Category: Heritage

Operation Varsity

The 80th Anniversary of ‘Operation Varsity’ took place earlier this week. Over 3000 planes and gliders dropping troops around the Rhine area. One in five troops taking part were killed. Look it up. A forgotten battle.
Lots of our followers wanted to know more about the Glider Pilot Regiment so here are some links to their facebook site that you can access if you use facebook or their web site.
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/gprpublicgroup
You can also find more information on their web site  

Unmarked Grave

Back in November we featured John Charles Shaw, Buried in an unmarked grave in Brandwood End.. We were heartened by the interest this short article  sparked. Little did we know that it was a gift that would keep giving.  The resulting detail is the next phase but we have an idea it wont stop there……..      
                John Charles Shaw – Penistone footballing pioneer – NUMBER THREE
OK, what to say about John Charles Shaw? Let’s just start with a few of his contributions to our beautiful game:
· Founder of the worlds 2nd oldest association football club, Hallam FC
· First captain of the world’s oldest football club, Sheffield FC
· First ever player to lift a football trophy as captain of the winning team. Youdan Cup 1867
· Captain of Hallam FC for the world’s first ever club football match, Hallam FC vs Sheffield FC, 1860
· Established the world’s first ever county FA, Sheffield FA, 1867
· Played in the first ever intercity match, Sheffield vs Nottinghamshire 1865
· Played in the first ever inter association match, Bramall Lane, 1871
· Probably most importantly, President of Sheffield FA when the rules of football were finally unified in 1877.
Shaw was born in Penistone in 1830, the son of a bootmaker. Again, like our other 2 Penistone footballing pioneers (John Ness Dransfield & John Marsh), he was inspired to play football, baptised & educated by the Reverend Samuel Sunderland. Baptised at St John’s Church in Penistone & educated at Penistone Grammer School.
John worked as a clerk at Dransfield’s solicitors in Penistone before moving to Sheffield in the early 1850’s. He married Mary Ann Garnett in 1853, and the couple moved into premises at 19 Norfolk Row. (now Imperial Chambers). John operated a Legal Stationers business from the same address. It was during this period that Shaw developed relationships with like-minded footballing enthusiasts and able to take his Penistone footballing influences to Sheffield FC as their first official captain in 1859 (possibly earlier).
Shaw retained his membership of the Sheffield Club despite forming the world’s second oldest club Hallam in late 1860.
Shaw’s involvement with the development of the game in Sheffield and beyond is hugely impressive.
The Sheffield and Hallam clubs were involved in the first inter-club match in December 1860 with Creswick and Shaw the opposing captains.
John Charles Shaw was a member of the Sheffield team that played against a London representative side at Battersea Park in 1866.
The Hallam club, with John Charles Shaw as captain, were victorious in winning the world’s first adult knock-out football competition, the Youdan Trophy in 1867.
John Charles Shaw was a member of the Youdan organising committee which led to the establishing of the Sheffield Football Association in 1867. In 1868 he was Vice-President and in 1869 he became President of the Association. A position he retained for 14 years.
Shaw was voted to be 12th man in the first inter-association game held at Bramall Lane in 1871 between London and Sheffield. Charles William Alcock had selected a team to represent London but were a man short. John Charles Shaw played in goal for the visiting side.
In 1876, the Sheffield Association Challenge Cup was initiated. John Charles Shaw captained the Thursday Wanderers aged 46, in the first round of the cup, losing 5-4 to the Heeley club.
In 1877, with John Charles Shaw as President, the Sheffield Association, reached an agreement with the London Association regarding the rules of the game. This established a universal code for the playing of association football throughout England.
John Charles Shaw eventually moved to Birmingham due to work commitments, where he remained until his death in 1918.
The two decades between 1857 to 1877 are the most crucial in the making of the modern game of association football, prior to the onset of professionalism and leagues. John Charles Shaw straddled these two decades being at the forefront of this making and was a continuous presence helping to influence and shape the evolvement of the game. The world of football and Sheffield in particular, owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
John Charles Shaw’s grave at Brandwood End Cemetery, Kings Heath, Birmingham. It is the sad empty bit between the other two graves in the photo below.
Thanks to Kevin Neill for source information and photos.

Deutsche Bank visit again to help clear shrubbery

Staff from Deutsche Bank turned out again on the 9th to help clear a huge coppice of Holly and Ivy that had overtaken a number of graves making it impossible for family to locate or visit.

