I thought I’d continue sharing the hugely popular recent run of archive images today and the images featured today from the immense Gerald Reece collection are a miscellany of shots of local freight rail, canals, bridges and mines, and some oddities thrown in for good measure.
There are some images here – particularly ones of mines I can’t recognise at all, but I’m sure readers will; note also the remains of the surge stack by the rail over bridge near Pelsall Road on the Wyrley and Essington Canal, and the rotting remains of the fingerpost by the rising sun before it’s removal and replacement with a replica.
This slide – so it might be backwards – is particularly puzzling. I have a feeling it may have been the bridge over the railway at Albutts Road but I’m really not sure. Can you help? Image kindly supplied by Gerald Reece via David Evans. Click for a larger version.
These images have been scanned by David Evans from Gerald’s material recently donated to the blog, and show a surprisingly tree-less area. That shot of Ogley Junction from Middleton Bridge is quite remarkable in that respect.
I’m also intrigued by the location of the derelict signal box with the young lad before it. I had thought it was Norton Junction at Ryders Hayes, but the box there is clearly a larger affair.
I thank Gerald and David for yet another remarkable set – you are a very wonderful and generous gentlemen.
The donor of these remarkable images, Gerald Reece is of course a talented and superlative local historian, indeed now resident in Devon, who wrote the seminal work ‘Brownhills – A walk into history’ upon which this blog stands.
What do you recall from this gallery? If you have any thoughts or questions, please do share them – comment here, find me on social media or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Thanks.
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a lovely walk down memory lane with those thoughts i remember when albuts road bridge i had an aunt who lived in albuts road and to visit her although i lived in lichfield road it wasa day out for me i remember the bolder in the hedgerow with its story was it moon rock star rock metiorite glacier bolder or just a big lump of rock we have so mutch to thank the pioneers of the camera world for only snag is when you remark i remeber that you realize how old you are as my families remark antquie
The bridge certainly looks like the railway bridge at Albuts road. We used to call them the wooden bridges.
The photo of the lady and the pit, it looks like one of Cox
s pits, either Pool Lane or Brownhi;lls West by Yates Farm.I wonder if the signal box is the one near to Engine Lane.
I also think it was the signal box between Engine Lane and Shants Bridge where the track branched off towards Worley and the Grove Colliery. Behind it across the field was Marklews pond.
mornin historions a little thought on the ogley hay photo the building to the left of the bridge were over night stables for the barge horses there was another small bridge outside by what we called the lock housesif i i recall right the simkings family lived there the locks were the gate way to the lichfield extention which i gather dedicated canal groups are working to revive bless them for what they do
as its small i wondered if its not a full signal box but a level crossing box, as its not unlike the one on Fosseway Lane on the old Hammerwich to Lichfield piece of track ?
Tony Thacker is right that is one of the wooden bridges on albutts road