Living History weekend returns to The Commandery, Worcester

 A Living History event at The Commandery

The Commandery’s biggest weekend of the year is back on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February 2024! Encounter characters from centuries past throughout the building and gardens, discover living history encampments, and see military displays in action at this exciting two-day event.

‘From Twang to Bang’ – from bows and arrows to gunfire – will see historic firing demonstrations by Worcester Reenactors take place in the walled garden. Head into the outer garden to see reenactors take to horseback in cavalry displays – a brilliant new addition this year. Medieval music and Tudor-style dancing will fill the medieval Great Hall, and metalworkers and willow weavers will demonstrate their crafts.

Organised in partnership with the Worcester Re-enactors, the event is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to encounter reenactors throughout the beautiful Grade-1 listed building and grounds, making for an exciting day out for the whole family. Explore a different period of history – and make a new memory – around every corner.

 

The Commandery is one of Worcester’s oldest and most remarkable buildings, well-known for being the Royalist Headquarters during the Battle of Worcester in 1651, making it the perfect place to be immersed in history brought to life.

 

Helen Manning, Events and Activities Coordinator at The Commandery, says: “It’s fantastic that Living History falls in the half-term holiday this year – we can’t wait to see lots of families at The Commandery enjoying all the history on display.”

 

The canal-side independent café, Commandery Coffee, will be open and offering fantastic homemade cakes and toasties alongside a variety of drinks. Vegan and gluten-free options are available, making it the perfect place for all to refuel during an adventurous day out.

 

There is no booking required for Living History at The Commandery and usual entry admission applies. There is free admission to those with a season or Worcester Residents’ pass to The Commandery. For further information, please visit museumsworcestershire.org.uk.

YEF Toolkit Workshop on Wednesday 21st February (10:00 – 11:00)

The Youth Endowment Fund and the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership are hosting a YEF Toolkit Workshop on Wednesday 21^st February (10:00 – 11:00), via Microsoft Teams.

 

The YEF Toolkit summarises the best available research evidence about different approaches to preventing serious violence affecting young people. It is based on real life data about what has happened when these approaches have been used before and is a tool to complement your own expertise and local knowledge across West Midlands.

 

The presentation will support us to understand the Toolkit evidence, understand how this can inform commissioning decisions and provide evidence for areas of influence which are useful to you.

 

Dr Laura Knight, Toolkit Lead, and Ellisha Coates, Senior Evidence and Engagement Manager will facilitate discussions to:

1. Demonstrate how the Toolkit works
2. Explore any questions about research gaps and how YEF can help

Please sign up to the workshop on Eventbrite via the following link: YEF Toolkit Workshop Tickets, Wed 21 Feb 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

Heritage Lottery Fund - new Heritage 2033 National Lottery programme is open for grants from £10,000 to £10million

 

We’ve changed our application guidance and forms to reflect our new strategy, simplified our materials and made our requirements more proportionate to the amount of money you’re applying for.

We’re ready to support innovative and ambitious projects that share our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

If there’s something from the past that you care for and want to pass it on to future generations, we want to hear from you.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund

 What’s changed

Our Heritage 2033 strategy is centred around a simplified framework of four investment principles: saving heritage; protecting the environment; inclusion, access and participation; and organisational sustainability. You must take all four principles into account in your application. The strength of focus and emphasis on each principle is for you to decide and demonstrate.

Mindful of increased costs for goods and services, and responding to trends in our grant application data, we’ve increased our entry level grants to £10,000. This is in addition to our earlier upper threshold increase to £10m (we may even consider investing above £10m for truly exceptional heritage projects).

To simplify your experience of applying for a grant, we’ve:

• improved links between pages on our website so you can clearly see all the information you need to consider before applying
• reduced the length and complexity of our application guidance and the number of questions you must answer
• made it easier to tell us about your heritage and the project you want to deliver
• streamlined the process for grants from £10,000–£250,000 to make applying at that level more seamless
• updated our approach to paying out grants, making it easier for you to manage and deliver your project

Your opinions and expertise have been crucial to the development of Heritage 2033 and we will continue to listen and respond. We have designed an application process that can adapt to your feedback and we’ll update you when we make changes.

