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Beeches College Bournville

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
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Info about the house/college below was extracted from https://apac.org.uk/Centres/Bournville-The-Beeches

George and Elizabeth Cadbury built The Beeches, as a rest home for Salvation Army officers and later a country home where children from the inner city could holiday.

During the 1920s through the 1940s it had various uses such as a temporary hospital for WW1 soldiers, a training centre for social workers operating in the city, and a girls’ school house.

After WW2 Cadbury Brothers purchased it from the Bournville Trust and a retail shop training programme was set up. It became 'a residential college for men and women who intend to make careers in the grocery and confectionary trade'. Activities began with the first post-war Summer School of the Institute of Certified Grocers, with courses designed to help servicemen learn the retail trade following the war.

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What a very smart and caring move by the Cadbury family. Did anyone ever study here ? Viv.
 
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In the 1960s & 70s it was also used for internal training courses by Cadburys.
 
I worked there between 1996-99, but it had been bought by Kalamazoo at that time and then they sold it to Chartridge Conference Co. towards the end of my time there. My mom worked there for many years, probably from the early eighties to 1998 and she always said it was a great place to work when owned by Cadburys. The first picture above is of the main house and I remember when locking up as duty manager, particularly when it was dark, feeling as though I was being watched. Then by chance a psychic medium happened to be attending a conference there and said they could sense the presence of a first world war soldier, which would tie in with the history of the building as detailed above.
 
Vivienne14 said:
This thread is a moderator generated thread. It is open for posts covering the period 1 January until 31 December. When the period ends, a moderator will close this thread then open a new thread on the subject for the following year.

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The Admin Team
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Vivienne14 said:
This thread is a moderator generated thread. It is open for posts covering the period 1 January until 31 December. When the period ends, a moderator will close this thread then open a new thread on the subject for the following year.

We look forward to your contributions.

The Admin Team
Click to expand...
Hi Vivienne - it's a long shot but researching, I came across a thread on here a couple of years ago regarding The Beeches College Bournville. Clearing an attic recently I came across a previous owner's bag full of info, dating back to 1950s, amongst many other things there was a booklet 'Brief Notes on Commodoties for Grocery Students' The Beeches College Bournville, two shillings and sixpence! This and many other 'treasures', it seems awful just to throw away. Do you know any museum that would be interested, or can give me a contact of any interested party?
 
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