Wednesday May 4th 2022
Belated 'May Day' and 'Beltane' wishes to all of our visitors! However you celebrate this time of the year - if you do, of course - we sincerely hope you had a lovely, safe time!
Beginning a couple or so years ago, the 'Oak House' museum - situated in West Bromwich - began hosting a 'Green Man Day' to celebrate this transitory point in the calendar!
For those who might not be aware of this site, this beautiful, old, timber-framed property was initially built at a point in the 16th Century. Over the generations, it is recorded as having passed through the hands of numerous owners until finally purchased by Alderman Reuben Fairley - three times Mayor of the region! - who initially wanted to use the house for his own, family home. However, he finally decided to present the site to his beloved town and it was eventually opened as a museum in 1898. In the mid-20th Cent., the house was given Grade II Listed status.
My own introduction to the house came around 35 years ago now, when I first discovered the building and used it for a study in an architectural photography exam. For a great many years afterwards, I became a semi-regular visitor to the place, finally - in decades to follow - bringing my partner and my children here for the occasional day out too.
Beginning a couple or so years ago, the 'Oak House' museum - situated in West Bromwich - began hosting a 'Green Man Day' to celebrate this transitory point in the calendar!
For those who might not be aware of this site, this beautiful, old, timber-framed property was initially built at a point in the 16th Century. Over the generations, it is recorded as having passed through the hands of numerous owners until finally purchased by Alderman Reuben Fairley - three times Mayor of the region! - who initially wanted to use the house for his own, family home. However, he finally decided to present the site to his beloved town and it was eventually opened as a museum in 1898. In the mid-20th Cent., the house was given Grade II Listed status.
My own introduction to the house came around 35 years ago now, when I first discovered the building and used it for a study in an architectural photography exam. For a great many years afterwards, I became a semi-regular visitor to the place, finally - in decades to follow - bringing my partner and my children here for the occasional day out too.
During my earlier visits - as occurs with most historic sites - I had specifically asked staff if there were any 'ghost stories' associated with the locality... and had always been told 'NO'. Visiting with a friend at one point, however, he informed me that he had (just then) asked someone about such things and they had told him that the figure of an old woman was sometimes seen in one of the downstairs chambers... This, needless to say, struck me as odd - given all of the times I'd heard to the contrary - but wasn't exactly sure how to take a lot of what the friend said, as he was a considerable joker anyway...?
A few years later, I spotted a correspondence, in the Express and Star 'letters' pages that mentioned a school party visiting, around 20 years earlier. One girl said that she'd felt ill upon entering the property and the feeling stayed with her for the duration of their visit. A companion had the strong feeling that she had 'been there before' - even though she hadn't - and predicted that there would be a pane of glass, in a window upstairs, that carried 'writing etched on it's glass'... She also said that, if you looked out of a particular window, you could see a small bridge... which turned out to be accurate!? In response to that letter, a few days later, Folklorist, Andrew Perrins, wrote to the E and S to say that the smell of sweet pipe tobacco is sometimes reported in the building, despite the fact that no one was smoking.
Intriguingly, some years later, once all of the paranormal furore' of the last couple of decades first began, it was a little perplexing to discover that the Oak House was apparently being 'rented out' for paranormal investigations...? While I do love the site, it did strike me that the popular 'suddenly become haunted' virus that has sorely afflicted so many previously 'not haunted' properties, over the last 20 years, had possibly caught another victim? Rolls eyes! As a matter of interest, I checked out the associated blurb - belonging to one of the commercial companies that used the site - to see what kind of things were supposedly being reported there (according to them, at least). There was a page or so of data, but, from what I could gather therein, most of the spookiness was supposedly 'gleaned by a psychic' during a visit! Rolls eyes!
I'm not sure if the commercial ghost nights are still held or allowed at The Oak House, but - while I don't follow such matters anyway - I had seen mention of some 'spooky events' there... activity nights for children, by the looks of things... being occasionally staged (Halloween, etc) over the years.
A few years later, I spotted a correspondence, in the Express and Star 'letters' pages that mentioned a school party visiting, around 20 years earlier. One girl said that she'd felt ill upon entering the property and the feeling stayed with her for the duration of their visit. A companion had the strong feeling that she had 'been there before' - even though she hadn't - and predicted that there would be a pane of glass, in a window upstairs, that carried 'writing etched on it's glass'... She also said that, if you looked out of a particular window, you could see a small bridge... which turned out to be accurate!? In response to that letter, a few days later, Folklorist, Andrew Perrins, wrote to the E and S to say that the smell of sweet pipe tobacco is sometimes reported in the building, despite the fact that no one was smoking.
