Fires in Sutton Park were a perpetual concern for the warden and society and, after 1886, for the town council.

Mostly these fires were confined to heather and gorse, but there were occasions when they damaged or destroyed trees.

The fire in August 1868, believed to have been deliberate, was reported to have destroyed more than 500 acres of woodland; the smoke could be seen from as far away as Aston and people travelled by' railway to see what was happening. Another conflagration in May 1888 'raged terrifically' before being beaten out by about 50 men, with members of the town council watching on.

There were also serious fires in 1921 and 1938. It was reported that in the summer of 1921 'nearly half the area of the park ... (was) damaged by fire: In February 1938 flames reached '70 feet amongst gorse and heather at the Streetly end.

Mostly these fires were started accidentally by the careless disposal of matches when lighting pipes or by sparks from engines on the railway line, which opened in 1879.

In 1906 there were 35 fires in the park, 21 ofthem believed to have been caused by sparks and leading to the destruction of 3,000 young trees and 50 acres of gorse and heather. On these occasions the town council would request compensation from the Midland Railway. Some fires, however, were started deliberately. This was the case of the fire in 1938; 'I saw the flames sheet up from five different places at the same time', the park forester reported.

The park keepers and the fire brigade beat many of these fires out with branches. Later on the fire brigade was able to bring in hydrants and pumps to secure water from the pools and also dammed brooks. Labourers usually employed by the town council to repair roads were deployed to dig trenches to prevent the fires from spreading.

The corporation responded to the events of August 1868 by offering £100 - about £10, 000 in today's money - for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who started a fire. The town council also discussed placing barbed wire on the inside of fences that surrounded the plantations of young trees. Alas, few of those who deliberately started fires were ever apprehended.

• Sutton Park: A Social History 1900-1950 by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon, £5.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts