Sandwell Council and the Friends of Lightwoods Park are delighted to bring you:

2011 May Day Celebrations at Lightwoods Park!

2nd May 2011 between 11am and 4pm.

It will be a fantastic event, we have so much going on! Read on to find out what...

WHY?

To open Sandwell's first concrete skate park; to celebrate Sandwell Council and the local community coming together for the restoration and rejuvenation of Lightwoods Park; and to bring back a traditional May Day Event which used to take place in the park many years ago.

WHAT? 

Here's a taster!:

On the live music stage Ian Jones from Beacon Radio will compere a host of local bands:

Other stuff:

Skate park opening!

Stunt BMX and Skateboard demos and coaching at the opening of Sanwell's first concrete skate park, here in Lightwoods.

The Band stand is back!

Brass and jazz bands will bring the band stand back to life from 12 - 4pm. 

Arts Show

See the orange flyer below for details - dance performances, floristry demonstrations, Morris dancers, maypole dancers, zumba and punch and Judy shows. 

And more!... 

Including inflatable It’s A Knockout, Spots v Stripes Olympic Games from Groundwork Black Country, market and craft stalls, plants stalls, countryside crafts, stalls from surestart and libraries and the play services. 

The Albion foundation 5aside football competitions, a climbing wall and refreshments.

Parking arrangements: on the park extension, cost £1 per car.

Please come and join us for a fun filled family day out at Lightwoods Park!

Lightwoods Park, Adkins Lane, Bearwood, B67 5DP.

Follow The Bear!

When I was a kid one of my favourite adverts was for Hofmeister beer. No, don’t worry I wasn’t early drinker (I don’t think I’ve even tasted the beer) but the advert was - and still is - a classic!

A bit of a tenuous link this one but in the 1980s when the ad was on our TVs the Bear Pub was a cool place to hang out. Comedy nights run by the then unknown Chris Collins, who went on to become a huge star as Frank Skinner, were really popular and the pub was always busy.

Over the years it went a bit ‘pete tong’ and The Bear got a bad reputation as somewhere to go if you wanted a fight...not just a pint. Thankfully this has all changed. The pub’s recently gone through a huge refurbishment and seems to be turning over a new leaf. The Bear serves great ale, is very cheap (£6 for 3 pints of cider – I know!) and is keen to get a new name for itself.

So, if you follow that Bear down to the Bear Pub hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

There There My Dear...

So I'm guessing that most people who read this blogsite will know that Dexy's Midnight Runners used to hang out at the Little Nibble cafe on Bearwood Rd (sadly no longer the Little Nibble but a fast food chicken type place) and that it features in a This is What She Likes on the Don't Stand Me Down album.

So Bearwood does have a musical heritage.

Throw in that Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac fame, lived in Bearwood, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and others played at Thimblemill Baths, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest and scores of others played at the Bear, Middletons Record Shop, probably the best jazz shop in the Midlands, was on Three Shires Oak Rd and our little suburb suddenly has a really rich musical history. Oh and of course Dennis Seaton, Ranking Roger, Andy Hamilton all live and play in Bearwood!

A group of us want to bring back more live music to Bearwood to complement the great Bearwood Jazz nights at the Corks so we've got together and formed a new organisation - Bearwood Promoters.

We will be putting on quality bands from Birmingham and the surrounding areas, think Goodnight Lenin, Misty's Big Adventure, The Destroyers, The Heels and so on and pairing them with up and coming local bands.

The group are committed to bringing live music back to Bearwood. We all passionately believe that there will be a demand and an audience for live music and that you don't have to travel to town or Moseley/Kings Heath for a good night out! Why spend £20 on taxis!!

I used to own Atticus and part of me getting involved is the number of people who stop me and talk about how much they loved Atticus and how sad they are that it no longer exists, so I do know that there is a sizeable group of people who, like me, would love to have great music on their doorstep again.

Over the next few weeks we'll start giving out more details about the gigs, dates, venues acts playing, so please let us know if you support this venture, or want to get involved, let us know what types of music you like and would like to see play in Bearwood.

Speak soon...