The photograph below shows the effort it takes to clear Ivy once it has got hold. Great care has to be taken to prevent damage to lead lettering. Follow this link as it shows the events of the day and a sequence of photographs detailing the progress to reveal this memorial. There were many more as well but this one took almost an hour of two peoples time and determination.

 

Welcome back Deutsche Bank.

We welcomed Deutsche Bank staff back to the Cemetery today to continue helping us to clear some of the more overgrown areas . Luckily the weather was relatively settled so we were all able to clear a large section in the time they were on site.

FBEC rely on the help of volunteers and corporate groups to be able to continue uncovering graves buried under shrubs and Ivy and clearing self set trees.

We are pleased to say that we still have several groups booked in for the remainder of this year so should be able to make inroads in other sections of the cemetery.

Our thanks to all our volunteers for giving up their time.

New Memorial unveiled by Dr Carl Chinn.

All our work came good today as Dr Carl Chinn unveiled our Memorial in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Now the names of those buried in this area can be read by visitors. We were also pleased to welcome Councillors John Cotton and David Barker as well as Brian Wright and Matt Felkin representing BARRA accompanied by 4 Standard Bearers. Several of our volunteers joined us, as well as representatives of local history groups and FBEC committee members.

       

 

The Memorial is now on view in The Civilian Garden of Remembrance and on Saturday the 14th we will be there to give visitors more information about the people whose names are displayed.

 

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HERITAGE WEEK BEGINS IN BRANDWOOD END

Take part in some of the Heritage Open  events in Brandwood End Cemetery. Add them to your diary now…

  • WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2024- 2PM Join Ian Binnie as he takes you on a Tour of the memorials to those killed in 1944. (The 80th anniversary of D Day and other crucial battles). Ian will present biographies of several men and women who served and died and are buried in Brandwood End. There is no need to book this event. (THE TOUR WILL LAST APPROX. ONE HOUR. MEET BY THE LODGE, ON THE MAIN DRIVE. )
  • THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER AT 7.30PM ‘Over by Christmas 1944’ A ZOOM event. To receive a ZOOM link please e mail Ian Binnie on warwickfus@btinternet.com
  • SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 11AM TILL 2 PM Who Lies Beneath? Join the Friends for an open event in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance (in Section 33) to learn more about those bombing victims buried in this communal peaceful space and see our recently installed Memorial stone carrying their names. We will be joined by local WW2 Air Raid and BARRA Historian, Matt Felkin, who will happily share his records and knowledge with visitors.

friendsofbec@gmail.com

Who Lies Beneath?

‘WHO LIES BENEATH? If you recognise any of the unusual surnames below then just maybe one of your family relatives was a victim of the bombing in WW2 and buried within our Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Come along to the Garden between 11am and 2pm on Saturday 14th September to find out more.
Battista, Bramham, Courtnell, Everitt, Granner, Hollyoake, Lovedee, Shamsudi and many more. There are over 50 whose names we know but sadly- quite a few we don’t.
If you know you have family buried in this beautiful Civilian Garden we would love to know more about them if you feel you can share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDWOOD END !

Saturday 13th April 2024 will be the 125th anniversary of the opening of Brandwood End Cemetery.

The Cemetery

A Brief History

On 13 April 1899 George Tallis, Chairman of the Cemetery Committee, opened Brandwood End Cemetery, which was administered by Kings Norton Rural District Council. With the extension of Birmingham’s boundaries in 1911, the cemetery came under the administration of the Birmingham City Corporation. The cemetery was gradually extended over the years and is now some 53 acres, 2 of which were sold in 1919 to the Jewish Community. A portion of this small fenced area is now a burial area for Muslim members of the local community.

The grounds are a fine example of a Victorian landscaped cemetery with avenues of Scots Pine, Cypress and Wellingtonia. This magnificent planting earned the cemetery a Grade II listing in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England in 2001.

The cemetery has Gothic style mortuary chapels, which were added to the statutory list of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest in 1997.

Happy Birthday Brandwood End !

Hedgehog population boost.

Our thanks to Array4Hogs as they are working with the Friends to help boost the Hedgehog population in the rewilded areas of the cemetery.

Array4hogs, run by Sharon and her team of volunteers, is a local rescue centre who have had to cope with over 170 rescued Hedgehogs this year. The cemetery offers 53 acres of relatively safe environment in which to release Hedgehogs. They may pop up in your garden if you are within a couple of miles of the cemetery as they can travel several miles at night.

Soon they will be settling down for the Winter but on warmer nights they may still pop out! Thank you to Sharon and Alan for agreeing to use the cemetery as a release site and their time today.