Stourbridge Glass Museum; how it came into being
Sparrow Publishing : ISBN 978-1-7399212-2-4 : 56pp softback, lavishly illustrated in full colour : RRP £10.00. Available via Amazon and usual outlets : by post from author (+£2.50 p&p): by visiting SGM. All sales proceeds will go to British Glass Foundation in furtherance of its work. See BGF website for details.
A writer and broadcaster hailing from the Black Country but now based on the Welsh border near Hay-on-Wye has released his latest book outlining the creation of a pioneering world-class museum, quite literally from the ashes of an iconic glass factory in the very heart of the historic Stourbridge Glass Quarter.
Stourbridge Glass Museum; how it came into being by Graham Fisher (with a Foreword by Lynn Boleyn MBE) is a comprehensive and absorbing account of how Stourbridge Glass Museum was created on the vandalised and burnt-out site of the former Stuart glassworks in Wordsley. Graham’s new work covers the intense period of just thirteen years - a remarkably quick timescale - from BGF’s formation through to the official opening in 2023 of a brand-new, purpose-built canalside facility that will conserve and promote both the heritage and the future of local glassmaking for generations to come.
Graham Knowles, Chairman of the British Glass Foundation writes "‘Graham has captured the essence of creating what we consider is a ‘People’s Museum’ from the relics of a former glassmaking site that, more than 20 years after its closure, is still regarded locally with great affection. His latest book is a fascinating narrative in its own right but his recording of how we arrived here will doubtless prove of immense value to researchers and historians yet to be born"
Graham Fisher MBE FRGS, formerly of Kingswinford but now domiciled near Hay-on-Wye, is a writer and broadcaster. He is a leading authority on the UK’s inland waterways, particularly those around the Midlands, and his explorations of links between the Stourbridge Canal and the local glass industry led to his appointment in 2011 as Trustee of the fledgling British Glass Foundation. He has been recognized with numerous accolades notably MBE (2001), Inland Waterways Personality of the Year (2005) and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (2021). He has served on advisory and Governmental bodies including as an inaugural appointee to the Canal & River Trust in 2012 where he served with distinction. He has many media credits and produces his own independent radio broadcasts. In 2015 he sat on the Jury panel of the International Festival of Glass Biennale held in Stourbridge.
The British Glass Foundation (BGF) is the driving force behind the creation of Stourbridge Glass Museum. BGF was formed in response to uncertainty over the future of the internationally-renowned Stourbridge Glass collection following the loss of its former home at Broadfield House in Kingswinford. In addition to successfully creating the new facility to display the collection, BGF has since become an umbrella organisation representing the wider interests of glassmaking in general, and that around Stourbridge in particular. GlassCuts is the regular email bulletin of BGF. It is available free of charge.
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