Ongoing research; last updated 2 August 2012
4th January 1926 – BCC Parks
Committee Minute
The
Chairman, in the absence of Councillor McDonald, submitted the following report
of the Administration Sub-Committee:-
Police
Report
Serious
Accidents:
Ethel
Lefevre, 13, of 127, Station Road, fit, King’s Heath Park.
12th January 1926 – BCC Parks
Committee Minute (Special meeting)
The
Chairman explained that the object of the meeting was to consider, and if
thought fit, approve the draft estimates for the next financial year in
accordance with the statements and summary annexed, copies of which had been
forwarded to members of the Committee:
(Detail for
King’s Heath Park extracted from a lengthy report, which subsequently was
approved:)
Estimate Actual to Proposed
1925-1926 30th Sep. 1925 Estimate 1926-1927
Income £ 315 £
299. 3. 8. £ 360
Expenditure £1,760 £1,046.
7. 1. £1,650
1st March 1926 – BCC Parks Committee Minute
Alderman Lovsey submitted the following report of the General Purposes Sub-Committee:-
Unemployment Relief Works 1924/5
As the Committee is aware, the work in connection with Unemployment Relief Schemes, with the exception of Cocks Moors Woods, has ceased, and your Sub-Committee report as follows upon the present condition of the lay-out schemes included in the 1924/5 scheme and which it was contemplated would have been completed under the 1925/6 schemes had the same been approved by the Unemployment Grants Committee, namely:-
(k) King’s Heath Park The scheme of layout of the extension of this park has been carried out according to plan, but about 10% of the work still remains to be done. Your Sub-Committee have deferred the question of the completion of the layout for the time being.
Councillor McDonald submitted the following report of the Administration Sub-Committee:-
Police Report
One serious accident – Ben Hancocks, 42, Hay Fork wound in head, King’s Heath Park.
The Secretary submitted the following report:-
Salaries and Wages
I beg to report that your Chairman and the Chairman of the Administration Sub-Committee have recently considered the question of increases to be grnated to the non-manual staffs and the manual employees at the various parks and cemeteries, and have instructed me to report their recommendations to you at this meeting.
…………………..
The
following recommendations are submitted in regard to employees graded as manual
employees at the various parks and cemeteries:-
(From a
list:)
H. Cooper* Park-keeper,
King’s Heath Park
Present wage: £3. 9. 0.
Increase recommended: Free Fuel
With reference to the employees whose names are marked with an asterisk above, ……….. Cooper free rooms and gas.
6500 Resolved:- (d) That the granting of the under-mentioned increases in wages and/or emoluments to the manual employees specified as from 1st April next, be approved:-
H. Cooper Park-keeper,
King’s Heath Park
Present wage: £3. 9. 0.
Increase recommended: Free Fuel
3rd May 1926 – BCC Parks Committee Minute
The Chairman in the absence of Councillor Longford submitted the following report of the Finance Sub-Committee:-
Periodical Accounts
The City Treasurer has submitted the following particulars of certain accounts, and it will be observed that charges during the quarter ended 25th March, 1926 are higher than those during the corresponding quarter in 1925:-
Account
for Account for
Service Place 25th March 1926 25th March 1925
Gas King’s Heath House £3-14-11 £2-14-1
Your Sub-Committee have given instructions for the park-keepers and cemetery superintendents in charge of the places mentioned above to be asked for explanations of the increased charges.
29th May 1926 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Holiday Crowds – The holiday spirit was abroad at Kings Heath, where the horse show maintained the zest of folks bent on pleasure, and gave several hours of interest to several thousands of people.
In spite of the lure of the Lickeys the Alcester Lane End tram service had one of its busiest days. Giving easy access to the open country Wythall-wards, the route never fails to attract many thousands of adults and children, penned in city courts and back streets. A cheap ride and a short walk, and they are among the green fields and, of course, many chose this route in preference to the Yardley Wood Road ‘bus service to reach Happy Valley, the holiday mecca of large crowds, with its boating and other amusements.
Then there were the motor boat trips to Earlswood along the canal, a source of real enjoyment to many city dwellers.
Whiutsunstide also provides the opening of the city park concert season, and at Cannon Hill each day there have been popular entertainments – afternoon and evening on Whit-Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the entertainers being respectively Will Norton’s Black and Whites, the Bohemians, and Will Morris’s Pierrots.
On Sunday there was a concert in Kings Heath park by Kings Heath Old Prize Band, but local folk are asking why these musical treats are so few and far between? Kings Heath people have for long wondered at the seeming neglect in this respect touching their park.
The dance halls have been in full swing over the holidays, the fine weather notwithstanding. The several local tennis clubs have also been well patronized.
