Association of Open University Graduates - Newsletter for R04

Newsletter of AOUG in the West Midlands (04)

I should like to thank all members for their support and enthusiasm given last year and I hope that your support bring a great deal of joy this year. There are many things to do and your participation in events are essential. I hope that you will find them interesting. Last year, we had been excitingly busy with celebrations. I am sure that everyone will admit that they had fo und events memorable.

The Open University's Degree Ceremony in Birmingham [2009]
This Degree Ceremony took place on Saturday 20th June, 2009 in Birmingham. It was extra special to many graduates, their families and friends as well as for The Open University because of the 40th Anniversary. Both the Alumni an, AOUG worked together, we had our stalls opposite each other. AOUG members volunteered to help at the Degree Ceremony. There were Honorary Degrees laureate from The Open University to the distinguished guests. I should like to congratulate all distinguished guests who had received Honorary Degrees from The Open University. In addition, I take this opportunity to congratulate all post graduates, graduates as well as those students who received diplomas and certificates from The Open University.

AOUG EVENTS

A Guided Tour Of the Birmingham Central Library
We had a guided tour of the Birmingham Central Library on Saturday, 17th January, 2009. Members met at the Reception of the main entrance. After a welcome and introduction, the Performance Manager conducted the tour around the central library. We began by looking at the Children's Library from outside. It has an amazing collection of books. Children, young people and families are allowed to use the Children's Library.
The Learning Centre is not far from the Children's Library. It offers many courses for the public through Learndirect. There is no age limits for these courses and most of them are flexible. There is a Next Step Centre which gives assistance on job searches for the public.
We visited the Science Library and the Special Collection of books after visiting the Learning Centre. The Science Library has got Health Exchange which provide support to communities on health issues
There are over 5 million books, reference books as well as CDs, DVDs, videos, etc. which makes this Central Library one of the largest and most important library in Europe.
After our guided tour, we showed our appreciation to the Performance Librarian in the usual manner before departing to the Arts Gallery for dinner.

Bantock House & Park, Wolverhampton
The tour of the Bantock House & Park in Wolverhampton took place on Saturday 18th April, 2009. Members met at the entrance of Bantock House. There was no guide for this tour.
Bantock House is one of the rare survivals of Georgian Houses in Wolverhampton. It was built by a French family in 1700s, then called New Merridale Farm. This house had been rented to many tenants and changes had been made to the house in the 19th century. Later, it was called Merridale House.
Thomas Bantock, who was a son of a gamekeeper, came from Scotland and settled in Wolverhampton in 1849. He became a tenant of the house in 1865 and later, he bought the house. His son, Albert Baldwin Bantock inherited the house. He married Kate Jones, but did not have any children so he made a Will to leave this house to the City Of Wolverhampton (then a town). Merridale House was renamed as "Bantock House" which become a Museum.
Albert Baldwin Bantock had a great passions for gardens and we saw these gardens during our tour. There is a park which provides an ideal place for families to relax with a football pitch, a pond and a nature trail.
At the end of our tour, we had refreshments at the Cafe which is in the courtyard of Bantock House. The weather was sunny which helped us to enjoyed this tour.

Guided Tour Of the Wolverhampton Central Library
The guided tour of the Central Library took place on Saturday 6th June, 2009. Unfortunately, the weather was very dismal, it rained heavily. Nonetheless, a few members participated in this event and found it very useful. I used this Central Library regularly whilst I studied my Open University degree course towards the end of last century.
The Central Library was designed by an Architect called Henry T. Hare. It was opened in 1902 and today, it is Grade 2 listed building. This was the first library he designed and it became successful. Henry Hare went on to build seven more libraries in this country. However, he had previously designed many municipal buildings in Stafford and Oxford.
Like all Central Libraries, this one too has reading rooms, a lending library and a reference library. There are computers in the reference library which the public can use with Terms & Conditions of the Central Library. Members of the staff are ready to assist the public. There are computers in the lending library where the public can check for the availability of books they want to borrow. We looked at some examples of books which the lending library has such as, books on local history.
After our guided tour, we showed our appreciations in the usual manner and then departed to have some refreshments.

A Guided Tour Of The Leather Museum In Walsall
This guided tour of the Leather Museum in Walsall took place on Saturday 8th August, 2009. The Leather industry is one of the most important industries in Walsall and the people of Walsall are very proud of this industry. It has been established in Walsall for over two centuries.
Cattle farms in Staffordshire are an important source of suppliers of skins to Walsall's leather industries. Walsall's tanneries are built around two main streams. In 1800, Walsall was a small market town surrounded by fields. It had a population of 10,000 people. Communications were poor. During this period, there were a few leather workers in Walsall. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, Walsall expanded as an industrial town with a population of 87,500 people. It was known as "The town of a hundred trades".
Our members met at the Reception of the main entrance of the Leather Museum. After a welcome and introduction, our guided tour commenced. We explored the ground floor first and then the first floor. The ground floor has many historical display materials on the history of the leather works in Walsall as well as the making of leather. We looked at how skins were brought to the leather works and the process of making leather from the beginning to the final stages of best quality leather. There were many examples of leather displays including leather which was used to make leather goods for the Royal Family. The changes in the leather industry from sentimental traditional methods to modern methods were explored.
In the first floor, we saw many traditional tools used in making leather as well as leather goods. There was a display of leather goods made in Walsall as well as a traditional workshop. Here, a demonstration was given by skilled craftsman on how wallets were made.
We ended our guided tour here. We showed our appreciations in the usual manner before had our refreshments in Cafe in the Leather Museum. We enjoyed this guided tour and learnt a great deal about the history of leather industry as well as the people of Walsall dedicated to this important industry of which they are very proud of it.

Minor Events
There were minor events in our Region. A visit to the Arts Gallery in Birmingham for Matthew Boulton Lecture and a Tea & Coffee morning in Wolverhampton. We want to hold regular Tea & Coffee mornings for members to get together.

Mohammad Motawalla - Executive Representative - February 2010