Ongoing research; last updated 11 October 2012
26th February 1929 - Administration
Sub-Committee,
reported and adopted on
4th March 1929 – Parks Committee
The
Secretary presented the following report:-
Superannuation Scheme – Valuation of
Emoluments
When the new Superannuation Scheme was adopted,
it became necessary for superannuation contributions to be paid upon the value
of emoluments enjoyed by members of staff, and for this purpose an approximate
valuation was made based in the main upon the duties performed by the individual
rather than upon the actual rental value of the premises occupied.
The City Treasurer approached me on this matter
some time ago, and stated that it appeared to be doubtful whether it is
permissible under the terms of the Act of 1922 to require contributions on a
figure not compatible with the actual value of the emolument enjoyed, and it
was arranged that the Superintendent Valuer of the Rates Department should make
a re-evaluation (so far as rent and rates were concerned) of the premises
occupied by the various members of the staff by virtue of their employment, and
enjoyed as emoluments.
As a result it appears that in many cases there
is a considerable margin on either one side or the other between the valuation
figures and the amounts upon which superannuation contributions are at present
being paid. It is therefore suggested
that revised figures should be adopted based on these valuations. There is, however, a considerable disparity
between the value of premises occupied by employees holding corresponding
positions and while it may not be permissible to adopt a “standard” value as
hitherto, it is considered a fair and reasonable adjustment may be made in the
actual values, so as to obviate any such great disparity as would exist in
certain cases e.g. the position of the Registrars of Witton and Handsworth
cemeteries respectively, if actual rental values were adopted.
I submit herewith a schedule containing
particulars of the emoluments enjoyed by members of the staff, and chargeable
for superannuation purposes, which schedule shows the present valuation of such
emoluments, the rental and rateable value of premises occupied, as assessed by
the Superintendent Valuer, the value of other emoluments such as fuel, lights
etc. and the suggested revised figures for superannuation purposes. The Later are, as mentioned above, based on
the Superintendent Valuer’s valuation with such adjustments as will obviate a
greater disparity than £25 in respect of each particular class of employee
concerned.
The suggested revisions have been agreed with
the Treasurer’s Superannuation Department, and are now submitted for the
Committee’s approval.
Schedule of servants who are in
receipt of emoluments
Name & Present value Total rental Value of Suggested Remarks
of premises for super- value plus other emol- revised
val-
annuation
as rates as ments, i.e. uation for the
approved by assessed
by fuel, light, etc. purposes of the
Committee Supt.
Valuer Superannuation
Scheme
H. Cooper £53.10s. £45 £19 £55 Fuel & light
Lodge,
Selly Oak Park
4988 Resolved:-
That the suggested revisions in valuation of emoluments of the employees
of the Parks Committee concerned be approved, and recommended to the General
Committee for adoption.
4th March 1928 – BCC Parks Committee
Report
of Administration Sub-Committee
Mr.
Councillor Gelling presented the following report:-
Kings
Heath Park House – Tenancy
The
Park-keeper at the above Park is now in occupation of the lodge at King’s Heath
Park, and applications have been invited from employees of the Department for
the tenancy of the rooms in King’s Heath Park House vacated by the Park-keeper.
The
applications have been considered by the Chairman, and upon his authority the
application of Arthur Lusher has been accepted at a weekly rental of 15/-.
Your
Sub-Committee recommend that the action of the Chairman in the matter be
confirmed.
Kings
Heath Park House – Tenancy
8366 Resolved:-
That the action of the Chairman in granting the tenancy of the Kings
Heath Park House to Arthur Lusher at an inclusive rental of 15/- per week, be
approved and confirmed.
(The
previous minute records the appointment of Arthur Lusher as Foreman of the
King’s Heath District of the Trees in Streets Staff, at a weekly wage of £3.)
25th March 1929 - Administration
Sub-Committee,
reported and approved on
8th April 1929 – Parks Committee
Staff -
Increase in Wages
The
Chairman recommended the following increases in the wages of the manual staff:-
Recommendations
as to increases in wages of Manual Staff to be submitted to the Administration
Sub-Committee by the Chairman of the General Committee on the 25th
March 1929, and to take effect as from 1st April, 1929.
