The History of the Solihull Society of Arts

After our AGM we heard a talk by Nigel Cameron on the subject of the history of the SSA. This was a follow-up to the recent history of the SSA which was written by Nigel and published in the spring. The original idea for the Solihull Society of Arts (SSA) arose in 1944 from a casual conversation between Lady Edith Bird and Dr Richard Wassall. The first committee meeting took place at the Council House with Councillor Malley starting the proceedings, until Wilfred Lane was elected as Chairman. Several sections were set up. Fourteen literary events were planned. These included lectures by Trenchard Cox, the newly appointed Director of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Sir Barry Jackson of the Birmingham Rep and Dr Raymond Priestly, the geologist on the Scott and Shakleton Antarctic Expeditions. The first Annual General Meeting of the SSA was held on 30 July 1945. The 'Golden Years' of the SSA were in the period 1969-1994. In 1969 50 Lode Lane was purchased as a headquarters for the SSA. One of the three founding sections of the SSA was the Music Section. It ran a Competitive Music Competition during the period 1952-1974 in which cups were awarded as prizes. Other sections were soon founded including the Literary Section (1944-2003), the Art Section (1958 to date). the Recorded Music Circle (1981 to date), the Film and Video Unit (1986-1990), the Local History Circle (1987 to date), the Sosage Factory (1993 to date) and Edgeyouth (2007 to date). It was considered by Nigel Cameron that the period 1995 to 2010 were the years of decline. Overall membership of the SSA sections has now stabilised to around 250 despite the attractions of other groups and societies. (For even more details of the SSA see Nigel Cameron's book, A History of Solihull Society of Arts, available at our meetings for the special price of £10).