We remain committed to flexibility and supporting the sustainability of organisations in these challenging times. If you have urgent or exceptional needs, please contact your local team.

Connecting people and heritage

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to invest £870m across our first three-year delivery plan in projects of all sizes that connect people and communities to the UK’s heritage.

“We see heritage as broad and inclusive. If there’s something from the past that you care for and want to pass it on to future generations, we want to hear from you.”

Find out more

Explore our new National Lottery Heritage Grants application guidance for grants from £10,000–£250,000 or from £250,000–£10m.

If you’re considering applying to us for the first time, start with learning more about what we fund and how to understand and explain your heritage.

Exhibition celebrates work of newspaper photographer

 

Four youngsters in their railway embankment camp off Bradleymore Road, Brockmoor in 1976
Photo by Phil Loach

• Vanessa Pearce
• Role,BBC News, West Midlands
• 28 January 2024, 08:14 GMT

A celebration of everyday life, from people going about their shopping or going to a football match, is going on display in a new photographic exhibtion.

A personal collection from Phil Loach, originally from Dudley and a professional photographer for newspapers in the Black Country, has been put together with an associated book.

The photographer passed away suddenly last year, his family said.

His work had been accepted for the book but he died before it was published, they said.

Read the full article here

The show will run from 13 to 24 February at the RBSA Gallery, St Paul's Square, Birmingham.

Coventry and Warwickshire Youth Orchestra Collaboration Concert

Collaboration Concert at Stratford Play House Theatre 

Sunday 11th February, 7:30 p.m. 

Admission £5

Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra in concert with Limerick School of Music Senior Orchestra (Ireland)

On Sunday 11th February, a very special musical collaboration will take place at Stratford Play House Theatre (Rother Street) when the Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra will join forces with the Limerick School of Music Senior Orchestra (Ireland) in concert. This is the second leg of the Limerick orchestra’s UK tour to the Worcestershire and Warwickshire areas.The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. and tickets at only £5 are available from the theatre website www.stratfordplay.co.uk. 

CWYO will be conducted by Joe Davies and the LSOM Senior Orchestra will be conducted by Anna Jane Ryan. The programme will include classical orchestral favourites such as The Academic Festival Overture by Brahms, a medley from Porgy & Bess by Gershwin and Piazzolla’s much-loved Libertango. There will also be some musical lollipops of film and popular music such as music from Pirates of the Caribbean and How to Train your Dragon, and an Irish Rock Medley with some guest LSOM classical guitarists: something for everyone!

Since its inception in 1961, the City of Coventry Youth Orchestra has steadily grown in reputation and stature both nationally and internationally. In January 2015 it was joined by members of the Warwickshire County String Orchestra to form the new and exciting Coventry & Warwickshire Youth Orchestra organisation. The primary goal of the orchestra is to enrich the lives of participating young musicians and audiences through the enjoyment of rehearsing and performing orchestral repertoire at the highest possible level. 

The mission of the Limerick School of Music complements the CWYO perfectly in that LSOM strives to be a centre of excellence and an accessible resource to the community. LSOM was founded in 1962 and has expanded to become the largest provider of music tuition in the mid-west region of Ireland

Wolverhampton Literature Festival

 

We are excited to announce more acts have been added to our lineup for this year’s festival.  Join us 2-4 February to welcome Pauline Black OBE, Robin Ince, Josie Long, Hannah Byczkowski and Suzie Preece and celebrate arts and culture in the city.

For more information on events and how to get involved visit the website. 

Black Country Landscapes Permanent Display

Black Country Landscapes presents a selection of art and objects from Wolverhampton’s collections to explore the relationships between the Black Country’s industries and landscapes.