Park Name of
Designated post Length
of Present Increase
employee Service Wages Recommended
Kings Heath Park C.C. Shardlow Gardener
(foreman) 18½
yrs £2.15.10 2/-
5012 Resolved:-
That the General Committee be recommended to adopt the increases in the
wages of the manual staff as set out in the foregoing list as from the 1st
April, 1929.
8th April 1928 – BCC Parks Committee
Report
of Administration Sub-Committee
The
Chairman, Mr. Councillor McDonald presented the following report:-
Staff
Appointments
Your
Committee are recommended to approve the appointment of the following youths to
the staff as from 8th April 1929, the appointments to be on
probation in the first instance:-
Name Address Age Park Wages
Albert
Philip 146 Bristol St, 17 Kings Heath £1.
5. 0. per wek
Wardle Edgbaston
Manual
Staff
The
following are not eligible for appointment to the permanent staff as they are
over the age limit, but they are being retained as temporary men:-
H.
Shuttleworth from King’s
Heath Park to Pineapple and Hazelwell Rec. Grounds.
C. Grendon King’s Heath Park, labourer –
good scythe hand.
Staff
Appointments
8410 Resolved:-
That the appointment of the following youths to the staff as from 8th
April 1929, be confirmed –
Name Address Age Park Wages
Albert
Philip 146 Bristol St, 17 Kings Heath £1.
5. 0. per wek
Wardle Edgbaston
Prosecutions
The Town
Clerk presented the following reports:-
City of Birmingham
Town Clerks Office
25th March 1929
I beg to
report the result of the following prosecution, heard on 22nd March
1929.
On Chairman’s Authority
Name of
Defendant: T. Adams
Offence: : Cycling
in Kings Heath Park
Fine: 5/-
8444 Resolved:-
That the reports be approved.
6th May 1929 – Parks Committee
Report
of Administration Sub-Committee
Mr.
Councillor Gelling presented the following report:-
Use of
Parks, etc. by various Organisations
The use of
the following Parks and Recreation Grounds has been granted to the several Organisations
mentioned on the respective dates and for the reasons stated:-
Date Park or Rec. Grnd. Organisation Purpose
June 16) Kings Heath Park Kings
Heath Wesleyans Open-air
Services
July 7 )
Use of
Parks, etc. by various Organisations
8480 Resolved:-
That the action of the Sub-Committee in granting the use of of the
several Parks and Recreation Grounds to the various organizations on the
respective dates and for the reaons stated, as detailed in the foregoing
report, be approved and confirmed.
18th May 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Bowling – Kings Heath Park received a visit on Saturday from Old Cross in Division III of the Warwickshire and Worcestershire Association Senior League. The contest ended in an easy win for Kings Heath by 244-188. Scores:- (are then given).
25th May 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Local Bowls – Kings Heath Park’s bowls fixture with the Gate on Saturday resulted in a win for the latter by 222-198. Scores:- (are then given).
8th June 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
League Bowling – Division III - Kings Heath Park 229, the Gate 169. (Scores are then given.)
15th June 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
League Bowling – Senior Cup – Second Round - Kings Heath Park 216, Alum Rock 235. At Galton. (Scores are then given.)
22nd June 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Wesleyans “Show their Colours” – Following an innovation effected by the Rev. J. Mackay, when minister of Kings Heath Wesleyan Church, the members of that body in conjunction with the daughter church of Hazelwell, held the first of this year’s open-air services in the local park, on Sunday evening. The choir of the church, conducted by Mr. Leslie White, assisted, and the service was conducted by the Superintendent of the Moseley Road circuit, the Rev. H. Percival Harris.
Though any of those present who did not attend any place of worship would be gladly welcomed at their churches at Cambridge Road and Hazelwell, that was not the main idea of the services, he said. The main idea was to witness in the open-air to their Lord, for as His servants they felt bound to make their voices heard and show their colours.
The Rev. Thomas A. Kidd, minister in charge of the Billesley Wesleyan Church, gave a short address. He deplored the lack of definite aim and policy in life today. He regretted that the Press did not sustain the note of religion in larger measure. In regard to the controversy on the Prayer Book, and the lamentable dispute over the Salvation Army, the Press had come out with long reports.
