THE NEW president of the Bromsgrove Society was welcomed to the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) earlier this month.
At the get-together at Avoncroft Museum’s Guesten Hall, members elected the team to take the society forward.
Jo Slade, Pat Tansell and Sue Beaumont remain as Chair, Vice-Chair and Honorary Secretary respectively.
Jenny Townshend was elected as the Society’s new president.
Isobel Jarrett stepped down from the president role and was thanked for her commitment to the society. She was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a gift voucher.
Isobel has been a member of the Bromsgrove Society since 1980 – the founding year – when she was also Secretary on the Commerce and Industry Panel.
In 1982 Isobel joined the Executive Committee at the AGM and was Membership Secretary from 1984 to 1987.
In 1990 she was voted in as Vice-Chairman which she held until 1996 when she became the Chairman of the Society.
During Isobel’s time as Chairman she was a leading campaigner against building on the Recreation Ground (1997) and involved in the planting schemes on Watt Close and in the town centre near Bejam (now Iceland).
Isobel remained on the Executive Committee after standing down as Chairman in 1999 and in 2017 was elected Society President.
Incoming President Jenny joined the Society in the mid 1980s and from her early involvement was helpful in replying to various family history queries from other members.
When the Local History Committee formed in the early 1990s Jenny was keen to be involved and began contributing articles to the Rousler – the society’s annual magazine – from that time.
In 1994 Jenny co-edited The Bromsgrove Rousler (editions nine to 11) with Barbara Hellawell and became the sole editor in 1997 until 2016 (editions 12 to 31).
Jenny contributed two chapters to the Society’s publication on the Bromsgrove Guild in 1999, having been involved in the research project led by Quintin Watt.
This year Jenny and Julian Hunt were the authors of the Society’s latest publication Bromsgrove: The Story of a Market Town.
Jenny has been a speaker at the Society’s Summer School every year since it first took place in 2011. At this year’s she gave a talk about the Talbots and Grafton Manor.
Richard Aust agreed to continue as Honorary Treasurer until the end of the year, when the position will become vacant.
After the AGM formal business, Brenda Killigrew from the ‘Creative Street’ tapestry project gave a talk.
The project was funded by GBSLEP and Bromsgrove District Council as part of their #recoverythroughcreativity scheme.
It set out to highlight the independent businesses in Bromsgrove’s Worcester Road.
Photographs of the premises were printed onto fabric which was embellished with colourful stitches and haberdashery items.
