Welcome to WIAS!
“Bringing WIAS to the comfort of your armchair”
We hope that we can boost our ZOOM audience amongst members who have preferred not to use it before. Help and advice is readily available – please get in touch. If you haven’t joined a ZOOM meeting before please consider giving it a try and enjoying an evening of I.A.
Non – Members are very welcome at Live meetings and ‘ZOOM’ meetings. If you would like to join a ‘ZOOM’ meeting please complete our simple form at this link. WIAS suggests a voluntary donation of £3 for non-members to assist with running costs.
WIAS May Meeting. The next meeting of the Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology Society is on Thursday May 9th. at 7.30pm in person at the Warwick Preparatory School Hall CV34 6PL, with a simultaneous delivery online via Zoom. Our speaker is one of our members, David Daniel, and the title of his talk is ‘I never knew BSA made cars’. David has been involved with BSA cars since the late 1960’s, has a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and he will explore an aspect of BSA’s world not known to everyone. I feel sure it will be a fascinating evening. Martin Green, WIAS Chairman. 1st May 2024
WIAS Visits & Trips. 3 trips this summer are now available to book on our ‘Visits & Trips page. Click here for full details. 10th April 2024
Rolls Royce. The RRHT website has been updated and now includes access to the collection catalogue. Visit their websites at https://rollsr-apw.adlibhosting.com/home and Heritage Trust. Paul Waller, 20th March 2024
Newsletter No.81. The latest edition of the WIAS Newsletter is now available on line. Many thanks to all involved its production. Help always welcome! 18th March 2024.
Wood Tar Production. This is a recent discovery from a Spanish Archive on the production of Wood Tar. This is all news to me and very interesting. As always The Subtitle can be opened below the screen and then converted into English using the settings to ‘English Auto-Generated’. Click on this link to watch the film on You Tube. John Brace, 18th March 2024
2024 Visits and Trips. Details of 2 new trips are available on our ‘Visits & Trips’ page. Use the link in the main menu or click here. 18th March 2024
‘Jet Man.’ You may recall that three years ago I reviewed for WIAS Duncan Campbell-Smith’s, “Jet Man,” the new biography of Sir Frank Whittle. The published price in 2021 was £30. I have considerable pleasure informing you that Post Script, the discount book sellers, have “Jet Man” on offer, in hard back, at £9.99+ postage & packing. This is a very significant saving on the original published price. As of 12.00 noon on 12.02.24, Post Script had about twenty copies remaining. Post Script Order Line, Tel: 01626 897100. John Willock. 14th February 2024
BALH Newsletter. The latest newsletter from the British Association for Local History is now available at this link. 14th February 2024
HMS Bryony. In the 2024 February WIAS Meeting about Decoys etc, RN Q Ships were mentioned. Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. My Maternal Grandfather Henry Redvers Burns was conscripted into the RN at the end of the first world war and was trained as a radio operator. He was assigned to HMS Bryony which was a Q Ship and he served all of his time on this ship. I attach photo of HMS Bryony. Stuart Robertson. 11th February 2024
Western Power Electricity Historical Society. Peter Coulls has brought to our attention this fascinating web site and museum which is full of interest. It is well worth a visit! Click here to visit. 28th January 2024
Heritage of Industry Tours. The 2024 tour programme is now available and open for bookings on their web site. Click here to visit. 24th January 2024
Brickmaking in South Africa. At the January Zoom meeting Martin Green mentioned brick making in South Africa. His report on a visit to the Bredasdorp Brickworks is now available at this link. 14th January 2024
Stratford upon Avon Canal. A stretch of canal has been drained in Stratford-upon-Avon to allow for a replacement set of lock gates to be installed as part of a £50m project. The work along the Stratford Canal near Maidenhead Road at Lock 53 is being carried out by The Canal & River Trust and is due to be completed by the end of February. Specialist carpenters have hand-crafted new gates from solid oak. More information and photos at this link. In conjunction with this work, The Canal & River Trust have organised a special weekend on the 24th & 25th February at the Wolverhampton Flight to see ‘what lies beneath’. View the usually submerged unique history of the Wolverhampton lock flight, where they carrying out essential repair works and replacing lock gates. The event is free to all but booking is required. Full details at this link. 12th January 2024
Elmdon Airport. Aviation and classic car enthusiast Gary Lewis makes a nostalgic return visit to Elmdon Airport, (3 years ago), and travels ‘back in time’ to take a closer look at the original 1930’s Art Deco grade 2 listed terminal building and control tower, and the airport’s past connection with the legendary WW2 aircraft the Lancaster bomber. Enjoy this 25 minute film which will bring the memories flooding back. Click here. 12th January 2024
EARLIER NEWS ITEMS ARE STILL AVAILABLE IN THE NEWS ARCHIVE