From the atmospheric depictions of Edwin Butler Bayliss to the monumental work of Robert Perry, the paintings show the past and present of Black Country industry. To find out more visit wolverhamptonart.org.uk. 

Free admission

Our new display opened last weekend!

Black Country Landscapes presents a selection of art and objects from Wolverhampton’s collections to explore the relationships between the Black Country’s industries and landscapes.

Our view of the Black Country’s industrial past has evolved as we’ve become more aware of the damage done to the environment. Black Country Landscapes asks us to look at our local landscapes, to see how they are changing and to think about how we hope they will change in the future.

Come and have a look, and have a go at drawing your own Black Country Landscape or writing down your vision for the future of the region’s landscape.

Find out more at https://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/.../black-country.../

Art and Pottery On until Sun 24 March at Wolverhampton Art Gallery

A kaleidoscope of Pop ceramics by key artists, including special edition dinner plates, tea services, vases and mugs.

Free admission

Image credit: Small Dish by Michelle Ettrick, 2023

Harlequinade - A Great British Panto!

On until 31 Mar

Bantock House Museum

The Harlequinade developed as an English pantomime between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. It was at first a slapstick adaptation of the Italian 16th century commedia dell’arte but went on to be the favourite element of Victorian panto.

This exhibition looks at the Harlequinade in England through puppets and Toy Theatre, giving insight into its four main characters: Harlequin, Columbine, Pantaloon and of course the mischievous Clown!

Free admission

https://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/visit/bantock/

Ed Isaacs: Drawing Places

Sat 16 Dec - Sun 24 Mar

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Wolverhampton-based artist Ed Isaacs is a prolific draughtsman and is known across the West Midlands region for his captivating drawings in pencil. His intricate, large-scale works primarily focus on the concept of place and capturing the ‘genius loci’ or the spirit of an environment. He often depicts the area where he lives and works: Wolverhampton and the surrounding Black Country.

Find out more by visiting our website.

Image credit: Ring Road Geese II © Ed Isaacs, 2023

Smoky Stoke and other places: the photographic story of William Blake of Longton

Sunday 4 February

The exhibition of William Blake’s pictures of Stoke-on-Trent and further afield marks the 150th birthday of this important local photographer.

His most famous image of Smoky Stoke was the one jokingly named “Fresh Air for the Potteries”, when the air certainly wasn’t. But Mr Blake’s story is as fascinating as his images, from his birth in Pittsburgh, USA, to settling in Longton and recording local Potteries life for 50 years.

Local historian Jon Heal has been searching through the various collections of Blake’s photos and will explain why we are so lucky that so many survived.

Talk at 1pm, tickets £10 and includes a Cream Tea. Please book in advance by calling 01782 232323 or emailing MuseumEvents@stoke.gov.uk   

Exhibitions and Displays in Wolverhampton

A British Museum touring exhibition Drawing attention: emerging artists in dialogue

Sat 10 Feb - Sun 16 May
Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Drawing attention: emerging artists in dialogue presents some of the most compelling and talented artists working in contemporary drawing, displayed alongside highlights from the British Museum’s print and drawings collection.

While the Museum has actively collected contemporary drawings since the 1970s, it is now, for the first time also focusing on emerging artists. The newly acquired works include drawings by some of the youngest artists to be collected by the British Museum. These will be presented alongside works by celebrated artists from Mary Delany, Andy Warhol, Yinka Shonibare and Barbara Hepworth to Édouard Manet and Camille Corot.

In this thought-provoking selection, emerging artists take the medium of drawing in new directions. A wide range of techniques and practices are represented, from drawings using make-up facial wipes by Sin Wai Kin, to a drawing made with chalk collected from the White Cliffs of Dover by Josephine Baker. Artists show how drawing, often considered a quiet or private medium, can also be used to challenge social norms, explore identity, or protest injustice.

Free admission

Visit the website for more information.

