Consultation Event – 9th May

You can download a summary of the comments made at the consultation event at Thimblemill Library here.

Let us have your views

A message from Community First Partnership

As you probably know Sandwell Council has been successful in securing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to develop plans for the restoration of Lightwoods Park and House. In order to progress the bid we are keen to hear from local community, voluntary and faith organisations, advocacy groups and special interest groups that can bring their skills, enthusiasm and ideas to the project.

We would be very interested in hearing about your organisation’s current use of the Park and what scope there is to use it (and the house) in the future, get involved in the project or lead on some of the activities. The project is at the stage where it could evolve to fit any particular requirements your organisation may have – such as access improvements, accommodation, training or support – so we’d like to hear your views now. To help you we have an online survey that can be filled in at http://tinyurl.com/lightwoodsgroupsurvey

If there are any individuals in your organisation who would like to comment personally then we also have a ‘Visitor Survey’ which can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/lightwoodspark

DanceXchange in Lightwoods Park

DanceXchange – a powerhouse of dance

Friday 18th May 2012 – Lightwoods Park – 1.00pm – 5.30pm

3 x 30 minute dance performances on the playground and surrounding areas in Lightwoods Park. Performance times: 1.00pm, 2.30pm and 4.00pm.

Highly playful and physical, and at times teasingly comical – this is a cheeky dance celebration.

Combining quirky, dynamic dance with high energy street gymnastics, the dancers blaze a colourful trail across the structures and landscapes of the playground. Each performance will be unique, as the show scrambles around, over, under and through swings, slides and roundabouts. Kids will love it, grown-ups will love it too!

Spill is a brand new outdoor production choreographed by celebrated Australian Artist Shaun Parker, using the existing children’s playground equipment as the set.

Lightwoods Park and House – public consultation

Consultation event – not to be missed

The consultants, appointed to work with the Lightwoods Park Project Officer, the Friends of Lightwoods Park and the local community on developing the heritage lottery funded £3.7 million restoration project up to final submission to the lottery in February 2013, have booked their first public consultation meeting to discuss Lightwoods Park and House with the local community.

The consultant team, along with Cherie O’Sullivan, the project officer and Geoff Deakin, the community services operational manager will be running a drop in consultation session at:

Thimblemill Library on

Wednesday 9th May 2012

between 4.00pm and 7.00pm.

The purpose of this consultation event will be to:

• To raise awareness of the development stage works & restoration project.
• To raise awareness of the history and local heritage value of the park & house.
• To provide an opportunity for local people to gain more information about being involved in the project.
• To provide an opportunity for local people to comment and contribute to the prioritisation of uses of the house and the various landscape elements.
• To give people the opportunity to bring in historic images/evidence of the park and house and share memories of the park and house so as to help the team attain an archives file for the project.

It is very important that you, your family, your friends, your neighbours and anyone else who may or may not currently use Lightwoods Park to drop in and let us know your thoughts!

Please come along to the public consultation event on Wednesday 9th May, 4.00 -7.00 pm at Thimblemill Library, and discuss your ideas/concepts for the house and park and please bring along any information you have regarding the history – postcards/photos etc – we are trying to gather as much evidence as possible (about railings, pathways, entrances, features etc) to ensure we do the park and house justice on the restoration project.

We will be promoting this consultation event at the May Day Festival in Lightwoods Park (7th May, 11.00am – 4.00pm) to attract as many people as possible to it – we need to reaffirm / prioritise your ideas for the park and house!

If you are unable to make it and would like to comment on the future of Lightwoods House and Park please drop me an email, or post a comment on the Lightwoods Park Blog

If you have any historic photos or documents you would like to send in please send them to: Cherie O’Sullivan at Sandwell Council House, Parks and Countryside, Freeth Street, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 3DE, alternatively, you can post these items on History Pin by typing in the Lightwoods Park postcode (B67 5DP) and uploading your image on the park. The link for this website to enable you to do this is: http://www.historypin.com/
I do hope you are able to make it – please bring along with you any information you feel may be important to the restoration project including your ideas.

Another Great Volunteer Day in the Shakespeare Garden, Lightwoods Park!

Another Great Volunteer Day in the Shakespeare Garden, Lightwoods Park!

Many thanks to Angela for organising the day and to all those who came along and spared some of their time on Saturday – the garden looked 1000 times better once we had finished – Julie, the robin was tops!  Our gardener, Victor, was also snapped working on a Saturday!

The volunteer day in the Shakespeare Garden went so well it has been decided to make it a regular date. The gardening volunteer days in the Shakespeare Garden will take place on the 3rd Saturday of every month so if you want to come along to help bring your gloves and tools along and come and get stuck in!

