Traffic accidents are a sad fact of life – like this 1936 one in which the driver had a ucky escape. Image from ‘Memories of Brownhills Past’ by Clarice Mayo and Geoff Harrington.
Thankfully, serous accidents in Brownhills have been relatively infrequent, and so much so as to make them notable when they occur – which is why reader Brian Holmes has piqued my interest with this enquiry which reached me via Facebook this week.
Brian Holmes asks:
Hi Bob
My pal in Liverpool assures me that he was in a breakdown truck that came to recover a lorry that was imbedded in the side of a pub in Brownhills in either late 60s early 70s.
If he’s correct then it must have been reported in the local press, could someone tell me which local paper, apart from the Express and Star, covered Brownhills?
Many thanks
Brian
First up, in answer to Brian, the papers that covered the area at the time were the Express & Star, Walsall Observer and Lichfield Mercury, although the last one is very patchy. The archives of the Walsall Observer are available for that period for free inspection on microfiche at Walsall Local History Centre in Essex Street.
Secondly, I can’t recall this incident, but one would imagine it to have occurred at a pub either close to the road or at a junction. Suggestions so far have been The Crown on the A5, Station Hotel (which was in the High Street where Aldi is now) or The Sportsman. I’m having a job visualising it being the latter, but anything is possible I guess.
Does anyone have any recollection of this event?If so, please comment here or drop me a line to BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.
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it was,nt the jolly collier on pelsall rd was it ???
I seem to remember a lorry hitting The Crown over the West, but cannot remember which decade it was in. I do remember the one that hit Bevons toy shop and the greengrocers just below the Station Hotel in ( blow it I’ve forgot the date), and I did enquire at MACE for the film of it as shown on ATV News, but they have it and could not find it, but said they would contact me if it turns up.
1936 must have been a bad year!
March 1936 Lichfield Mercury….Brownhills shop wrecked by lorry…
How a huge lorry crashed clean through the front of a shop at Brownhills and finished up with its radiator against the counter, was told the Brownhills magistrates at the Petty Sessions, when two drivers were fined for careless driving…
…X cut the corner and cut across the front of the lorry which was travelling at 20-30 mph, much to fast for the corner. The lorry crashed through the window of Brewe’s shop, and finished with the front in the shop itself…
The lorry after hitting the car and spinning it right round, crashed into the doorway of Mrs. Brewe’s confectionery shop and carried with it the door and plate-glass windows on each side of the doorway. The lorry eventually came to a standstill well inside the shop after upsetting a counter on which were glass cases containing chocolates, cigarettes, etc., and cakes were strewn in ail directions.
A Mrs. Hawkins, of Church Road Brownhills and her niece, had a remarkable escape, as although they were both knocked down neither sustained serious injury, and Mrs. Hawkins’s coat sleeve was torn from the elbow downwards. Miss V. Blakemore, an assistant in the shop, was saved from serious injury by a traveller, who, seeing the danger, pushed her well to the rear of the counter. Other people on the pavement were also for
tunate to be able to run clear. A lucky thing was that the lorry did not hit the pillars supporting the upstairs; otherwise the consequences might have been extremely serious, as the upper floor would probably have collapsed.
(Lichfield Mercury)
My Dad thinks it may have been The Warreners
I can remember reading a newspaper report with a photo of a lorry that had lost control and crashed into the front of a shop in Brownhills High st, some where opposite the Station Hotel. can`t remember the date though, but if my memory serves me right it was in the Walsall Observer.