Parking at The Chainmakers

We strongly urge that you do not attempt to park in the streets around Bearmore Park as festival parking has been arranged a ten minute walk from the site. This is at Hickman's Avenue, Cradley Heath, B64 5ND and we are running a shuttle service between Hickmans Avenue nd Plant Strreet from 11.00 a.m. until 5.00 p.m.

There are 20 spaces for disabled people with blue badges for their cars at the festival site, access from Clyde Street, B64 6DQ.

For those of you who wish to attend the commemoration at the Chainmakers monument we suggest you use the car park near Cradley Heath railway station, bottom left of map below, £2 per day for parking.


 

The final line up for the Women Chainmakers' festival and Friday night at the Chainmakers' has just been released..................

Women Chainmakers’ festival to return to Bearmore Park in Cradley Heath

The Festival celebrating an historic strike by Women Chainmakers will return to Cradley Heath this weekend.

The ninth Women Chainmakers festival will be held in Bearmore Park in Cradley Heath on 8^th June, preceded by a new addition to the festival –“Friday night at the Chainmakers”.

The venue for both events, Bearmore Mound, is in the heart of the Cradley Heath community where the Chainmakers worked and lived - and fought their successful ten week dispute to secure a minimum wage for their sector.

The festival has been jointly organised by the Midlands Region of the TUC and Sandwell council and will feature the TUC President, Lesley Mercer, speaking at the events.

Midlands TUC festival organiser Alan Weaver said, “We are delighted to bring the Chainmakers back to Cradley Heath for the third year running.”

“This places our joint celebration of Mary Macarthur, who led the strike in 1910, back in the heart of the community where the women fought for their rights to a minimum wage.”

“It was a great achievement and we are indebted to Sandwell Council for their support in helping us continue to celebrate this important event. We are looking to make this festival an integral part of Cradley Heath for the foreseeable future and look forward to a long and successful partnership with the council to make this happen.”

The festival will also include a commemoration at Mary Macarthur Gardens here the monument dedicated to the Chainmakers is situated. This will start at 11.00 a.m. to be followed by a banner parade along Cradley Heath high Street to Bearmore Park, along part of the very route used by Macarthur and the women Chainmakers.

Notes to Editors:

The festival celebrates the achievements of 800 or so women Chainmakers who fought to establish a minimum wage for their labour. The local employers sought to deny them their rights but were met with forceful opposition, led by Mary Macarthur, who founded the National Federation of Women Workers and later stood for Parliament as a Labour candidate.

Friday night at the Chainmakers takes place on Bearmore Mound from 7.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. on Friday 7^th June.

Performers on Friday Night include Sandwell Rock School and Stacey Blythe singing the Chainmakers Song.

The ninth Women Chainmakers festival takes place at Bearmore Mound on Saturday 9^th June from 11.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and will feature TUC President, Lesley Mercer, Gloria Mills, UNISON Head of Equalities, and local black country performers including The Laners, Phil Parton, Easy Street, Tom Martin Band, Steve Morris, Bill O’Brien, East West Fusion, Brett Huckerfield and Marie Timmins, Folk Law, Carol Widenbar, Tony Scott and Billy and Lozz.

Announcing Friday Night at The Chainmakers

Friday night at The Chainmakers is to be held at the festival site, Bearmore Park, Cradley Heath, from 7.00 p.m. until 11.00 p.m. This is a free event and forms part of the Women Chainmakers festival which takes place on Saturday 8th June. 

The new promotional video can be viewed below or on YouTube here

Women Chainmakers festival returns to Cradley Heath

The 2013 Women Chainmakers' festival will be held at Bearmore Park, Cradley Heath on Saturday 8th June. Check out our promotional video on YouTube or watch it here.

 

The You Tube link is available here 

2012 Festival grows - and the sun shines!

The 2012 Women Chainmakers' Festival is over for another year. Bigger crowds, more tents and things to do - and the weather on the day was kind. 

This year's festival coincided with the unveiling of the Chainmakers' monument at the Mary Macarthur Memorial Gardens in Cradley Heath, and gave us the opportunity to march on the very streets that the women chainmakers' made their own in 1910.

Our friends at Union News covered the festival and their video can be seen here:

Thanks to all those unions that put so much energy - -and financial support - into making this years festival a success. And thanks too, to Sandwell Council who were so supportive of the event. Without you all, it just does not happen.

Alan Weaver

Festival Organiser

Women Chainmakers’ Festival returns to Cradley Heath in Sandwell

The festival celebrating an historic strike by women chainmakers’ will return to Sandwell in the summer.

The eighth Women Chainmakers festival will be held in Bearmore Park in Cradley Heath on 9 June.

The venue, Bearmore Mound, is in the heart of the community where the chainmakers’ lived and worked - and fought their successful ten week dispute for a minimum wage for their sector in 1910.

The festival will be jointly organised by the Midlands Region of the TUC and Sandwell Council.

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston said: “We are delighted to bring the Chainmakers back to Cradley Heath.

“This places our joint celebration of Mary Macarthur, who led the strike, back in the heart of the community where the women fought for their rights to a minimum wage.

“It was a great achievement and we are indebted to Sandwell Council for their support in helping us continue to celebrate this important event.

“We are looking to make this festival an integral part of Cradley Heath for the foreseeable future and look forward to a long and successful partnership with the council to make this happen.”

Sandwell Council Leader Councillor Darren Cooper said: “We are very pleased the TUC is again prepared to organise the festival in conjunction with the council.

“This is an event which celebrates our local history and marks one of the most important events to take place anywhere in the country – and it is here on our patch in Cradley Heath.”

The festival has been moved forward to June to coincide with the unveiling of a statue of a woman chainmaker at Mary Macarthur Park in Cradley Heath, organised by the council and the Friends of Mary Macarthur Gardens Group.

Further information:

The festival celebrates the achievements of 800 or so women Chainmakers who fought to establish a minimum wage for their labour. The local employers sought to deny them their rights but were met with forceful opposition, led by Mary Macarthur, who founded the National Federation of Women Workers and later stood for Parliament as a Labour candidate.