The Wolverhampton Society

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The Wolverhampton Society

The Wolverhampton Society aims to promote the history and heritage of the city and its people. See our website for more details.

We are always looking for new members join us for our regular talks, our local history research for commemorative blue plaques and lots more.

22/07/2026

Our next talk is delivered by our own Bill Kelly!

He’ll be giving us a virtual tour of some of the Upper Penn’s most famous sons and daughters. Can you identify them on our poster?

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 20th August at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

29/06/2026

Our next talk comes from Julia Pursehouse on Wolverhampton’s Pioneering Holiday Camp for Deprived Children that ran from 1923-1950.

To hear the story of this camp, do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 16th July at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

03/06/2026

Our next talk is on the magnificent Wolverhampton Chromo Signs and will be delivered by our chairman David Dungar!

The Chromographic (‘Chromo brand’) Enamel Company Limited, of Wolverhampton, was founded in May 1886, in Dudley Road and Church Lane, Wolverhampton and continued working until the early 1960s

The signs produced by Chromo, because they were so well manufactured, and despite generally being made for outdoors, and in many cases being insitu for over 100 years, and often later being used for such things as repairing shed roofs, the Chromo signs have retained their magnificence. They are a testimony to the skilled Wolverhampton workers that made them and the quality control employed.

These sort of prices have prevented David collecting more than a couple of Chromo signs, but not stopped him assembling, over the past 20 years, a fine collection of coloured photographs from multiple auction catalogues and these photographs will be shared with an audience for the first time, along with stories of the products and places advertised, after a brief summary about the company itself.

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 18th June at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

27/04/2026

Our next talk is all about the legacy of Black Country mining.

The region was the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution, with its enormous wealth of coal, ironstone, limestone, fireclay, soft sandstones and brick clays - all the raw materials a thousand and one other manufactured goods that were exported around the world.

The area had the thickest seams of coal in Britain, including the remarkable South Staffordshire Thick (or Ten Yard) Coal, and similarly thick seams of limestone. The miners had to devise special ways of working such a thick seam.

Delivered by esteemed engineer Colin Knipe, the talk describes how the various seams were mined and how that influenced contemporaneous surface subsidence and today's legacy subsidence risk.

Perhaps the greatest perceived legacy risk from Black Country mining, is the presence of old mine shafts. There may be as many as 100,000 old shafts and other mine entries in the coalfield. Colin’s talk gives examples of what can go wrong but gives assurance that the real risk is very low.

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 21st May at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

22/03/2026

Our next talk is all about bees and who best to give it than Alison Wakeman, award winning lecturer on bees and bee-keeping!

Many medicinal and non-medicinal products rely on substances produced by bees: honey and such things as furniture polish. It therefore became a major concern when Britain’s bee population was thought to be in steady decline and possibly facing extinction.

Alison’s talk is not only interesting and informative but, at times, very entertaining as she shares anecdotal tales from her time as a teacher as well as the apiary! She will bring along a range of products that in no small part show the importance of a healthy bee population in the UK and worldwide and of course give those attending a unique insight into the life of bees.

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 16th April at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

03/03/2026

Our next event is the return of Keith Farley’s Annual Wolverhampton Society Quiz, taking place on Thursday 12th March.

The questions are wide-ranging and won’t just be about Wolverhampton - there’s fun to be had for everyone!

There will be a £12.00 table (up to 6 quizers per table) fee, as buffet food will be served (without further charge).

For an entry form, you can email our Membership Secretary Bill Kelly: [email protected]

You don’t have to be a member of the Wolverhampton Society to take part, so please come along! Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

29/01/2026

Our next talk is on the church architecture of Richard Twentyman (1903-1979).

A successful architect based in Wolverhampton, he designed houses, offices, pubs and schools, but he’s known particularly for his thirteen churches and chapels built between 1937 and 1973.

In the talk, based on their research into Twentyman’s life and career, Chris Kennedy and Aidan Ridyard select a sample of his churches and the art within them to illustrate his distinctive architectural evolution from an early ‘monumental phase’ to more modernistic approaches and later innovative design.

The authors suggest the British and European influences on his work and locate his architecture in the changing social, economic, and religious contexts of this period.

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 19th February at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

07/01/2026

Our first talk of the New Year is all about Wolverhampton’s Road to City Status!

Delivered by former TWS Chairman Suhail Rana, the talk uses archived government papers, emails and reports to show the efforts the city fathers took to try and get us recognised, why they initially failed and how it eventually achieved the status it thoroughly deserved.

Do join us at the Penn Bowling and Social Club on Thursday, 15th January at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start.

Please note that prior to the talk will be the Society AGM, so the talk itself will commence at 8:00 pm. Whilst non-members are welcome to attend the AGM, only members can vote at the AGM.

Address

Wolverhampton

Website

https://wolverhamptonsociety.com/

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