Looking down Vicarage Road towards the Mill at Catshill: a previously unknown to me card from Brownhills. Image kindly supplied by reader Peter.
I really thought I was familiar with all the local old postcards, but every now and then a new one pops up that surprises me, which makes me wonder how many more are out there waiting to be found – and so it is with this one sent to me by reader and friend of the blog Peter.
This undated card was quickly photographed at a local sale recently and shows Vicarage Road, Brownhills. looking considerably more bucolic than it does today – initially I couldn’t place it, and Google Streetview as no help as it doesn’t cover this area. The best image I can come up with is from Bing! maps Birdseye view:
Note the large house, centre – the black and white eave detail and chimneys indicate this is the one on the card, without the surrounding development.
This confirms clearly that the card is looking down Vicarage Road to Ogley Road, and if clear, would show the mill at Catshill. I’d imagine the date to be around 1910-1930.
Thanks to Peter for the contribution and if anyone has any comments, they’d be most welcome: either here, or to BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Thanks.
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Hi Bob
this is a very interesting postcard…many thanks to Peter…..The absence of street lights may help to date the image, perhaps
I love those bluebrick kerbstones.
kind regards
David
its of any interest the vicarage and the church hall is oposite the nearest house of the semies was the home of MR JOSEPH STOCKLEY the english teacher in the days when MR WRIGHT was headmaster at CENTRAL and MARKLEW tought geography at that time REV WIBBY was vicar god bless thanks for the memory
Thank you for posting this. We lived in the house hidden in the trees on the left from 1988 to 2006 so it is really interesting to see how it used to be. Incidentally, you can get it up on street view, but only from the Church Hall as the corner is missing.
I spent the first 17 years of my life – 1943 till 1960 – in the first council house past the semis, it can be seen on the newer photo. Great times!