For the old photo feature this week, I thought we’d take a stroll up to Walsall Wood. Still villagey, with some surprisingly beautiful buildings and quiet residental streets, the former mining community is a little hidden gem in the Northern Wastes. Worth exploring when you have a free afternoon. The older images are all taken from the excellent work by Jan Farrow, ‘Brownhills and Walsall Wood on old picture postcards’. As ever, if you can find a copy, do buy one.
- A fantastic card showing Walsall Wood High Street in the mid 1950’s. I’d guess the photographer would be stood just about where the driveway to St. John’s Health Centre is today. Interesting to see how many buildings still remain. From ‘Brownhills and Walsall Wood on old picture postcards’ by Jan Farrow.
Brookland Road, from the 1920's. Love the cart and the ghostly figure on the left. The cinema was, I believe, nicknamed The Blood Tub for some reason. From 'Brownhills and Walsall Wood on old picture postcards' by Jan Farrow.
A rare and sadly damaged film photo scan by reader Homuch? of Street's Corner Bungalow just prior to demolition, somewhere around the late 1990's. At this point the house was derelict, prior to demolition and replacement by the flats that stand there today. Many don't realise that the name originates from the fact that the Street family lived here. not because of the crossing of two roads. Howmuch? often comments on his irritation that the flats were named 'The Ivy House', from the former shop next door, fearing that the name may be lost.
I can't imagine why this picture of a suburban estate road made it to a postcard, but I'm very glad it did. Castle Road, Holly Bank in the 1930's. From 'Brownhills and Walsall Wood on old picture postcards' by Jan Farrow.