7th June 1926 – BCC Parks Committee Minute
7th June 1926 – BCC Parks Committee Minute
Councillor
Longford submitted the following report of the Finance Sub-Committee:-
Capital
Account – Unemployment Relief Works 1924-1925
The
Treasurer submits the following particulars of the expenditure to date upon
Loan Sanctions in connection with the Unemployment Relief Works 1924-1925:-
Schemes Nos. C.346 and T.687
Amount
of Sanctions Purpose of Loan Expenditure to date
£1,040 King’s Heath Lay-out,
etc. £1,145: 9: 10
5th July 1926 – BCC Parks Committee
Minute
Councillor
Longford submitted the following report of the Finance Sub-Committee:
Income and Expenditure 1925/26
The City Treasurer has submitted the annexed
statement of the income and expenditure of your Committee for the year 1925-6.
King’s Heath Park
Estimated 1925/26 Actual for year
Income £315 £359.
6. 6.
Expenditure £1,760 £1,843. 8.
4.
Councillor
McDonald submitted the following report of the Administration Sub-Committee:-
Use of
Parks
Your
Sub-Committee have granted the use of the undermentioned parks to the
organizations on the dates and for the puroses specified:-
Name of
Park Date Organisation Purpose
King’s
Heath Park Sunday July 11th King’s Heath Open air
Wesleyan
Church religious service
10th July 1926 – Birmingham News
Music in the Parks
List of Engagements for the Week
To-morrow (Sunday). – Kings Heath Park, open-air service at 8 p.m.
Thursday. – Kings Heath Park, City Police Band, at 7 p.m.
17th July 1926 – Birmingham News
Open Air Service
Kings Heath Methodists’ Big Event
The open-air service attempted on Sunday night in Kings Heath Park by the Wesleyan Methodists was the biggest thing of its kind ever seen in the district. It was, in fact, a striking event, and it is estimated that it was attended by between two and three thousand people.
At the close of the service at the Cambridge Road Church, practically the whole of the congregation, with the members of the Hazelwell Church, made their way to the Park, and were speedily joined around the bandstand by hundreds of folk who were spending their Sunday evening in the pleasant grounds.
Added interest was given by the assistance in the service of the Cambridge Road Church choir, numbering 30 voices, under the leadership of Mr. Leslie G. White. The value of their help, remembering that they are among the best choirs in the city, was evident, and it was the idea of the promoters to bring the people into contact with the best sacred music. To have a choir of this quality singing anthems unaccompanied was something very much out of the ordinary, and we can recall nothing in the past at all comparable with it. The attitude of the large gathering was most reverent.
The Rev. James Mackay led the service, Mr. Charles Hart opened with prayer, and Mr. W. E. Wall assisted, and made an explanatory statement of the reason why the Wesleyans of the district had come out in the open-air.
The Rev. James Mackay then gave a straight and simple talk on the subject “What think ye of Christ?” which was listened to with marked attention.
24th July 1926 – Birmingham News
Music in the Parks
Full List of Engagements for the Week
To-morrow (Sunday). – Kings Heath Park, Kings Heath Old Prize Band at 7 p.m.
29th July 1926 – BCC Parks Committee
Minute
On Minute
6487, the following report of the Special Sub-Committee were submitted:-
Report of Special Sub-Committee
(Councillor Denton, Alderman Lovsey & Councillor
McDonald)
Appointed to deal with the appointment of a Parks
Superintendent to be presented to the Parks Committee at their meeting on
Thursday, the 29th July 1926.
(In a long report concerning the ultimate appointment of Mr. Joseph
Smith to the post of Parks Superintendent, the following information was
listed:-)
They
recommend, however, that Mr. Joseph Smith be appointed Parks Superintendent at
the inclusive salary of £445 per annum, plus the emoluments he already
enjoys, ………………… appointment to date as from 1st
April 1926.
Mr. Smith’s
present basic salary is £250, plus bonus £114. 6. 0. making a total of £364. 6.
0. per annum. His emoluments, namely,
house, fuel and light at Kings Heath Park are valued at £70 per annum under the
schedule adopted in connection with the new Superannuation Scheme. ………….
On arriving
at their decision, your Sub-Committee have, of course, given consideration to
the fact that Mr. Joseph Smith has been in the employ of the Department since
the 1st January 1912.
7th August 1926 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Gardener to Royalty – The residents of Kings Heath and district cannot fail to feel very considerable satisfaction at the distinction conferred upon the suburb by the appointment of Mr. Joseph Smith, F.R.H.S., of Kings Heath Park, to succeed Mr. W.H. Morter as superintendent of the Birmingham parks.