Next date is: 19th May – 10.30am – for a couple of hours.

Weekend of April 21/22 in the Shakespeare Gardens

Shakespeare Gardens Volunteer Saturday

Shakespeare Gardens in Lightwoods Park is looking for gardening enthusiasts and novices, to volunteer a couple of hours on Saturday 21st April from 10.30am.

Please come along to the garden with some gardening tools and gloves to help clear weeds and offer light maintenance.

Cherie O Sullivan, Lightwoods Park Project Officer, and Victor, the static gardener, will be there to support the volunteers.

Great Bearwood Book Swap

On Sunday 22 April, as Bearwood Shuffle is full swing, Shakespeare’s Garden will be open for a Bearwood Book Swap and Give Away.

Bring along your finished books to pass on and receive another one in return.

 Starting at 3.00, our local historian David Yates, has kindly agreed to kick it all off with an insight into the history of the Shakespeare Gardens. Then enjoy mingling with your books and seeing what others have to recommend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Mayday Festival

Lightwoods Park set to see a May Day Festival on the May Bank Holiday

7th May

11.00am-4.00pm

Following the success of last years event the May Day Festival is back in Lightwoods Park!

The festival will take place on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday, 7th May and will run between 11.00am and 4.00pm

The action starts straight away with Recover opening up the event on the stage and Colin Hall’s Gypsy Blood (an acoustic folk band) starting on the bandstand at 11.00am. The skate park user group will kick start the BMX, skate board and scooter competition on the recently refurbished and Sandwell’s only concrete skate park and the Sandwell’s Strongest Man Competition will commence on the bowling green in front of the house!

The event, organised by Sandwell Council’s Parks and Countryside Services along with the Friends of Lightwoods Park, will be a family, fun-filled, action packed day out and there will be someone for everyone!

There will be live music on a specially-built stage and will feature Recover, Indie Shenanigans, 360, Colin Hall’s Rebel Soul, Esther Turner and The Non-Doctor Feel Goods. These bands are a mix of Rock, Indie, Soul, Ska, Reggae, Rhythm and Blues and the compere will be a surprise guest!

The bandstand will be busy with acts all day from dance demonstrations by the Funky Fusion Dance Group and JemNus Danceworks, Maypole Dancers and Morris Dancers, to the B Cups (a ukulele band) and the Halesowen Brass Band.

The day will also feature a skate park competition, an inflatable it’s a knockout, rodeo bull and bungee run, a fun fair, climbing wall, craft workshops for children, refreshments and lots of market stalls for you to shop your way through.

Sandwell’s Strongest Man Competition is a new addition to this year’s event. It is moving to Lightwoods Park from Hadley Stadium in hope to attract a wide audience. Competitors will take part in a variety of events including, a Dead Lift, Car Hold, Farmers Walk, Tyre Flip, Carry and Drag, Overhead Log Lift, and a Vehicle Pull. For further information about this competition please call Hadley Stadium on 0845 659 4815.

Council officers and members of the friends group will also be collating information, thoughts and ideas from any visitor who wants to have their say as to how they would like to see Lightwoods Park and Lightwoods House be restored under the £3.2 million Heritage Lottery Project which is currently in the development phase. The project team are urging anyone who has any historical information and/or old photographs of Lightwoods Park to visit the information tent at the event to help gather as much information as possible before creating the designs for the park and house.

Parking for the May Day Festival will be on the park extension off Galton Road and will cost £2 per car. If you have further enquiries about the event please contact Cherie O’Sullivan, Lightwoods Park Project Officer, on 0121 569 4740

Don’t miss out on the May Day Bank Holiday fun at Lightwoods Park!

Cherie O’Sullivan

Lightwoods Park Project Officer

See Programme and timings below.

Mayday

Welcome to Bearwood…

To those of you visiting here as a result of the excellent Birmingham Mail article about Lightwoods Park… welcome! In addition to this site, if you are registered on Facebook you may also want to visit the Bearwood Facebook page, and the excellent WeloveBearwood blog site, both of which also keep people informed about events in our little corner of Sandwell.

Theft from Lightwoods Park

About 3 weeks ago thieves broke in to the compound at the back of Lightwoods House. Some of the sheds used for the Bearwood on Ice event were being stored there and thieves stole some of them. They belonged to Rutland Sheds who had kindly provided them at a discounted rent for the Friends Group. It would have required a fair bit of time and effort, as well as some form of transport, to steal them.

If anyone has got any information about any activity in that area, presumably under cover of dark although not necessarily, or saw a vehicle of any kind entering the compound area, could you please pass on the information in cionfidence to the Chair of the Friends Group, Richard Marshall via richard_marshall@rocketmail.com