Here’s an article to ponder I really intended to post up yesterday, but problems of a technical nature prevented me, which was a shame as it’s a real belter.

The young David Evans has been given a three page, hand typed timeline of Brownhills, by a person who didn’t create the document and is unsure of the origin of it. Some of the assertions within are causing somewhat raised eyebrows, so we thought we’d post it and see what readers thought.

We asked if they were sure about the Highwayman: He said he was adamant.

I’m not going to comment on it directly yet, but I very much invite you readers to get stuck in – comment here on this post, mail me on BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com or tap my shoulder on social media.

My thanks, as ever, to the young David Evans and to the donor of this work.

Walsall Wood Station was on the Midland Line – hand for a train up until it’s closure to passengers in 1930, but often handy for boats and waterfowl too. Image from ‘Disused Stations’

David wrote:

Hello Bob

I was recently given a copy of this document and find it of interest. There are no sources attributed in the work so I wonder if readers might be able to confirm or correct the information given in the timeline which ends in 1974…

Gerald Reece’s book, ‘Brownhills. A walk into history‘ was published later, in 1996 and it is worth noting the observation that he includes in his first chapter;-

‘Some interesting work has been done into the history of Brownhills, but sadly most of it has not gone to press. On the other hand a lot of guesswork has been printed. The lack of written history is a boon to the serious researcher. Instead of having to read through a bibliography as most history writers do, one has instead to analyse original documents and records.’ (Page 5).

In more recent times – the years of your wonderful blog – we have seen excellent discussion and correction of local history lore.

with kind regards
David Evans

Scan kindly supplied by David Evans. Click for a larger version.

Scan kindly supplied by David Evans. Click for a larger version.

Scan kindly supplied by David Evans. Click for a larger version.