Local History Centre
Welcome to Walsall Local History Centre, the Archives Service and Local Studies Library for Walsall Council.
Willenhall folk invited to discover their photographic heritage - and make history!
The people of Willenhall are being offered the chance to discover their photographic heritage online - in a special internet taster session being laid on by staff of Walsall Local History Centre, who are joining forces with Willenhall Library in August.
This will be followed up with an opportunity to not just discover history but make it, as the borough's local history experts return to Willenhall Library with their high-tech scanning equipment, in hopes that local folk will help them to make history by bringing out their treasured pictures of the town so that they can be digitally preserved for posterity.
The 'Click in Time' taster session is on Wednesday 11 August 2pm-4pm, and will show how to explore old photographs of Willenhall and more - at the click of a mouse. There will also be a small display of old pictures of the town.
The 'Make Willenhall History' session is on Wednesday 25 August from 10am – 12 noon and offers people the opportunity to bring in old photographs of the area to the library in Walsall Street for archive scanning.
To take part in the taster session it is essential to book a place in advance via Willenhall Library, as places are limited. Please telephone 01902 366513 to do so. Booking is not required for the 'Make Willenhall History' session - just drop in with your old photos!
New exhibition opens a window on Walsall's past
Walsall Local History Centre’s latest exhibition is set to open a window on forgotten aspects of Walsall’s past thanks to the work of a little-known Victorian resident of the town.
Entitled ‘Billy Meikle’s Window on Walsall’, the display, which opens on 1 July and runs till the end of September, combines old and new research based on Meikle’s pre-war writings and his photographs and watercolours of the borough.
Stuart Williams of Walsall Local History Centre, who has prepared the exhibition based on a series of articles penned by him last year, said “Billy Meikle was a remarkable local character. Born in Tipton around 1858 of Scottish descent, he worked as a credit draper in Walsall for much of his life until his death in 1943. He was fascinated by local history and took the trouble to record many aspects of the town’s story, covering much missed by the ‘official’ histories. This exhibition reveals something of his writings and reproduces a selection of his wonderful, evocative photographs and watercolours.”
For the first time ever, this event is also complemented by a web-sized online version of the exhibition on Flickr for those who are unable to visit the Centre in person. This can be seen at: http://bit.ly/du85yN
Admission to the Centre is free. Telephone 01922 721305 or explore this website for details of opening hours and the Centre’s many services for local and family historians.
Borough Archives step into Cyberspace
Walsall Local History Centre, which has striven for decades to preserve, maintain and make available the evidence of Walsall’s past as the borough’s archives service and local studies library, has now taken a step into the future by joining the phenomenally popular internet services Twitter and Flickr.
Head of the centre in Essex Street, Ruth Vyse, said “In today’s modern world, people like to be able to keep constantly up-to-date with whatever’s going on via the internet, their computers and their mobile phones. So we have now set up a service so that users of the micro-blogging website Twitter can find out what our Centre is doing on a regular basis. We will also be making selected local photographs and exhibitions available online via photo album service Flickr to complement our work in the physical world.”
People who are unable to visit the centre in person but have internet access, including the disabled, house-bound and ex-patriates, may particularly benefit from this new initiative which helps bring the borough’s local history into their homes, local libraries or cybercafés, both locally and world-wide.
Internet users can now sign up to follow Walsall Local History Centre’s news and announcements via Twitter messages by visiting the centre’s page at: http://twitter.com/WalsallLHCentre The centre’s Flickr page may be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsallhistory/
Important notice for Local History Centre users
As from 1 April 2010 the Centre will be introducing a research service. All users are welcome to visit us to carry out their inquiries in person and there is no charge for access to the Centre. However if you are unable to visit us we can carry out research on your behalf for half an hour or a maximum of one hour. The charge for the research service is £8 per half hour. The search form and FAQS will be available on the internet shortly. In the meantime please email, telephone or write if you would like to make use of the service.
Contact us
Centre Manager
Walsall Local History Centre
Essex Street
Walsall
WS2 7AS
United Kingdom
Telephone (U.K.) 01922 721305- (International) +44 1922 721305
Fax (U.K.) 01922 634954 - (International) +44 1922 634954
E-mail localhistorycentre@walsall.gov.uk
This page was last updated on 29 July 2010