Image credit - Charmaine Watkiss (born 1964), Double Consciousness: Be Aware of One’s Intentions, pencil, water-soluble graphite, watercolour and ink, 2021. Acquired with Art Fund and Rootstein Hopkins Foundation support © 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum. Reproduced by permission of the artist

February fun at the Red House Cone

 

Come on in!

We might look like a building site but we're very much open for business!

Restoration work is well underway and while there is currently no access inside the cone itself, our visitor centre, studios and canal side area are all open.

what's on There’s lots to do this half term at the Red House Cone. While restoration work is well underway at the historic site, the visitor centre and craft studios remain open for business as usual. All of January’s events are sold out, with waiting lists available for painting, glass fusing and ceramic sessions. During February half term there are three glass fusing sessions for children ages 7 plus. Children under 18 years must be accompanied by a paying adult. These are dragon glass fusing on Monday 12 February and Tuesday 13 February and dinosaur glass fusing on Friday 16 February. Participants will be using and cutting small pieces of glass and powders to create a unique piece.  Sessions are from 10.30am-11.30am,  12.00pm-1.00pm and 1.30pm-2.30pm.  Places cost £8.75 plus a small booking fee.  Pieces will be fired and ready for collection at a later date. Adults can get creative too with a fun and friendly Adult Chat and Paint session in the ground floor Education Room on Friday 23 February at 10.30 am and 1pm.  This month people can paint a wooden heart in the style of Polish Wycinanki designs. All materials and a cuppa included for just £8.75 per person (plus small booking fee). Youngsters aged 12+ can join in a Spring Suncatcher and Tea Light glass fusing session on Sun 25 February at 1.30am-1pm and 1.30-3pm. Beginners are welcome as full guidance will be given.   The cost is £17 (plus a small booking fee) which includes all materials. The cone will also be offering free trails for children and many of the onsite artist studios will be open for drop in activities, demonstrations and sales. As the studios are independently run they are not open every day, so if there is someone special you want to see, we recommend contacting them direct before your arrival. Councillor Paul Bradley, cabinet member for communities and economic delivery, said: “The restoration work is properly underway, you can see the extensive scaffolding around the cone for miles! The site and all its studios are still very much open for business during this important work. “All of our January crafting workshops are sold out, but there are still spaces left for some of our half term activities. A trip to the cone is a lovely day out, with free parking, a visitor centre to look around, exhibition space, craft activities and of course our independently run designer maker studios.” Future plans for the site include a host of Easter activities, two social value days where visitors can come onto site and find out more about the works with free guided tours and talks, the International Festival of Glass in August and of course the grand re-opening of the cone itself once the restoration works are complete. The site is open 10am to 3pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.  Book places for all sessions via ticket source https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/red-house-glass-cone Find out more about the site here https://www.dudley.gov.uk/things-to-do/museums/red-house-glass-cone/ Don’t forget to sign up to the things to do ebulletin for all the latest things to do in the borough https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKDUDLEYMBC/signup/26288

Under 5s, get ready for fun, giggles and a few muddy puddles!

☔️🎭 Goose - Interactive Musical for Under 5s 🎭☔️

Sophie meets Goose whilst on a trip to the park, and the pair soon become the best of friends.

This new musical for the under 5s, narrated by Bill Oddie, is the perfect theatre trip as they jump through muddy puddles, go on a wild goose chase and honk as loud as they can with Sophie and Goose.

This forty-five-minute interactive production brings Laura Wall's laugh out loud illustrations and loveable characters to life. 'Goose' is an instant favourite with young and old.

HONK!

Watch the promo video here!

Children will be seated on the floor in front of the performance space, allowing them to become fully immersed in this interactive family musical. You're very welcome to bring along your own blanket or cushion. There will be limited seating around the edge of the room for adults, available on a first come first served basis.

Stourbridge Town Hall (Wollaston Studio)
Goose - Interactive Musical for Under 5s
Friday 23 February 2024 - 1pm & 4.30pm

Get your tickets for Wolverhampton Pride now!

