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About Us
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The Friends are a group of local people who want to see the park restored to its former glory and help to guide its long term development and maintenance. We are also producing a Social History of the Park which will be displayed in the new pavilion.
The group’s vision for the Park in its Terms of Reference is:
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“ Dartmouth Park is considered to be the foremost historic urban park in
West Bromwich. SMBC with the FoDP and other local stakeholders will work towards achieving an easily accessible, safe, attractive and welcoming high quality heritage park, which meets the needs of everyone and which contributes to the economic, social and environmental well being of the people now and for future generations. This highly valued park will continue to improve the quality of life in West Bromwich.”
If you would like to join the Friends of Dartmouth Park and help with its regeneration, please contact either Annette Welch or Carol Hartill for more information and a membership form, or download the membership form below.
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Sponsor a Rose for Dartmouth Park
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You may have noticed that the Dartmouth Park rose beds in Lloyd Street have been looking very sad over the summer and one bed in particular appears to have given up completely, with most of the roses dead or dying. The rose beds aren’t covered by Heritage Lottery Funding, and the Friends would like to replace the roses in at least one bed. The Parks Department have agreed to prepare the soil to give the new roses a good start, and if we buy the roses through the Department they will cost £2 each. We are asking members and non-members if they would like to sponsor a rose in return for a numbered certificate. Please get in touch with Annette on 0121 553 0885 or e-mail: awelch1@talktalk.net, if you would like to support this scheme. |
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Laminated card with useful telephone numbers for park users
The Friends have produced a card for park users with useful numbers to enable problems to be reported immediately, rather than spending time having to find the appropriate number to contact. The first number on the card is for Sandwell MBC Customer Services (see list of numbers below). Cllr Yvonne Davis, Chair of the Town Team, has advised the Friends that any complaint reported on this number is logged and followed up to ensure it receives a suitable response. However, some park issues can be dealt with by contacting the relevant department. The card is laminated and suitable for keeping in a pocket, purse or wallet. Please contact the Friends if you would like one of these cards.
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Sandwell MBC Customer Services: 0845 359 7510
Police Anti-social behaviour hot line: 0845 359 7500
Sandwell MBC Parks Management:
General park issues: 0121 569 3427
Ground Care: 0121 525 9104
Litter: 0121 569 3715
Park Rangers: 0121 552 4214
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Tulips to return to Dartmouth Park
Dartmouth Park used to be renowned for its wonderful Tulip displays, but some years ago a decision was made to stop planting bulbs in Sandwell Parks. The Friends decided they would like to see these colourful displays return in Spring 2009. They got permission from the Parks Department and purchased 200 Tulip Bulbs, which they thought was quite a lot of bulbs, but this is just enough to plant in beds outside the Reform Street Lodge. Here are Tom Bagley and Robert (Nobby) Nock planting the bulbs under the watchful eye of Betty Finney, Committee Member of the Friends Group. |
Tom has been with the Parks Department for 36 years, with nine of those in Dartmouth Park, and 'Nobby' has worked in the park for eight years. Tom and Nobby work very hard to keep the park neat and tidy, and their responsibility doesn't end with maintaining the flowerbeds, they're also responsible for clearing the park of litter, which is like painting the Forth Bridge. As you can imagine, Tom and Nobby are delighted that the money is now available to restore the park and they're looking forward to work commencing on the project in 2009.
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Congratulations received from George and Linda Turton
Amongst the many messages of congratulations following the great news about our Heritage Lottery Funding, it was good to hear from ex-West Bromwich Councillors George and Linda Turton from their home in Wales. They are members of the Friends group and were delighted when they received the October newsletter reporting our success. |
Quarterly Meeting at Masonic Hall, West Bromwich -
Wednesday 24 September
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| The meeting held at the Masonic Hall was very well attended and David Webb from the Masonic gave a tour of the Lodge Room which everyone found fascinating. The Lodge has strong associations with the Earls of Dartmouth who were involved with Masonry in West Bromwich and Staffordshire for many years. |
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Graham Eyre-Morgan, the Borough Archaeologist, was the special guest speaker at the Meeting and he gave a very interesting and enjoyable talk on the discoveries unearthed in Sandwell. Graham wants to get the community involved in finding and preserving the Borough’s wonderful heritage and he certainly motivated many of the Friends who have asked to be kept informed of possible community digs.
Graham was particularly excited about his discoveries in Wednesbury, including an ancient forge.
There was a forge making iron at Wednesbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. The first written record goes back to 1597. At that time the forge was one of several water-powered sites along the River Tame. During the eighteenth century the place became famous for the manufacture of guns and later pipes and tubes. In the nineteenth century the site was owned by Edward Elwell, who developed a worldwide reputation for the manufacture of spades, shovels and edge tools. In the 1960s the forge was taken over by Spear and Jackson, who continued to make garden and edge tools here until 2005.
The evening ended with a raffle with prizes donated by Toby Restaurants and Tracy’s Pantry, Stone Cross, followed by a light-hearted quiz on West Bromwich. |
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Contact Address :
Committee |
Nigel Slater
Chairman
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Roger Stopford
Vice Chairma |
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Carol Hartill
Secretary |
Betty Finney |
Margaret
Geddes
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Pauline Lawley |
Sue Slater |
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