Photo Gallery. New additions to the photo gallery are now on line. They have all been supplied by WIAS member Derek Billings and are well worth viewing. Click here or use the link on the left. September 2008

A new expanded version of the web site dedicated to the Baddesley Ensor Pit explosion 1882  is now on line at  www.baddesleypitexplosion.co.uk  Well worth a visit. Another site worth visiting is that of the Moseley Railway Trust, dedicated to preserving narrow gauge industrial railway locomotives. August 2008

Subscriptions - Members are reminded that subscriptions for the new 2008/2009 season will become due from September 2008. The amount, subject to the outcome of the AGM, is likely to remain at £10.00 per person or couple and should be paid to Treasurer Richard Hartree. Please make cheques payable to Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology Society. July 2008

June Newsletter No. 31 available on line now. July 2008

Programme for the remainder of 2008 is now available on line. July 2008

Fire-fighting in Warwick by J. A. Powell - Special offer
Mr Powell's father and grandfather both served in the Warwick Volunteer Fire Brigade.  He traces the history of fire-fighting in Warwick, beginning with an outline of the rudimentary facilities prior to the Great Fire of 1694.  He shows how the modern service developed, initially through insurance societies.  The volunteer force was established in the 1860s.  There are sections on the equipment purchased, how it was used, the training involved, the political background, membership of the force, and a summary of what survives today in the way of equipment and buildings.  There are 17 illustrations and full documentation guides the reader to other sources.

We are offering the booklet to your membership at £2 plus 50p postage. Cheques should be made out to 'Warwickshire Local History Society.'  Please contact me for any further information.

Christine and Hugh Woodland
28 Lillington Road
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire
CV32 5YY
tel. 01926 422628 June 2008

Birmingham Faces and Places, Community History day at  The Library Theatre, Birmingham Central Library. Full details of this event are now available. Click here. May 2008

WIAS Newsletters. Missing newsletter back issues from No.1 to No. 7 have now been added to the website. The scan quality is not perfect but they are acceptable. Thanks to Arthur Astropp for the loan of the originals. Together with the copies of 'Retort', mentioned below, there is now a complete archive available to everyone on line. May 2008

'Retort'. Members will remember with affection this excellent magazine produced between Spring 1993 and Summer 2000. There were 10 issues in all. Have you still kept your copies? If not it doesn't matter as they have all been scanned recently and are now available here on the society web site. If you want to know the speakers or outings, and there seemed to be quite a lot in those days, have a dip into past. You will need a high speed internet connection to open the larger issues as some of the file sizes are quite hefty. Thanks to Peter Chater for loaning his set of originals. Click here or use the link in the column on the left. May 2008.

Docklands. A sudden change of event at the last meeting reminded me of some photographs taken in Docklands recently, click here or use the link in the column on the left. May 2008

Hatton Locks. A new page of winter photographs taken at the Hatton Flight. May 2008

Help Needed. The society recently received the below request in respect of an exhibition in Leamington Spa this summer. Please help if you can and reply direct to the organiser. Details below. May 2008

Joseph Elkington. Stretton on Dunsmore History Society has a splendid book on Joseph Elkington, the agricultural drainage pioneer, available to purchase at £3 per copy. Click here for a link to their web site and more information. April 2008

Kenilworth Greenway. The former Kenilworth Junction to Berkswell railway line has undergone a remarkable transformation following the Sustrans Connect2 Lottery grant of £50 million. It is well worth a visit and I recently did just that looking for any industrial archaeology that might have survived. To see the results click here or use the links on the left. April 2008

Members email. It became necessary to change the speaker and subject for the April WIAS meeting and on occasions such as this it is extremely useful to be able to e-mail members with the details. If you haven't already supplied your email address and are happy for the society to retain it, please use the link provided here to forward your details to Chairman Martin Green. Under the terms of the Data Protection Act the information is only retained to enable the Society to contact you and will not be made available or sold to third parties. Click here to send your email address. April 2008

April Meeting. The meeting heard a talk  by Roger Cragg entitled Operating a Preserved Railway. Together with a Power Point display of photographs and documents Roger explained his involvement with the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway in mid-Wales over the last 30 years. Rostering staff, health & safety regulations and catering for all visitors needs were just some of the subjects covered. After the break, Chairman Martin Green reported on a recent Archaeological Conference he attended along with Treasurer Richard Hartree. April 2008

Napton Brickworks. The current newsletter, (March 2008, No. 30), contains an interesting article on Napton Brickworks. Derek Billings has kindly provided some photographs to accompany the article which can be viewed by clicking here or using the link on the left. April 2008

Early Newsletters. I hope to make available the society newsletters from issue 1 to issue 7 on the web site in the near future and possibly at a later date back copies of the original 'Retort' from 1993 onwards. April 2008

Newsletter 30, March 2008 is available on the web site now. Paper versions will be available at the next meeting on Thursday 10th April. April 2008

Peugeot Ryton on Dunsmore. Little remains of this once impressive car manufacturing plant, the area is to be re-developed for storage/distribution and possible future houses. Some photographs of the remains taken by Richard Storey have been added to the site. Click here or follow the link to the left. March 2008

Members received a superb talk and Power Point display show at the March meeting and as a result now know far more about how the Ordnance Survey organization maps the UK. For much more information visit their excellent web site by clicking on the link above. March 2008

Railways Remembered diary of all archive film shows by Rob Foxon until the end of 2008 is now available. Use the link in the left hand column. February 2008

The Book Stall apologizes for not being at the February meeting. One half was on holiday and the other half was taken ill, hope to be back in March. February 2008

Warwick Castle Engine House has featured at WIAS meetings a number of times in recent years. A new page has been added with a few pictures to give a flavour of what awaits you when you visit this interesting IA site. January 2008

Warwickshire Archaeology. The January WIAS meeting was treated to a splendid talk and Power Point display by Warwickshire Planning Archaeologist Anna Stocks on her role within Warwickshire County Council. Anna was extremely enthusiastic about her work and showed some local examples of recording that had taken place in Warwick and Bedworth, carefully chosen to emphasise the industrial aspect! Her department relies very much on the public informing them about sites of interest which may then be recorded on their data base. Do not hesitate to get in touch if you know of something they may not be aware of. Anna can be emailed directly at annastocks@warwickshire.gov.uk Don't forget that all the sites that are recorded in Warwickshire are available to view on line through the Time Trail web site that Anna's department has created. Click here to visit the site. January 2008