 

Denise Van Outen and Duncan James will take to the stage and headline Wolverhampton Pride 2024 on Saturday 8 June and you can get your tickets to see them in action now.

Tickets are £4 for adults and £2 for concessions (12 to 17 year olds, the over 65s, disabled and carers) including booking fee, with under 12s going free. For tickets, click here.

More details of the line up and parade route will be announced soon; search for Wolverhampton Pride on social media for the latest information and announcements.

Alternative Giving Quiz Night in Wolverhampton

 

Gather your friends, family or colleagues and take part in the quiz at The Goose on Thursday 8 February. Hosted by Dicky Dodd to bring a fun night of questions and quiz conundrums. 100% of the proceeds raised on the night will go to the Alternative Giving Charity. 

To book a place, please click here.

WHAT'S ON AT BIRMINGHAM ROCKS

 

Birmingham Rocks!

Free admission - Every Sunday from 6.30pm

From Rock and Roll to Ska to Cajun to Rock - making all the stops along the way. A gumbo of music styles with just one thing in common they all rock! 

WHAT'S ON AT BIRMINGHAM ROCKS

TUESDAY 30th JANUARY AT HENRY'S BLUESHOUSE

AT O BAR

RICH DICKINSON'S DRIVING FORCE

Over a career spanning almost three decades, Rich Dickinson has toured with and supported bands such as Blackfoot, Mahogany Rush and Chicken Shack. He has featured in Guitarist magazine and also on Channel 4 and national and local radio including Planet Rock. Rich Dickinson’s Driving Force have been playing for over twenty years and deliver the electric blues of Joe Bonamassa, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore and ZZ Top, plus their share of originals.

Upcoming

February 6th - DAWSON & THE DISSENTERS 13th - JAMIE THYER & THE WORRIED MEN 20th - PJ BAKER'S BLUES IRREGULARS 27th - HONEYBOY HICKLING BAND

Free admission. Doors 7pm. Live music from 8pm. O Bar, 264 Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2DS For more information, contact Jim Simpson on 0121 454 7020 or email jim@bigbearmusic.com

LANDMARK FOR BIRMINGHAM MUSIC VENUE

 

LANDMARK EDITION FOR HENRY’S BLUESLETTER 

This week marks the 200th edition of the weekly Henry’s Bluesletter, the free subscription emailed newsletter of Henry’s Blueshouse. What started life as a means to keep the attention of the Henry’s Blueshouse audience firmly fixed on The Blues during the Covid lockdown, has taken on a life of its own, going by email every weekly to nearly 16 thousand online subscribers across the UK, Europe and the USA.

Click here to see the current edition

The Bluesletter features artist information on attractions set to perform at Henry’s Blueshouse (every Tuesday), Birmingham Rocks (Sundays) and Bandit Fridays, all at O Bar on Broad Street at the heart of Westside. Admission to all performances is free. Henry’s Blueshouse first saw the light of day in 1968, when The Crown on Station Street was its home. Artists appearing at Henry’s included then-emerging acts including Status Quo, Chicken Shack, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher’s Taste. Legendary American’s featured included Arthur Big Boy Cruddup, who wrote 3 of Elvis Presley’s early hits, Lightnin’ Slim, Champion Jack Dupree and Son House. Black Sabbath played their first gigs at Henry’s and were regulars in their early days. Henry’s Blueshouse promotor, Jim Simpson, became manager of Black Sabbath, closing Henry’s to go on the road with Sabbath, taking them to 2 hit albums (“Black Sabbath” and “Paranoid”) and 1 hit single (“Paranoid”). After a short break of some 50 years, Simpson reopened Henry’s Blueshouse.

