I realise this is a bit off piste for the Brownhills Blog, but we have interests in Lichfield, so I think it’s appropriate – a few weeks ago Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler spotted the following clipping in the newspaper archives.

Te Lichfield Mercury of July 31st, 1925 reports a new road plan for the city. Click for a larger version.

We show above a sketch of the proposed road scheme through the Friary Estate, Lichfield, as it will appear when the scheme has been carried out in it’s entirety. On the left of the sketch is Birmingham Road and on the right the Walsall Road.  The proposed new road is seen running from the present position of the Clock Tower up to the Bowling Green Inn, where it branches to right and left, joining another road running from the Birmingham Road, near the railway bridge, to the Walsall Road, near the Baths, leaving the Bowling Green as an island site. To this site it is intended to remove the Clock Tower, as is seen in the sketch. The small sketch on the right gives an idea of the approach to Lichfield from the direction of Birmingham, the road running away from the spectator being the new one leading into the Walsall Road. A start was made with the scheme on Tuesday, when the demolition of part of the Friary lying in the route of the new road was begun.

Since this plan, an Island has been added, and the road system hugely altered, although the basic layout remains. For those curious, we’ve mentioned Lichfield Baths before.

My attention was drawn to the clock tower – was it moved twice, as it now stands on the triangle to the right of the big island in the Google Earth imagery? Was this scheme built in this form, or did it alter?

Contributions and comments welcome, especially from the Lichvegas contingent: comment here of mail me. BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.

Can’t find a decent aerial of this area, so we’ll have to make do with Google Earth imagery. Click for a larger version.