THE OLDIES VISIT KIDDERMINSTER - AUGUST 2011

After several months of planning, and a change of date so that the Oldies visit would correspond with the 375th anniversary of the granting of Kidderminster’s Charter, 14 Husumers arrived in a warm and sunny Kidderminster on Sunday 31st July at the start of a hectic four-day visit.

The morning of Monday 1st August saw all the Oldies plus three more, who had travelled independently to Kidderminster, and numerous hosts, meeting on the bridge outside Baxter Church for a walk around the town with local historian Melvyn Thompson.  Melvyn’s route took us past numerous places of interest in the town including the Husum bridge, Kidderminster’s Town Hall, Brinton’s Offices and the fountain at the bottom of Comberton Hill, which was donated to the town by the Brinton family, a look inside the empty Woodward Grosvenor building in Green Street which will soon be home to Kidderminster’s Carpet Museum, and then passed by Caldwell Castle before taking to the canal towpath and finishing at Weaver’s Wharf by Brintons’ Bell and the famous Bull almost two hours later.

The afternoon saw everyone in Bewdley for a look around the town before many of them took a short walk in Wyre Forest. That evening a welcome reception hosted by the Association took place in the King Charles Room at which our Chairman Terry Garbett and our President the Mayor of Kidderminster, Councillor Anne Hingley, who had kindly provided the drinks, welcomed the Oldies to Kidderminster. Rainer Maaβ, the outgoing Husum Bürgermeister, duly responded. It was so nice to see so many friends old and new, including three additional Charter Trustees and Alan Parsons, the mayor’s consort, at this event which was enjoyed by all.

Tuesday morning saw 31 of us take a step back into the past at the Black Country Living Museum for a day’s visit. Following a short introductory talk about the site given to us by Police Constable World, in which he warned us to beware of thieves, pickpockets and vagabonds, everyone was then free to enjoy the sights and sounds of a hundred years ago before taking part in a lesson at St James’s school where unfortunately Georg Weβler was judged by the schoolmaster to have misbehaved and duly received several strokes of the infamous cane. Fortunately for the rest of us the lesson finished soon after with Eva Maaβ being selected to ring the school bell.

Everyone then dispersed far and wide for lunch, many partaking of the Museum’s famous Fish and Chips, before meeting up again for a trip on an electrically powered narrow boat into the manmade limestone caverns deep under Dudley before returning to Kidderminster later to recover from the exertions of the day.

Wednesday morning at 10:00am saw the Oldies and hosts gather at the Kidderminster Town station of the Severn Valley Railway for a day out on the railway. “Freedom of the Line” tickets had been purchased in advance for everyone so that they could break their journeys whenever they fancied enabling them to take in the delights of Arley village with its beautiful Arboretum, the Engine House at Highley and of course the historic town of Bridgnorth. It came as a surprise to many of the Oldies when they came upon the Church of St. Mary Magdalen near to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle; although built by Thomas Telford in 1794 the church bears an uncanny resemblance to the Marienkirche in Husum’s Market Place.

Even inside, the church is very similar except for the stained glass windows at the far end of the chancel which were added by the Victorians in the late 19th century. The day passed by rapidly and it was soon time for everyone to return to their hosts in Kidderminster.

While everyone was enjoying themselves on the railway a further nine official visitors from Husum arrived in Kidderminster, as guests of the town, to take part in the Charter Anniversary celebrations the following day, making a grand total of 26 visitors from Husum in Kidderminster altogether.

Thursday morning duly arrived and right on cue the weather changed from warm sunshine to rain as everyone gathered outside the Town Hall for the Anniversary celebrations, prompting some of the Husum officials to make a quick dash to the Weaver’s Wharf shops via the Husum Bridge to purchase umbrellas.

At 10:45am, as a growing crowd of people waited patiently in the rain outside the Town Hall, a trumpet was heard to sound and a party of children in period costume, followed by two King’s Messengers on horseback, made their way to the Town Hall steps. The Messengers then presented a proclamation regarding the granting of Kidderminster’s Town Charter by King Charles I to our Vice-President Charles Talbot in his capacity as the Town Clerk of Kidderminster, who, having read it handed it to our President Councillor Anne Hingley, the Mayor of Kidderminster, who also studied the document and in her turn handed it to the Town Crier who informed everyone in the assembled crowd of its contents. The Messengers, followed by the children, then made their way along Vicar Street for all to see while everyone else entered the Town Hall for refreshments and a Medieval Fair in the Corn Exchange.

After an afternoon free of organised activities, the Oldies, official visitors from Husum, Charter Trustees, hosts and invited friends gathered at the Valley Suite on the Severn Valley Railway station for a farewell party. Presentations were made by Rainer Maaβ to Anne Hingley of a framed print of Husum 375 years ago while Rainer himself received a piece of cut glass from Charles Talbot in recognition of his services to twinning between the two towns during his tenure as Husum’s Bürgermeister.

The evening ended with an impromptu singalong led by Charles Talbot on guitar supported by the Oldies from Husum and Kidderminster, and the Husumers left town the next morning still tired but very happy after an eventful visit.

Jerry Mayfield