Moor Pool Residents Association

The MRA represents the local community of the Moor Pool Estate, a garden suburb of Birmingham. The committee are a small group of volunteers living on the estate. Our aim is to help protect the character of the estate and nurture community connections.

What we do:

• Publish & deliver The Duck newsletter • Host community events • Collaborate on issues with local council • Advise on conservation rules • Advise and monitor on planning issues • Offer community security advice

A small annual membership fee helps fund the work we do across the estate. Subscription details can be found at the foot of this page.

Welcome to the online edition of the newsletter.

What appears below is an approximation of the printed edition. It has been formatted to render properly on the Web. The printed edition is available here .

What's On

Friday 28th November 12-1.30pm

Creative Wellbeing Session: Join LEAF Creative Arts CIC for free monthly Creative Wellbeing sessions at Moor Pool Hall. These sessions are dementia friendly, carer friendly and accessible. To book, please email leafcreativearts@gmail.com or call 07746 642 387.

Sunday 30 November 10am-3.00 pm

Harborne Handmade Winter Market: 25 of the best local makers selling their unique and handmade products, as well as cake and hot drinks. Free entry.

From Monday 1st December

Christmas Robin Trail: The Moor Pool Robins are back for 2025! Follow the trail throughout December and see if you can find nine crochet feathered friends around Moor Pool Estate. Collect your trail map from the front of the Hall or download it from the MPHT website.

Friday 5th December 1.30-4pm

Christmas Wreath Workshop: Make a Christmas wreath to take home and hang on your front door. £25 per person, including mulled wine and mince pies. Book your place at moorpoolhall.org.uk/shop

Saturday 6th December 5.30-6.30pm

Santa’s Sleigh tour of Moor Pool: See Santa’s sleigh as it drives around Moor Pool, starting at 5.30pm outside Moor Pool Hall and then taking in most roads around the Estate. This event is free to attend, however donations to MPHT are hugely appreciated! More info.

Sunday 7th December 11am-1.30pm

Santa’s Grotto: Includes gift and craft activities. Grotto tickets must be pre-booked this year at moorpoolhall.org.uk/shop

Sunday 14th December 2-4pm

Carols in the Hall: Join the Moor Pool Residents Association for their ‘Carols in the Hall’ event with mince pies and mulled wine. Child friendly and free.

Saturday January 24th 12.30pm

Moor Pool Residents Association AGM: A chance to have your say and raise any issues affecting us as residents. Please note the change of venue. Moor Pool Lower Hall

Residents Association Membership Subscription Reminder

Your annual membership of the Resident’s Association runs from January 1st so will soon be due for renewal. The Annual subscription per household is going up from £8 to £10 so if you pay by Standing Order could you please amend? If you haven’t previously paid by standing order, can we recommend that you set one up? The Association’s bank account details can be found at the foot of this page.

If you come to ’Carols In The Hall’ or the AGM you can pay then by contactless……. (Cash also accepted). Live on the Estate but not yet a member? Join and pay on the day.

From The Chair

‘Carols In The Hall’

Christmas will soon be upon us, and we are looking forward to our annual Christmas Event –‘Carols In The Hall’. This is an informal sing along lead by Jules Bellingham and accompanied by Geoff Salminen on the piano. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served. The event is free, open to all and is child friendly.

This year our singing will be helped along by the Brandhall Community Choir whom you may have heard at the Heritage Festival in September. Their voices will certainly help us raise the roof!

Our Summer Garden party was a wash out but as we will be indoors for the carols there should be no such problem on December 14th. 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm.

Any building projects for 2026?

Earlier this year Birmingham City Council published a document, snappily entitled ‘Historic Environment a Supplementary Planning Document’, which sets out a vision and policy for all Birmingham’s Heritage buildings. You will find it on Birmingham City Council’s website in the planning section where there is a link to documents.There is some information there that is interesting for anyone planning alterations to a house on the Moor Pool Estate.

Forthcoming Residents Association AGM

We hope to see you at the Association’s AGM to be held in the Lower Hall at 12.30 on January 24th 2026. Come and have your say about issues affecting the Estate. If yo have a question, you may send it in advance to me at the email address below by January 18th.

Your Committee members are ; Norma Mason Hon Secretary; Andrew Argyle Hon Treasurer; Carl Parkes; Sue Anderson; Sarah Hanson; Maureen Mauser; Jenny Buchan; Letty Edwards; Matt O’Malley

Committee members will offer themselves for re-election at the AGM. There is a vacancy for an additional member if it interests you. Please contact me for more details. With all best wishes for the Christmas Season and the New Year from all of us on the Committee.

Chair: Margaret Harrold chair@moorpool.org

Have You Seen?

If you have walked up Carless Avenue recently you may have spotted this lovely new bench at The Spinney.

The handmade bench with its inspiring inscription was donated by the Walker Family in memory of their parents Eric and Barbara who were long-term residents of Moor Pool. The Trust extends it thanks for this handsome addition to the Estate.

Pallets To Christmas Trees

A few weeks ago Phil Simpson organised a workshop where pallets were converted into outdoor Christmas trees the same as the ones that the Trust places in the Spinney every year for us to decorate.

The photo shows them hard at work at the Carless Eco Centre.

