News

The Saxon Hoard

We were fortunate to be able to engage Stephen Dean, Staffordshire County Archaeologist, to speak at our April meeting. Over 60 people attended the lecture and donations of £60 were raised over and above the usual £1-a-head which will be presented to the organisers of the Hoard who are hoping to set up a visitors' trail, amongst other things. Stephen Dean is shown (right) giving his lecture to an enthralled audience.

As a sequel to this, people who attended our May meeting were privileged to meet a real Saxon warrior (see photo), in the form of Stuart Davies who brought to life the events surrounding the burial of the Saxon hoard and offered his own suggestion as to why it came to be there.

Lightwoods Park

Sandwell MBC has set aside £1.25M for the restoration project with a further £80k p.a. being allocated for annual maintenance. Sandwell are planning to move one of their departments into Lightwoods House eventually and therefore the building will be occupied and made secure rather than being allowed to fall into dereliction, as was feared. Three society members are pictured (right) by the porch of Lightwoods House.

Local Flag Design Project

Local graphic design enthusiast Philip Tibbetts has been on a mission to design a flag for every Black Country town. His designs are based on a considerable amount of research and those for Smethwick (below left) and Warley (below right) are shown here.