Newsletter – February 2010
February 5th, 2010Ray Porter opened the February meeting by welcoming visitors and new members, detailing the outing to the Morgan Factory and Malvern Priory on 27th April, inviting members and friends to the Social on 21st May and advertising the ramble around Halesowen on the following Sunday.
Our speaker was Graham Fisher, from the Broadfield House Glass Museum, presenting ‘Jewels on the Cut’. Graham took us on a journey along the Stourbridge Canal Town Arm, starting at the Bonded Warehouse. We looked at the remains of the numerous glass factories that lined its banks, some pre-dating the Canal’s opening in 1779 by over 150 years, we saw other factories that opened after the Canal came and were surprised that most Stourbridge glass was made in Wordsley! As we worked our way along the towpath, Graham explained the significance of the various ruined buildings and bridges, so not only did we learn something of the individual factories, but a little about the building of Agenoria and the Stourbridge Lion at Foster and Rastrick’s and of the Kinver Light Railway. However, the main theme was glass and so we saw remains of such works as Dovey’s, Holloway End, Platts, New Dial, Audnam and, of course, Stourbridge Glass. All too soon we arrived at Wordsley Junction and the ‘main line’: our ‘walk’ was over, leaving further exploration for another day.