The community website for the people who love Rowley Regis
Matt
Matt Johnson has lived in Rowley Regis all his life and works locally - well, locally-ish in Oldbury. Matt likes to mess about with websites in his spare time - well what little spare time he has these days.
Homepage: http://www.rowleyregis.com
Posts by Matt
Haden Hill Park, House and Hall
Oct 19th
We had a great time at Haden Hill Park recently on a lovely Summer day in October – who’d have thought I’d be putting sun tan lotion on kids in October – what a barmy old year we’ve had, weatherwise, this year.
Haden Hill Park in Cradley Heath
There’s been some great additions to the park recently the kids all love the new adventure wooded playground area thingy – and the other playground. I also noticed a new bandstand area by Haden Hall and a new sign outside Haden Hill House that says “Haden Hill House Museum” – I used to work at the house at weekends and love looking around but sadly I didn’t get chance on this visit and I’m still waiting to have a proper look aroud the Old Hall – I must put it in my diary the next time it’s open.
Serpent benches at Haden Hill Park
Some of our activities on this sunny Saturday included:
- dragon spotting (I love these benches – got to get me one for my back garden)
- finding the witches hut (well the remains of what we (as kids) used to call “the witches hut” down by the lower pond,
- squirrel spotting
- watching the ducks – I said “watching” not” feeding” as you’re not supposed to feed them these days – well not with bread anyway – apparently it’s bad for them – so it’s a bread free diet for the ducks from now on
- playing frisbee and football on “the green”
- visiting the pet cemetary – where The Hadens buried their pets – Nip and Fluf are names that ring a bell but I can’t remember if they’re the real names or ones from a kids book
- Having an ice cream ..mmmmm!
I think what I like best about the park is that – although there’s been a few changes over recent years – it’s still the same park I visited as a child with mom and dad and taking my lad adds new memories that I hope he’ll remember when he’s older and takes his kids there too.
Sandwell Council’s webpage of Haden Hill Park includes a cool link to photos added to Flcikr that have been tagged with “haden hill park” so if you’ve been out and about – snapping away add your to the group and they’ll appear on the site.
Need money advice?
Sep 24th
You can get free advice on how to make your money go further and have your say on Sandwell council services at the same time at a roadshow at the Sainsbury’s store in Blackheath from 9am to 4pm on Monday 26 September.
You can find out about employment and benefits, as well as money-saving tips such as how to change energy supplier.
The council are working with the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Six Towns Credit Union on the Help4U roadshow, the fifth so far in the borough.
Councillor Mahboob Hussain, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for service improvement, said: “Our Help4U events aim to give practical information and tips on how to save money.
“They also give general advice on matters such as housing and employment.
“Around 1,200 people have taken advantage of the service so far.
“We’re not trying to sell anything, just to help and advise and let people make their own decisions.
“It’s about helping people to save money or to get benefits they didn’t realise they were eligible for. In tough times this can make all the difference.”
The My Council team will be on hand to listen to residents’ views on council services and ask them to fill in a quick questionnaire. The information will help to improve services in the future.
Photos of listed buildings in Rowley Regis
Jul 12th
Mark Wilson has recently taken photos of all the listed buildings in Rowley Regis and loaded them on to Flickr. Mark took them all (there’s 15 buildings classed as “listed”) in one day (19th April 2011) and I think that it’s fantastic that we’ve got a photographic record of them all at one precise period in time.
Click on a thumbnail image above to enlarge.
Here’s the link to the set on Flickr – and also you can view a more detailed set of great images of the buildings.
The Sandwell Council website has a list of the listed buildings in Rowley Regis and descriptions of each.
And here’s Mark’s Flickr map showing the locations with links to photos. So if you’re wondering what to do on a day out – how about sight seeing in Rowley Regis and finding out more about the heritage of the area.
I think that Mark has done a brilliant job, a fantastic idea, thanks for sharing.
Mark (aka Sparks68) has a wonderful selection of photos on Flickr – including sets for other listed buildings across Sandwell.
The Hawthorns pub