What's New on Cradley Links



Date Update Information Details
20 August 2010 Added a new page dedicated to Private David Boxley (1911-1942), by Debra Dixon about her great uncle.
18 August 2010 From today the Cradley Links web site is fully compliant with XHTML and CSS standards. Pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS Level 2.1.
These are the "language and grammar" developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the principal international organisation for Web design or "architecture" standards.
It just means that now Cradley Links is created according to a globally accepted coding style that makes the pages easier to maintain, and they have a much greater chance of displaying consistently in different browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera, etc.).
16 August 2010 Added a new page about the Boxley, Pearson, Homer and Beale family by Debra Dixon.
9 August 2010 Added a new page of Sketches of Cradley by Colin Homer, three of Two Gates and two of Windmill Hill.
4 August 2010 Added a new page about Ambrose Pearson and Louise Bache, thanks to Iain Wells who has sent us this every day story of Cradley folk with a little scandal thrown in.
2 August 2010 Added a new page about Enoch and Rebecca Cox, thanks to Brian Cox who supplied us with a photograph of his grandmother Rebecca and information.
28 July 2010 Added a new page about the Cradley Women Chainmakers Centenary Festival 2010 at the Black Country Living Museum on Saturday 18th September 2010.
27 July 2010 Added a link to the Black Country Genealogy & Family History web site to our Black Country web links page.
28 June 2010 A new study by Jill Guest of the infamous Anvil Yard once known as Purser's Yard.
28 June 2010 Added more to the story of Richard Bennett about others transported to Australia from Cradley, including Thomas Mansell who was convicted with him.
24 June 2010 Added some eighteenth century history to the story of Chapel House, thanks to Barry Blunt.
10 June 2010 The Welcome to Park Lane Unitarian Church page is back again, with a Notice Board of services.
18 May 2010 A drawing of the old Chapel House is accompanied by a roll-call of its inhabitants between 1800 and 1940.
18 May 2010 The entire Cradley Links site is re-desgned and renewed. We hope you like it.
14 September 2009 Cradley-born school mistress Elizabeth Oliver records the tragic death of a six-year old pupil, young Johnny Bashford.
28 July 2009 Cradley Then & Now group launches its Heritage Project, with the help of a grant of almost £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
12 June 2009 From today, the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is hosting a new exhibition by the Cradley Then & Now local history group. Visitors will be able to learn more about the people who made Cradley into one of the chain making centres of the World, and see some of their chains and tools.
12 May 2009 An obituary to Barry Blunt, co-author of many books on The History of Cradley, who died at home on Thursday 7 May.
20 November 2008 David Bartley's latest tribute poem, this time to the staff of Homer Hill High School
19 September 2008 A collection of picture postcards of Cradley, taken back to the United States in 1911 after a visit by Cradley-born Joseph Hingley. View them at Cradley in 1911
29 August 2008 Derek Hackett's memories of A Netherend Childhood, the best that any child could possibly have had.
15 May 2008 An illustrated history of the long-lived Two Gates Football Club, 1888-1988.
8 December 2007 Margaret Bradley, one of Cradley's leading historians, delves into the history of Oldnall, probably the most ancient settlement in today's Cradley.
14 November 2007 David Bartley, poet of Tipton and friend of Cradley, was present with his family at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Cradley Then and Now Group, and presented us with this poetic tribute.
14 November 2007 The Cradley Then and Now Group is 10 years old. Founder member Jill Guest recalls the highlights of 1997 to 2007.
11 September 2007 There is a lot going on in Cradley. Here we bring you an updated Cradley Diary of Events for the coming weeks.
4 September 2007 Michael Raybould lived in Park Lane, Cradley for over 50 years. Here he recounts his Memories of Park Lane in the 1950s in the form of a walking tour of the brick works and other landmarks of the district.
10 August 2007 The 1841 census for Cradley was transcribed five years ago by Steph Robinson and Nigel Brown and is now back on this site. There are limited search facilities that will be extended later.
31 July 2007 The "old" Cradley Links is re-launched, back at its old address: www.cradleylinks.com. It is missing a couple of favourite pages (for example, the 1841 and 1851 census returns), for the time being at least, but is otherwise intact and as "fabulous" as ever.
18 July 2007 Cradley is less famous for coal mining than chain making, but between 1850 and 1950 the collieries were no less important than the chain works in the local economy and for the legacy they left. Here we publish Howard Hill's Memoirs of a Black Country Mining Engineer. One of the greatest stories ever told.
16 July 2007 A second photo gallery of monumental inscriptions, (gravestones) from Cradley churchyard.
12 July 2007 A new photo gallery of Unknown Persons. Submit your photos for inclusion.
12 July 2007 The story of the closure of Beech Tree Colliery, Cradley's last pit.
11 July 2007 A photo gallery of 118 monumental inscriptions, (gravestones) from Cradley churchyard.
3 July 2007 A centenary celebration of the efforts of Cradley's Mahlah Homer, 'Lady of the Manor'.
28 June 2007 The story of how Richard Bennett came to be transported to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in 1852 and his subsequent career change from chain maker to farmer.
31 May 2007 Sam Taylor remembers the businesses and major buildings in Cradley's High Street back in the 1920s and 1930s.
31 May 2007 Annie Oliver returns to her birthplace in Overend, a century ago.
28 May 2007 Bowgy Mon, translated and adapted by Nigel Cooper from a poem written around 1905 in the dialect of German spoken in Strasbourg, a parody of Goethe's ballad Erlkönig, now in Black Country dialect with Cradley references.
26 May 2007 Wrought Nails, an 1886 etching depicting some of Cradley's nail shops by Stourbridge-born Sir Frank Short
23 May 2007 Book Launch and Picture Gallery
17 May 2007 Cradley Links goes online, at long last.
13 May 2007 Poets' Corner starts with an old poem by Adam Brazier and four contemporary ones by Sam Taylor
14 March 2007 Added Goin' Down Hayseech by Stuart Robinson

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