Intriguingly, some years later, once all of the paranormal furore' of the last couple of decades first began, it was a little perplexing to discover that the Oak House was apparently being 'rented out' for paranormal investigations...? While I do love the site, it did strike me that the popular 'suddenly become haunted' virus that has sorely afflicted so many previously 'not haunted' properties, over the last 20 years, had possibly caught another victim? Rolls eyes! As a matter of interest, I checked out the associated blurb - belonging to one of the commercial companies that used the site - to see what kind of things were supposedly being reported there (according to them, at least). There was a page or so of data, but, from what I could gather therein, most of the spookiness was supposedly 'gleaned by a psychic' during a visit! Rolls eyes!
I'm not sure if the commercial ghost nights are still held or allowed at The Oak House, but - while I don't follow such matters anyway - I had seen mention of some 'spooky events' there... activity nights for children, by the looks of things... being occasionally staged (Halloween, etc) over the years.
Returning to the 'Green Man' events... I had previously attended in May 2019, on what turned out to be a gloriously sunny and warm day! On that day, there were the stalls of a craft fair set up in the main avenue to the house itself and, at certain times during the proceedings, 'Mummers' performed amusing, historic skits on a lawn nearby... Roving, period-dressed, musicians walked the grounds, along with a splendid 'Green Man' and accompanying 'fool'. On the patio of the next-door entrance centre / cafe, 'Morris Men' sporadically danced and folk music was played. Greatly due to the lovely weather that day, public interest was rather high and, clearly, a lovely day was had by all in attendance...
Sadly, needless to say, any event like this is going to almost-entirely depend on the sh*tty English weather and - after a promising time of sun and warmth - May 2022 has clearly decided to come in wet and dreary! Rolls eyes! Albeit only presenting as a miserable, mildly drizzly, day, such conditions served to 'dampen down' proposed attractions at this years event and such things as the craft fair and 'Mummers' plays were understandably missing.
To their credit, however, the '1st Sedgley Morris Men' DID brave the elements (albeit waiting for a lull in the rain first! Lol!) and I was - thankfully - able to capture a lot more impressive photographs of their dancing than managed on the previous visit...! Something that I'd completely missed previously was the fact that the fine gentlemen concerned were not just performing at the Oak House that day, but had actually been 'out and about' since around 6 a.m. dancing at different sites! Why this hadn't somehow dawned on me previously, I do not know - given the prominence of the day in the Pagan calendar and so forth - but my thanks to the lovely lady (associated with the Morris group), who 'opened my eyes' on this point!
Sadly, needless to say, any event like this is going to almost-entirely depend on the sh*tty English weather and - after a promising time of sun and warmth - May 2022 has clearly decided to come in wet and dreary! Rolls eyes! Albeit only presenting as a miserable, mildly drizzly, day, such conditions served to 'dampen down' proposed attractions at this years event and such things as the craft fair and 'Mummers' plays were understandably missing.
To their credit, however, the '1st Sedgley Morris Men' DID brave the elements (albeit waiting for a lull in the rain first! Lol!) and I was - thankfully - able to capture a lot more impressive photographs of their dancing than managed on the previous visit...! Something that I'd completely missed previously was the fact that the fine gentlemen concerned were not just performing at the Oak House that day, but had actually been 'out and about' since around 6 a.m. dancing at different sites! Why this hadn't somehow dawned on me previously, I do not know - given the prominence of the day in the Pagan calendar and so forth - but my thanks to the lovely lady (associated with the Morris group), who 'opened my eyes' on this point!
As imagined, the 'Green Man' himself (above) was an ever-present attraction - roaming the general site - with his young 'May Queen' and female, 'antlered' companion! (As with the Morris Men, I was grateful to be able to get much better photographs of such characters this time around too!) Another - beautiful - attraction this year was a charming, tree-like, 'stilt-walker', that hadn't been present during the 2019 event! (Below)
So - despite the drizzle and slightly cut-back size of the event, it still turned out to be a most enjoyable experience indeed! While not too blatantly advertised (I find) there are a number of events held at the Oak House, during an average year, so it is always advisable to make a point of keeping an eye on the relevant web content if you might be interested in such matters! Thankfully, I was reminded of the 'Green Man Day' by my good friend John Chance this year, otherwise I would have probably missed it myself! Rolls eyes! (Sadly, John himself was unable to attend, due to illness, it seems - bless him!) Alternatively, if you're ever in the West Bromwich / Black Country region, with an hour or so to spare, it is always well worth a visit to this wonderful, historic site if possible!
A page on the 'Sandwell Council' website, dedicated to the Museum and associated events, can be found by clicking HERE
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