Mr. Rigby and John W. White (Gordon MyCock's grandfather) at a Stonnall water pump, from Julian Ward-Davies' 'Memories of Old Stonnall.
The fantastic, resourceful and dedicated Julian Ward-Davies has been in touch to point out that there’s a new article on his blog entitled ‘Memories of Old Stonnall’, a collaborative work with Gordon Mycock whose memories of his life in the village from 1929 to 1957 are wonderfully edited and interspersed with fascinating, illuminating photos from the period. If you know Stonnall, live there or are just curious about it’s history, Julian is the man. This is just the latest in a series of excellent works on the physical geography and social history of the pictesque village and I commend to to anyone interested in local history. The excellent Facebook ‘Stonnall Local History Group’ curated by Julian has additional material, too.
It’s becoming clear from the sheer volume and quality of work by top amateur historians and writers in the area – from Stuart Williams and his projects in Walsall and Bloxwich, to the delightful Kate and her ganzey-clad Lichfield Lore that I’m really going to have to up my game. People like the irrepressible Mark at Tamworth Time Hikes and the highly innovative Pastorm, Graham Evans, Steve Hickman, Andy Dennis, David Evans and of course Julian, that we really have something interesting going on in the Walsall and South Staffordshire area. Lots of history types and bloggers are feeding off each other and pushing the investigation and recording of our social and physical history forward. Something is happening here that I’m not seeing anywhere else in the UK. We need to continue to nurture, cherish and support this. It’s revolutionary.
Introduction
I was born in Lynn in 1929 and I continued to live in Stonnall until 1957 when I got married and moved to Shire Oak, where I have been ever since. These are my personal recollections of Old Stonnall.
My maternal great-grandparents, Thomas and Susannah Price arrived in Stonnall from Llandegly, Llandrindod Wells in Wales in the early 1880s when my great-grandfather secured employment as a shepherd at one of the local farms in 1881. Their first child, out of an eventual set of 8, was my great-aunt Louisa who was born on October 5, 1866. She attended the National School in Thornes. Eventually, she married Jack Scott and they lived at 85 Main Street, now Steps Cottage…
Read more over at Memories of Old Stonnall…