For further information, contact Jim Simpson on 0121 454 7020 or email jim@bigbearmusic.com

Sandwell Valley 10 Year Master Plan

Overview

The Sandwell Valley Master Plan offers a proposal of improvements to the following: 

• Connectivity and parking across all sites
• Improvements to Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre, including repairs, a retractable roof for wedding, events, and activities, and an expanded cafe and shop offer
• A new Heritage Discovery Zone offering educational play and activity linked to the history and conservation elements of Sandwell Valley for all ages of children and additional needs
• A new Watersports Centre and Cafe at Swan Pool to replace the current building, with expanded parking. 
• A new food education and cooking barn to promote healthy eating and cooking in Sandwell for schools, families, and parents. 

The Master Plan also benchmarks Sandwell Valley against other similar country parks. The aim of this Master Plan is to secure the future of Sandwell Valley Country Park, whilst maintaining the conservation and protection of the green belt land across the estate. The Master Plan will also enable Sandwell Valley to become a sub-regional destination; both offering an affordable or free day out for families and residents who live in Sandwell, but also attract visitors within a 45 minute radius. 

Why your views matter

Consultation has already taken place with stakeholders and residents through the production of the master plan by way of surveys and meetings. This further consultation enables residents and stakeholders to give their views on the final draft Master Plan. 

Give us your views on Sandwell Valley Master Plan

Online Survey

175 years of public health in Birmingham

Public health has long been a major concern in the United Kingdom's biggest cities, from efforts to control the spread of infection in the slum dwellings of Victorian England to mass vaccination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We can trace the beginning of organised civic responsibilities for public health back to 1847, when Liverpool appointed the first Medical Officer of Health.

In the 175 years that followed, Birmingham, like many other cities, has put the health of its citizens at the forefront of its civic agenda, with Medical Officers of Health and more recently its Directors of Public Health playing a central role.

In 2022, to celebrate 175 years of public health, the Public Health Division commissioned a public report looking into the history in Birmingham.

Download the report

LGBTQ+ History Month health conference in Birmingham

 

About the conference

In collaboration with the Proud Rainbow City Partnership, Birmingham City Council’s public health division and equality and cohesion division, are holding a free virtual month-long conference titled:

• "PrideWell Summit - #UndertheScope: Birmingham LGBTQ+ Health & Wellbeing Conference"

The LGBTQ+ History Month health conference will run throughout February 2024, to celebrate the national LGBT History Month activities, and focus on the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people in Birmingham and around the UK.

Join us as we reflect on successes and learning from unique and shared challenges.

Register for Conference Free Events

Conference Aims

The conference will focus on accelerating and platforming work to:

• tackle LGBTQAI+ health inequalities
• inform and drive the actions of the Proud Rainbow City Partnership
• build Birmingham as a centre of LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing innovation
• support the National LGBT History Month activity and theme of "under the scope"

Events

We will be holding webinars throughout the month. The majority will be virtual via Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and some will be hybrid at locations in Birmingham, to support digital inclusion.

Events will focus on three priority themes:

• shine the light on issues
• celebrate and connect with communities,
• share emerging practice and learning.

We are keen to hold sessions that reflect the breadth of diversity across our LGBTQ+ communities and highlight intersectionality, therefore we are looking to support specific sessions in relation to this.

Some specific sessions with the primary focus on sexual orientation and gender identity, will link to the themes listed below. However, they can link to the wider LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing areas, such as Trans+ Health Services, HIV and AIDs, health service inclusion, specific health and wellbeing needs of LGBTQ+ people and more.

Some specific sessions will link to:

• our local ICS strategy clinical priorities relevant to the LGBTQ+ community:
  • circulatory disease
  • respiratory disease
  • cancer
  • mental health
• our health and wellbeing board strategy priorities:
  • physical activity
  • food
  • mental wellbeing
  • healthy ageing
  • addictions

We will be also be holding an ePoster competition which, alongside the recordings of the webinars, will offer a legacy for sharing learning from the conference.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the conference, to share learning and celebrate our diverse and vibrant LGBTQ+ community as we tackle health inequalities together.

Events programme

We will be launching the first events programme in January 2024, come back soon to find out more information.