It is now 14 years since Mr. Smith took over the charge of Kings Heath Park, then one of the youngest in the city. He immediately took in hand the reorganization of the park, with the result that today it is one of the most attractive in Birmingham’s long list of “lungs”.
Mr. Smith comes of a horticultural family. He is the youngest son of the late Mr. John Smith, of the Royal Nurseries, Windsor, and commenced his gardening experience from boyhood, combined with a commercial training. At the age of 19 he entered the gardens at Trentham, Staffs., a seat of the Duke of Sutherland, at that period an excellent college for young gardeners.
Subsequently he went to Waddesdon Manor, the seat of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. He then accepted a post at Blenheim Palace Gardens, Oxfordshire, the famous home of the Duke of Marlborough, and a little later took the opportunity of a London experience with Messrs. Wills and Seger, Court florists and decorators, of South Kensington. It was during his stay there that he was selected for a position in the Royal Gardens at Sandringham, and whilst there he had the distinction of having charge of the work in connection with York Cottage, and he was also privileged to decorate the fonts of three Royal baptisms – H.R.H. the Duke of York, Princess Mary (Vicountess Lascelles), and Prince Henry. Mr. Smith has been the recipient of many presents from members of the Royal family, including the late King Edward VII. Queen Alexandra, and their Majesties Queen Mary and King George, the last named monarch giving him a scarfpin on his leaving Sandringham. On the visit last year of the Prince of Wales to the Agricultural Show of Leicester, Mr. Smith, who was judging, was presented to his Royal Highness.
Mr. Smith has done much useful work outside actual park duties. During the war he was appointed horticultural adviser in the allotment movement for the northern and eastern districts of the city and in the Black Country. The allotment holders on the Kings Heath side of the city have also benefitted from is expert advice, in lectures and in practical ways upon the allotments and as a judge at shows.
He has also frequently lectured at Moseley Road Friends’ Institute and Sparkbrook Men’s Meeting, and not so long ago Mr. Barrow Cadbury presented him with an illuminated address in appreciation of his services to the Adult School Movement.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, registered lecturer upon that society’s panel of expert advisers, member of the National Rose Society of Great Britain and of the Royal Arboricultural Society of Great Britain, and associate of the Institute of Public Administration.
Locally, he is a member of the Birmingham Civic Society, life member of the Birmingham and Midland Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society, chairman of the Schedule and Staging Committee and staging director of the Birmingham Horticultural Society, member of the Birmingham and Midland Counties’ Fruit and Chrysanthemum Society’s committee, honorary adviser and lecturer to the Women’s Institute of Warwickshire, and adviser to the Birmingham Education Committee upon allotments.
During the illness of Mr. Morter, Mr. Smith has acted as his deputy, and during that period had the oversight of laying out Trittiford Park, Swanshurst, Yardley Recreation Ground, the rearrangement of Aston Park; he was also responsible for the lay-out of the British Industries Fair.
Mr. William Morrison, of Summerfield Park, who becomes his assistant, has also had a notable horticultural career. For 10 years he was head gardener to the Marquis of Anglesey at Beaudesert, Staffs.
Previously he had been in the gardens of the Earl of Durham at Lambton Castle, and had also been a gardener for the Earl of Home at Douglas Castle, Lanarkshire, Viscount Boyne, and Sir Alan Colquhoun, Bart.
4th September 1926 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Lord Mayor Bowler – The Lord Mayor (Alderman P. Bower) had an afternoon off on Wednesday: this he spent in a visit to two of Kings Heath’s bowling clubs. The visit, which was quite unofficial, arose out of an invitation sent to his lordship by Councillor S.A. Lamplugh, a member of the Parks Committee.
The Lord Mayor, who is known as a keen bowler, accepted the invitation with pleasure, and, accompanied by Councillor E.J. Denton, chairman of the Parks Committee, Councillor S.A. Lamplugh and Councillor R.R. Gelling, also members of the committee, he paid a visit to the Pioneer Ladies Bowling Club, which is situated in a pleasant corner of Uffculme Park. Here his lordship was welcomed by a number of members, including Mrs. Carver, the captain, and Mrs. Schofield, the hon. secretary.
The weather was distinctly unfavourable for bowling, but despite occasional falls of the variety of mist described sometimes as Scotch, the Lord Mayor and councilors – and the ladies – enjoyed a series of pleasant games, at the conclusion of which the company sat down to tea in the tearoom. Mrs. Carver, on behalf of the members of the club, expressed thanks for the Lord Mayor’s gracious and kindly visit, and this was supported by Coun. Denton.
In the evening the Lord Mayor and his colleagues visited Kings Heath Park, and were welcomed by the officers and members of Kings Heath Park Bowling Club, and played four of the clubs redoubtable members, despite the mist, which soon turned to drizzle. His lordship was pitted against Mr. H.J. Cooper, the hon. secretary, and after an interesting game the latter ran out winner by 21 points to 15. Councillor Denton lost to Mr. J. Cox, 21-5; Councillor Lamplugh got 7 points to Mr. H.J. Urwin’s 21; and Mr. J. Harvey secured victory over Councillor Gelling, 21 to11.
At the close of the games, Mr. Cox, chairman of the club, moved “the heartiest of hearty” vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor and his colleagues for their visit, with the hope that it was only the precursor of similar pleasant meetings. He would like to take the opportunity of expressing their obligations to the committee for giving them that beautiful pavilion and for all they had done, especially in the matter of the green.
The club accepted these favours as an earnest of others to come. They had hoped to go on improving matters so that the ancient national game of bowls should become a still grater pleasure to them all.
Mr. H. Mantell, in seconding, said he was an old Birmingham man, and had lived long enough to remember the first park opened in Birmingham – Adderley Park.
To-day the Parks Committee had provided splendid parks in all directions. Their park at Kings Heath was not the largest, but he claimed it to be the prettiest in the city. It was a great privilege to have the Lord Mayor and his colleagues with them, but he was disappointed that he had not had a roll-up with the Lord Mayor. But that was a pleasure deferred, and he looked forward to it in the future.
The Lord Mayor, responding, said they had had a delightful experience, the weather notwithstanding. They would appreciate that remark when he told them they had been bowling with the ladies that afternoon. He and the other visitors did not get it all their own way, which was to be expected when they had to deal with ladies.
But in the Kings Heath Park they thought they may level up things a bit against their own sex. He felt he ought in the first place to congratulate the club on the players it chose to meet them. They had given the visitors a most delightful and sportsmanlike game. He would like to pay a tribute to his opponent, Mr. Cooper, who never attempted – as a good brother and sportsman never did – to take advantage of him, but lost no opportunity of telling him how the game ran.
Reference had been made to the advance that had been made by the city, through the Parks Committee, in providing opportunities for the citizens to indulge in physical and mental relaxation. He was convinced that the greater were the opportunities given to the citizens as a whole to indulge in clean, healthy recreation, the less time they would have at their disposal to drift into mischievous courses. The difficulty was that the demand was far in excess of the Council’s ability to supply playing grounds, and it was accentuated by the fact that it was extremely difficult to render a park available for playing purposes, without to a great extent destroying its amenities.
The city badly needed a number of playing fields, devoted entirely to bowls, cricket, tennis, and football. The Lord Mayor concluded with the hope that at no distant date he would have the opportunity of playing Mr. Mantell, who appeared to be endowed with perpetual youth, and thanking the officers and members for the kindness of their welcome, and whose acquaintance he was so delighted to make.
Councillor Gelling said they hoped to come again later and endeavour to reverse the positions on the scoring board.[1]
4th October 1926 – BCC Parks
Committee Minute
Alderman
Lovsey submitted the following report of the general Purposes Sub-Committee:-
Hockey
in the Parks
In addition
to the pitches already let to the King’s heath Hockey Club and the orientals
Hockey Club on land adjoining Brandwood End cemetery and Yardley recreation
ground respectively, the following hockey clubs have been granted pitches for
the current season:-
Park Club Rental Secretary
King’s
Heath Boxfoldia £15 Miss I. Foyle,
“Boxfoldia Ltd.” Ten Acres Works
Pershore Road.
28th October 1926 – BCC Parks
Committee Minute
Councillor
McDonald submitted the following report of the Administration Sub-Committee:-
Parks
Police Interchange of Duties
Your
Sub-Committee report that during the last nine months transfers have been made
affecting about 30 members of the Parks Police as follows:-
P.5 J. Rhodes King’s
Heath to Farm
Your
Sub-Cimmittee consider that these changes are beneficial to the Department and
the employees.
6th December 1926 – Birmingham News
Festive Bowlers
Annual Socials of Kings Heath Clubs
Prize Distributions
Park Bowling Club
A Wonderful Season
On Monday night the members – the sterner sex[2] – of Kings Heath Park Bowling Club held their annual end-of-the-season social and prize distribution, at the Parish Hall. (Full report follows without further reference to the Park).
[1] This visit of the Lord Mayor to the Kings Heath Park Bowling Club is mentioned at the Club’s annual meeting reported in the Birmingham News on 9 October 1926
[2] The previous report had been about a Kings Heath Ladies Bowling Club!