13th July 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Park Service – The open-air service held on Sunday night in Kings Heath Park, by the Kings Heath Wesleyans, was even more successful than that of a few weeks previously, and the attendance of the public was larger. Addresses were given by the Rev. H. Percival Harris, and Mr. W. Wall. The choir under Mr. Leslie White led the singing and gave anthems.
31st August 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Lost by a Small Margin – Kings Heath Park B.C. playing on the home green under the aegis of the Warwickshire and Worcestershire, lost to Old House at Home by 10 points in the third division encounter, the scores being 219-209. (Scores are then given.)
5th October 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley & Kings Heath
Christadelphians in the Park – The South Birmingham Christadelphians, who meet in the Co-operative Assembly Room, Alcester Lanes End every Sunday for public lectures, made a departure from the usual course of services by holding a special meeting in Kings Heath Park last Sunday. Mr. P. Bilton spoke on present-day signs of Christ’s return to an attentive audience of 200 people.
7th October 1929 – BCC Parks
Committee
Report
of Administration Sub-Committee
The
Chairman (Mr. Councillor McDonald) presented the following report:-
Refreshment
Room Tenancies
(a) Kings Heath, Birmingham
An application has been received from Mrs. E.S
Blake, the tenant of these refreshment rooms, for permission to sub-let two
rooms which are vacant.
Authority for this has been given on the
understanding that any such sub-letting does not extend beyond the period of
the tenancy which terminates on the 25th March 1930.
The confirmation of the Committee on his matter
is now required.
Use of
Parks, etc. by various Organisations
Authority
has been given for use of various parks and recreation grounds to the following
organizations on the dates indicated and for the reasons stated, and it is
recommended that these be confirmed:-
Date Park
or Rec. Gd. Oragnisation Purpose
Sep. 29 Kings Heath B’ham (5th) Christadelphian Open-air Meeting
Ecclesia
Kings
Heath Park Refreshment Rooms – Sub-letting of Rooms
8674 Resolved:-
That the permission granted to the tenant of the Kings Heath Park
Refreshment Rooms for the sub-letting of two rooms at those buildings be
approved and confirmed.
Use of
Parks, etc. by various Organisations
8677 Resolved:-
That the authority given for use of various Parks and Recreation Grounds
by Organizations as detailed in the foregoing report, be approved and confirmed.
19th October 1929 – Birmingham News
Seen and Heard in the Suburbs
Where the (Bye) Law is an Hass (sic)
Mr. Edward Sharp, of 156, All Saints Road, Kings Heath, is the “Village Hampden”, in the heroic role of defying archaic and absurd Bye Laws even unto prosecution before the powers that be.
On Friday of last week he was arraigned before Messrs. Horatio Lane and J.F. Blackwell, for the heinous offence of riding a bicycle in Kings Heath Park in contravention of the Bye-Law of the Parks Committee, which do not permit of pedal cycling in public parks after 10 in the morning, though motor vehicles are, curiously enough, allowed to travel therein at a speed not exceeding 12 miles an hour.
Mr. Sharp told the park constable who stopped him, “Bye-Laws are made to be broken. When they stop motor cars in the parks I shall stop my riding my bicycle”.
Pleading not guilty, he said he was not cycling but free-wheeling, and the machine carried him along at a slow pace.
“I suppose you will fine me whatever I say”, added Mr. Sharp, “but if you can advise me how this bad bye-law is to be altered I shall not regret having been brought here”.
The Bench, it is satisfactory to note, dismissed the case on payment of costs, remarking that cycling should not be prohibited if motoring was allowed.
Mr. Sharp is known throughout the district as a man ever with the courage of his convictions, a member of the Early Morning School, of the Workers’ Educational Association. His courageous stand for commonsense is calculated to do a good deal towards smashing the utterly indefensible Bye-law.
26th October 1929 – Birmingham News
Seen and Heard in the Suburbs
“A Park Poet”
The following lines, picked up in Kings Heath Park, and presumed to have some relation to a recent local prosecution mentioned in this column, last week, have found their way, more or less mysteriously, to my desk:-
Whate’er may be the issue of the voting on “the First[1]”,
Whether Tweedledum still rules us or by Tweedledee we’re nursed,
There’s one thing we’re all hoping it may bring as consequence,
To teach the Parks Committee just a little common sense.
