It’s with great thanks that I can share the above map with the readers of The Brownhills Blog – found in a shed, unseen for decades, this beautifully drawn sheet is full of detail and a joy to behold. Reader and Stonnall historical enthusiast Steve Hickman has kindly had the plan scanned and sent me a .PDF copy for our perusal.

There’s a wealth of detail there – look out for a windmill, several smithies, old marlpits and a timber yard. I’m also interested in what a ‘force pump’ might be, too.

I’d like to thank Steve for yet another great contribution to this blog, and a bit more of our collective history is now available online. Steve had this to say in a recent message to me:

Dear Bob,

Knowing how much you enjoy old maps I thought you might appreciate this. I have been given a couple of old maps by a relative. They have have lain hidden in various garden sheds for more than eighty years. Surprisingly they are in very good condition.

The first is of Stonnall from a survey of 1882 reprinted in 1900. It is about two feet by eighteen inches.

The second of Walsall Wood, The Vigo, and shows most of Aldridge Colliery. This is much larger at about two feet by three feet. Also surveyed 1882 reprinted 1900.

I have attached a portion of the Stonnall map. Unfortunately I do not have the facility to scan such large maps so I am trying to find somewhere to get them copied. Once I have I will post the whole thing to you.

There is a story behind them. My Great Grandad Taylor who lived in Prosect House was a master bricklayer by trade and worked for Aldridge Colliery and later as senior foreman at Aldridge Brick and Tile. The maps came from the drawing office of the colliery. They are in a card board tube with an address label marked Aldridge Colliery Company from The British Thomson Houston Corporation, Electrical suppliers. This company became AEI (Associated Electrical Industries) in 1928 so the maps pre date this time though they had probably already been around the drawing office a while. I sure that he wanted them due to his interest or concern about the proposed changes to the Chester Road. He has marked with a pin hole next to prospect House and a comment on the reverse. “This is the new marker”. The road widening would cause him to loose some of his garden. Any compensation in those days would have been minimal.

Best wishes

Steve