News From Clubs and Societies

The Circle Cinema Club

A date for your 2026 diary!
January 11th ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’
Doors open 6.15pm for refreshments. You are welcome to bring your own drink. Tickets £5 Members £1 Available at the door or contact info@circlecinema.co.uk

Moor Pool Reading Group

January’s book and date has yet to be fixed. If you want to know more contact Gillian Morgan

A previous choice was Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld, a writer of modern, feminist literary fiction and published in 2013.

The novel told the story of the relationship between twin sisters who have extraordinary senses of perception. One twin embraces their skills whilst the other shies away from them with life altering consequences. Overall the group felt that whilst some events - particularly the ending- felt rushed, Sittenfeld excelled at writing about the ups and down of relationships, especially that between the twins themselves.

November’s choice was ‘The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency’ by Alexander MaCall Smith.

Nettlefold Garden

The garden is now open winter hours - Saturdays and Sundays 10am - 4pm.

Sunday yoga and Tuesday Tai Chi classes continue as normal.

Harborne Tenants’ Snooker Club

Harborne Tenants’ Snooker Club, one of Harborne’s best kept secrets, now has memberships available.

The club has three tables and as well as being a place for members to practise or play casual games, it also hosts a variety of events and competitions to cater for all standards.The club also holds occasional coaching sessions run by a WPBSA qualified coach.

Annual memberships are currently £100 per annum with memberships running May to April. No other costs are levied with members able to book tables for 1-3 hourly sessions via an internet booking site.

If you would like to join please contact Derek on membership@htsnookerclub.uk .

For more information follow/direct message us on facebook, instagram or bluesky: @htsc1947 or email htsc1947@gmail.com .

Moor Pool Skittles Club

All at Moor Pool Skittles Club wish you all a very Merry Christmas, looking forward to a happy New Year and hoping everyone keeps well. As ever, we would love to share the fantastic skittles alley we have at Moor Pool and welcome you to come and have a go!

We are a small but friendly club, always pleased to be able to show off our wonderful and unique alley - we’re pretty sure we are the only skittle alley in England that has a flat andcrowned alley, side by side. The woods do not have finger holes and are made of a very hardwood - Lignam Vitae. There are no mechanical aids for resetting the pins or to return the woods- though there is a sloping central return for the woods to roll back to the top of the alley - if they are not on ‘go slow’! We play most Monday evenings from 7.30pm until about 9pm. While within the club membership there is an element of competition, we are always happy for those interested to come along and have a go.

Please be aware that the club is for over 16’s only for insurance reasons, access is via the steps to the Lower Hall and then up steps from the kitchen area, which can be difficult to negotiate.

It is always a good idea to contact before coming along as we do sometimes have to cancel a session at short notice.

For more information contact Tina at tsuzanne444@gmail.com or 07757 967 264

Raise money for Moor Pool Heritage Trust when you shop online this Christmas!

Sign up to easyfundraising and choose Moor Pool Heritage Trust as your cause, then shop online as normal from over 8,000 participating retailers. A percentage of what you spend will be donated to MPHT and it won’t cost you any extra - the donation is covered by the retailer. Join 59 supporters who have already raised over £2,000. To find out more, go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/moorpoolheritagetrust

A Grand New Hotel for Moor Pool Bugs!

It’s well known that, in the UK, insects are disappearing at an alarming rate – something like 60% of the insect population has been lost in the last forty years. The main reasons for this include loss of habitat and the use of pesticides.

Insects come in huge variety – beetles and bugs, flies and wasps, bees, moths and butterflies. They all need different places to over-winter, either as adults or as eggs or maybe even as a larva or pupa. They like different places to lay their eggs and they have different tastes in food plants.

Insects matter because they are a vital part of the food chain and because they pollinate plants that produce the fruit and veg we need. It has been said that if people disappeared from the planet, insects would manage very well, but we could not survive without them.

To do our bit to help the insects, we’re gradually changing the planting around Moor Pool Halls. You’ll see more plants for pollinators and several log piles. Log piles are great for insects that live on the ground or in the soil and for micro-organisms too.

Our new bug hotel offers all sorts of nooks and crannies for insects to shelter in. Some will spend the winter here. The tubes, especially the straws, should attract Mason Bees to lay their eggs in spring. It’s warm, it’s dry, and it’s south-facing – all important factors for the discerning insect. Our new bug hotel is architect designed, echoing the Arts and Crafts style of the Moor Pool buildings. It uses recycled materials, including genuine Moor Pool roof tiles. Special thanks go to Colin Brain, to Saaed Ghinai and the Kings Heath Shed, to the Chair of Moor Pool Wildlife, Mike Foster, and to MPHT Education Officer, Justine Marklew.

The fillings were supplied by members of Moor Pool Wildlife and added by local children during the summer holidays. The bug hotel was officially unveiled at the Moor Pool Heritage Festival on Sunday 14th September 2025 by Moor Pool Heritage Trust Trustee, Phil Simpson, with the assistance of Chloe and Finn, who had helped to fill it up. We have named the bug hotel ‘Bug-ingham Palace’, as suggested by local residents.

Cathy Perry, Moor Pool Wildlife

Chair: Margaret Harrold
email: chair@moorpool.org.uk

Subscriptions

Subscription fees are £10. Due (where possible) on 1st January. Payments can be made by standing order or by bank transfer to: Sort Code 30 19 14, Account Number 03808193.