Visit: A Trip to the Gloucester Area
On Saturday, 1 August 2026, the Birmingham Group will travel by coach to the Gloucester area, stopping at Strensham Services for optional morning refreshments before passing through the former Chartist settlement of Stigs End. In Gloucester, David Low will lead a guided walk around notable Victorian buildings and the historic docks, followed by lunch at the Comfy Pew Café Bistro and a visit to Gloucester Cathedral to see work by Gambier Parry, Henry Wilson and Christopher Whall. The day will conclude at the Grade I-listed Holy Innocents Church, Highnam, designed by Henry Woodyer for Thomas Gambier Parry, with a guided tour and afternoon refreshments.
Tour: A Guided Tour of Perrycroft, Malvern
FULLY BOOKED
Perrycroft is a distinctive Arts and Crafts house designed by C.F.A. Voysey in 1895, marking his first major commission and helping establish his signature style. This is a guided tour by the current owners, who have recently restored the house.
Walk: Tour of Victorian and Edwardian Stratford upon Avon
Saturday 25 April, 11.00am–4.00pm: Join archivist Jim Ranahan for a walking tour of Victorian and Edwardian Stratford-upon-Avon. Meet outside Stratford railway station. Highlights include the station, almshouses, cottages, hospital clock tower, and waterside expansion. Public transport is strongly advised because Shakespeare birthday celebrations will make Stratford exceptionally busy.
Walk: West Bromwich Guided Walk led by Andy Foster
Walking tour of West Bromwich
Wednesday 11th March 2026 will take us down West Bromwich High Street, the longest one in the Black Country, and along neighbouring streets. The walk will be led by Andy Foster and starts at 10.45 a.m.
AGM of the Birmingham & West Midlands
AGM of the Birmingham & West Midlands at The Birmingham & Midland Institute on Saturday 14th February at 10.30 am
Lunch: New Year Lunch at Browns
Our New Year Lunch will be at Browns in the Bull Ring, in their private dining area, The Mezzanine.
Walk: A Guided Tour of Highbury Hall, Birmingham
An afternoon tour of Highbury Hall, the former home of Joseph Chamberlain. Built in 1878 in the Venetian Gothic style, to the designs of J. H. Chamberlain, the house was both a private residence and a venue for political and civic gatherings.
Day School: Transport in Victorian and Edwardian West Midlands
A Day School at the Birmingham & Midland Institute looking at the new and rapidly developing transport systems and designs which affected day to day life for everyone in the Victorian and Edwardian West Midlands.
Walk: Austin Village Conservation Area Guided Walk led by Hazel Griffiths
Austin Village Conservation Area Guided Walk Wednesday on 20th August 2025, 10.30am – Noon led by Hazel Griffiths
Visit: A Coach Trip to Banbury
We will visit 3 churches, have a short town walk in Banbury led by Dr David Low and visit a residential private school designed by G. E. Street. Cost £55
Visit: Early Evening Walk in Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham city centre has a wealth of Victorian/Edwardian buildings, many of them around the Colmore Row area. This circular walk will allow us to discover and appreciate the architecture and design of some of them.
Cost £10.00. Led by Andy Foster
Members’ Afternoon
Members and their guests are invited to bring a maximum of 6 images on a memory stick to explain and share.
Visit: Day Trip to Walsall
A visit to Walsall town centre on Friday 7th March 2025
Cost: £23 to include morning refreshments, lunch and donations
Talk: Day School on Gas, Water and Sewage
How the Victorians improved life for people in the West Midlands
Walk: A Day Visit to Three Stourbridge Churches – SOLD OUT
Following the Group’s walking tour in June, we have now arranged access to three significant churches in the town centre: St John the Evangelist, St Thomas & Our Lady & All Saints RC church.
Visit: Day Trip to Stourbridge
This walking tour of Stourbridge will be led by Andy Foster and David Low and will highlight some of the town’s significant Victorian buildings.
Visit: Coach Trip to Shropshire
A coach visit to Shropshire, taking in St Mary's Church, Tenbury Wells; St John the Baptist at Stokesay Castle and Stokesay Court, near Craven Arms, described by Niklaus Pevsner as ‘the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the County'.
Members’ Afternoon
Members and their guests are invited to bring a maximum of 6 images on a memory stick to explain and share.
Visit: Great Malvern & Malvern College
A guided tour of Great Malvern Railway Station by Peter Clement from Malvern Civic Society; then a guided walk of Great Malvern by our Chairman, Stephen Hartland; lunch at the Mount Pleasant Hotel; then a tour of Malvern College by our Honorary Treasurer, James Fletcher, who works at the college. Malvern College was founded in 1865 and is regarded as one of England’s premier independent schools. The tour of the campus includes the main College (1865), Chapel (1899), Pavilion (1894), Music School (1862), St Edmund’s Hall (1905) and others. We will finish with refreshments in the Memorial Library (1924).
Symposium to celebrate the completion of Birmingham cathedral’s divine beauty project
A celebration of the completion of the Divine Beauty Project, which involved cleaning and renovating the magnificent Edward Burne-Jones windows at Birmingham Cathedral. Speakers include Andy Delmage, Canon Missioner at the Cathedral, Rhian Tritton, Divine Beauty Project Officer, Steve Clare who restored the windows and Peter Cormack, former director of the William Morris Gallery.