I’ve just had this one come in this afternoon from reader, contributor and all round top chap David Evans. It’s jarred me awake a little, as I know a reader locally to be researching this very subject, so I’m posting this up to see what other folks have.
David sent me the following:
The Ivy House – as many of us will remember it. Picture supplied by David Evans.
Hi Bob
A very rare photo of the Ivy House, the off licence that stood at Streets Corner, Walsall Wood, on the Lichfield Road at the foot of Shire Oak Hill. This shop was by the Street family’s thatched cottage, (just out of shot) but this photo shows Mrs Proffitt’s house. She gave a clear written description of the thatched cottage in her childhood memoirs which are published in Margaret Brice’s Short History of Walsall Wood booklet, ISBN 0 946652015, (1982) a booklet that is sadly out of print. [It’s so rare, I can find no trace of it on the web at all – Bob]
kind regards
David
It’s worth noting that the plaque from the Ivy House was saved from the demolished building early last decade, and incorporated into the modern block of apartments that now stand on Streets Corner, in the footprint of the original Ivy House. It’s rare to see such heritage carried forward, and I hope similar can be arranged for the Warreners Arms, as I suggested last week.
It’s a lovely photo, and wonder if there are any more out there? All contributions, are as ever, invited and welcomed.
The Margaret Brice book is one that’s on the wish list – if anyone has a copy and could scan or transcribe it, that would be magic. As a side note, are either Margaret or Betty Fox still around? I know both taught in Walsall Wood, I think – maybe St. Johns School? Both were very engaged with local history for a time and both have publications to their name, but like so many local historians, they seem somewhat elusive. I think Betty Fox lived in the houses behind the Council House near the entrance of Holland Park for a while, but I could be wrong.
Thanks to David for that one, I suspect it may well help another reader…