poor pay and the long working hours.

The Nailmakers cottages would normally have only one small window facing North, the reason for this was to conserve as much heat as possible, the front of the cottages would have the entrance door and a window up and down.  Some of these type of cottages survive to this day.  {Please see pictures}

One Nailmaker was reported to have created the following poem,

‘Yer git a bit of iron and put it in the fire, you get it out and give a clout, and there you have a nail’.

The conditions worsened forcing the nailmakers to hold strike meetings, the cavalry was often assembled to break up the meetings with force, the locals developed a defensive tool named the ‘tis-was’, this was a specially made weapon that had several spikes, they would be thrown under the horse’s feet causing the animals and there mounts injury. 
I don't expect the cavalry looked as smart as these chaps, the picture is just to give you an idea of what must have an overpowering force.

{I often wonder why the old but well known TV series ‘Tis-was’, hosted by Chris Tarrent, adopted this name? any ideas} You may have heard the expression 'I'm all of a tis-was', meaning they would be in a state of confusion!

Remaining as a cottage industry Bromsgrove managed to escape the nearby blackened towns that were in the full thro of the Industrial Revolution.

For more history in detail including the Saxon era please click here,  
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It is interesting to note that there was no chapel in Sidemoor Village until 1838; the nearest church would have been St Johns in the center of Bromsgrove. Some of the church grave stones date back to the 15th century.  It's well worth a visit to the church with it's historical background, and links to the civil war.  It's rumored that  King Charles spied on the advancing army of the Roundheads in the battle of Worcester, from the top of the belfry. 
The following text is written on the gravestones in St Johns graveyard.

Age 32 years.

This man was killed by an engine boiler explosion in Bromsgrove rail Station.
He was 28 years of age when he was killed.
An unknown friend wrote the following composition.

My engine now is cold and still,
No water does my boiler fill.

The Bromsgrove Guild

Walter Gilbert founded the Bromsgrove Guild circa 1900, attracting skilled craftsmen from throughout Europe until it’s disbandment in 1966.
Evidence of the Guilds fine work can be found in many parts of the world, the most famous example in this country being Buckingham Palace gates. Numerous local examples exist including much of the interior of Dodford church and the memorial windows of the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral.

The original bronze statue of ‘The Dryad and Boar’ was sculptured in 1892 by Louis Wiengarten later to become a principal member of the Guild, and is located in Berne, Switzerland.
[Text taken from bronze plate below statue 

The original mould of this statue was carefully restored by Terry Simons of Bromsgrove, and was erected as part of the enhancement of Bromsgrove High Street in 1983.
If you have any comments or would like to add to this page please click on the address below

Memories are what we carry with us all of our days.

They say you should never go back, if this were true how could we hope to learn and pass on our experiences to others. 

This Ariel photograph of Bromsgrove was taken in the early 60's, my how the town has changed with many features completely gone, and new roads and buildings have taken their place.

This photograph of 'Barnsley Hall was taken during it's construction with a total cost of £186,387,6s and 9p.
This was an enormous amount of money at that time, especially as the money was to be raised through an increase in rates. The local community was not at all happy about this considering the cost and it's use as a lunatic asylum. 
This beautiful building was eventually opened in September 3rd 1903. A water tower was added later that rose high above the skyline, and housed some 60,000 gallons of water. The tower became a well known landmark to Bromsgrove. During the Second World War Barnsley Hall was used as a hospital and convalescence home to British and American soldiers. The nursing staff seen in this picture putting on a Christmas show at Barnsley Hall must have made it very hard for the poorly injured soldiers !

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