Hagley Historical and Field Society

The Society’s September meeting was a change to the advertised programme due to the booked speaker’s illness.  However, the large numbers who attended were far from disappointed with the replacement.  After the notices, which included details of the trip to Kenilworth, the October ramble and the AGM, Chairman Ray Porter introduced Goff Jones who would turn out to be a source of considerably entertainment over the coming hour.

Goff is a great collector of all things connected with the carpet-making town and he had brought a fascinating collection of images of old Kidderminster.  We were treated to a vast collection of photographs of a town that is all but unrecognisable from that we see today.  Notable were the trams, the railway station, the cricket pavilion and Bertram Mills’ elephants.  Then there were the long-gone shops, carpets and canal boats.  Equally fascinating were the modern buildings that had disappeared under later developments and the ring road.  All of this was delivered in Goff’s unique style, his sense of humour and local knowledge combining to produce a splendid evening much enjoyed by his audience.  Speaking on behalf of the audience, Roger Vingoe expressed his appreciation of the evening.