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The word on the Streets
I pointed out ages ago that David Evans was researching the history of Streets Corner in Walsall Wood, and through months of diligent and patient research, David has written what must be the definitive...
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An unearned income
It is with great pleasure that I can now continue the story of the slum clearance of Ogley Square in 1935, thanks to the efforts of an anonymous reader and top friend of the blog Richard Burnell....
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The Royal Oak – a new chapter unfolding?
Thanks to reader Caz who pointed out last week that an application has been made to build a close of houses on the land currently occupied by the former Royal Oak pub in Bullings Heath, opposite the...
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The white heat of technology
This weekend, I have been mostly excavating the mapping record for Birchills Iron Works - I know it's way off our normal beat, but once I started looking at the geography following the remarkable sale...
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As far distant as the millennium
Found coincidentally to reader Alan Harvey's request for more Norton Canes, this article on the village, from the Saturday, 30th January 1886 copy of The Graphic, is a remarkable travelogue written by...
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Brownhills Past & Present: new exhibition coming soon
Stuart Williams of the Walsall Local History Centre has been in touch regarding a soon-to-start new exhibition of Brownhills photos and ephemera at the town archives. Continue reading →
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A conduit for change
A quick but interesting one - I've just dredged the above map out of my stash - this one has a gruesome correction tear, but it shows Norton pretty much as it would have been when the journalist...
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Continuing the Exchange
I'm pleased to note the intriguing and rich history of the Royal Exchange pub in Walsall Wood continues to develop and evolve - regular readers will recall that Ann Cross and David Evans did much work...
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Peake performance
I had a posting schedule for this weekend, but like so many things I plan, it seems to have flown out the window - when the fascinating thread about Captain T.V. Peake was developing, mostly when I was...
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The end and the beginning
Thanks to several people including reader and friend of the blog Caz and the Young David Evans who've both pointed out that the former Royal Oak in Bullings Heath, Walsall Wood, is currently being...
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Brownhills West Methodist Church war memorial – can you help?
Here's an odd little enquiry from Kathy Hodson of Wolverhampton, who contacted me on twitter yesterday looking for the war memorial for Browhills West Methodist Church. Continue reading →
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Ugly Ay it?
Today, it's long overdue that I expand on a thread I commenced some weeks ago; that of Charles Foster Cotterill - you may remember that I raised the question of the man's history as the named Bankrupt...
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Keep out of Cotterill’s road…
Welcome to the second of a three-instalment series, covering Ogley Hay, landowner Charles F Cotterill and Brownhills' evolution into the place we know today, as written by local historian Gerald Reece...
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The Ironmaster
Welcome to the third of what was to be a three-instalment series, covering Ogley Hay, the history of Brownhills businessman Charles F Cotterill and the towns evolution into the place we know today, as...
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Old Ground
Here's some mapping I've been meaning to run since reader Peter mentioned it in the comments to the post 'Keep out of Cotterill's road' on Friday last - I may have posted similar before, but if I...
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A little to the east
Following on from the post 'Old ground', reader Mike Armstrong asked for more of the Lichfield and Whittington area - so here you go. Continue reading →
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Death, Destruction, Crime And Notable News
Here's a bit of a plug for an old friend of the blog, Paul Robinson, who created a site of which I'm rather fond - way back in September 2010 following a comment from Paul upon the blog, I was...
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Dancing was allowed
Well, here it is - not merry Christmas (although that's bearing down upon us) but the fourth and final instalment of the history of Ogley Hay, as researched and written by local historian Gerald Reece,...
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Silver caught?
A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following map here of central Brownhills from the late 1960s, in answer to an enquiry tied up with the thread about the Salvation Army Hall in Brownhills - it's a...
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Following the map – those abbreviations in full
One of the good things about Christmas is having time to catch up with the posts I've been meaning to compile for ages - this one is a specific one that's been needed since I started the blog really,...
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