For, though, perhaps they mean well, they are sadly out of date,
In the sort of regulations they have posted at the gate,
Which they make an open sesame to those who ride four wheels,
But if a fellow’s only two they lay him by the heels.
What’s more, I hear some members of that autocratic band,
Declare that to amendment they will never set their hand,
And still insist that motorists may do, at any time,
What, in certain hours, in a cyclist is a crime.
The thing is so ridiculous, we’re trusting to the folks,
Whom we elect next Friday, to relieve us of this yoke,
E’er Birmingham be brought down, with a wallop and a thud,
To the mirth-provoking level of, say, Slowcum-in-Mud.
28th October 1929 – BCC Parks
Committee
Report
of Administration Sub-Committee
Mr.
Councillor Gelling presented the following report:-
Photographing
in Parks
It has been
the practice for many years to prohibit the taking of photographs in the Parks
with stand cameras unless written permission has previously been obtained. There has, however, never been any provision
in the Bye-laws on the subject.
A
photograph of a wedding party was being taken with a stand camera in front of
the Park House in King’s Heath Park recently.
The Parks Policeman intervened, but the people concerned refused to
comply with his request that the photograph should not be taken.
Your
Sub-Committee are informed that formerly large numbers of people were in the
habit of taking photographs, particularly in Aston Park, and that this rule was
made in order to control the practice.
There does not appear, however, to be any objection to the taking of
photographs now, so long as the general public are not inconvenienced, and
there is no touting, and your Sub-Committee are of the opinion that there is no
longer any necessity to enforce the rule on this matter.
Use of
Cameras in Parks
8728 Resolved:-
That in future the rule prohibiting the use of stand cameras in parks be
not enforced.
Report
of the General Purposes Sub-Committee
Mr.
Alderman Lovsey presented the following report of the General Purposes
Sub-Committee:-
Riding
Bicycles in Parks
The
Committee will no doubt be aware that a prosecution was recently taken in the
courts against a cyclist who had been riding in a park outside the permitted
hours, and that it was then contended by the Defence that as your Committee
allowed motor cars to be driven through the Parks at any time during which they
are open, it was unreasonable to restrict the riding of bicycles and that the
same rule should apply to both. Your
Sub-Committee have discussed the matter, and, while they are of the opinion
that no alteration should be made to the existing practice, it was considered
that your Committee would desire to examine the matter and give any
instructions they may consider necessary.
Riding
Bicycles in Parks
8739 Resolved:-
That having regard to the difficulty of exercising effective control
over reckless riding of bicycles in the Parks and Recreation Grounds, and to
the accidents and annoyance resulting therefrom, this Committee are not
prepared to relax the present restrictions relating to the riding of bicycles
in the Parks.
Prosecution
– Riding Bicycle in Park
The Town
Clerk presented the following report:-
City of Birmingham
Town Clerk’s Office
12th October 1929
I beg to report
the result of the following prosecution, heard on the 11th October
1929:-
Name of
Defendant: E. Sharp
Offence: Riding cycle in Park
Costs: 5/-
Remarks: Dismissed on payment of
costs
8750 Resolved:-
That the report be approved.
30th November 1929 – Birmingham News
Kings Heath Park Bowlers
Annual Dinner
Winners of Season’s Trophies
The members of the Kings Heath Park Bowling Club met on Saturday night, at the Kings Arms Hotel, Alcester Lanes End, for their annual dinner. (A full report is given – with no further reference to the Park.)
Take in Photograph
7th December 1929 – Birmingham News
The Week’s News from the Districts
Moseley, Kings Heath and District
Poultry Drive – There was a big Xmas poultry drive on Monday night at Kings Heath parish Hall under the auspices of Kings Heath Park Bowling Club. The attendance reached 250. Mr. A.E. Mitchell was the M.C., assisted by the hon. secretary of the club, Mr. James G. Underwood.
The prize winners were as follows:- (details then given).
