BrownhillsBob's Brownhills Blog

Thanks to the wonderful Swan Lady, I can let readers know that yesterday, at around 11am, a rare black swan was photographed at Chasewater, just by the play fort on the south shore.

I’m not aware of any black swans being seen here before; I know the pool by the JCB plant in Rocester is noted for them, but this is a remarkable and beautiful thing.

It’s worth reading up on Black Swans – they’re native to the Antipodes but there were less than 50 feral birds in the UK in 2004. They also give their name to an interesting probability theory.

Thanks to all involved in sending the picture in – what an extraordinary thing!

A remarkable sight at Chasewater – taken at 11:02am, Wednesday 17th September 2014. Image very kindly sent in for the Swan Lady by Dawn Hodges-Adcock.

Someone on the Hussey must know whose dog this lad is?

Hi folks – an urgent one just come in here. Becci Saich messaged me this evening (Wednesday 17th September 2014)  asking if anyone has lost a Rottweiler dog on or around the Hussey estate in Brownhills? She’s going frantic trying to find the owners…

Hi Bob

I’ve found an male Rottweiler on the hussey estate. He has a red collar and a chain lead. There are no tags on him.

I’ve knocked on so many doors but no look hopefully someone will come forward thank you

Becci Saich

If you know, please comment here, mail me on BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com, or contact Becci direct via Facebook.

Cheers all…

I see from a report in the generally on-the-ball Walsall Advertiser that Brownhills Police Station – virtually mothballed already – looks set to close and be sold off, along with the main Walsall headquarters in Walsall at Green Lane and other local sites.

The police presence in Brownhills will be moved to the former police house next door.

Where this leaves the award-winning Brownhills Police Safety House, I’m unsure, and I think that requires clarification. Surely it can’t fulfil both functions when acting as a station?

The report in the Advertiser says:

Services provided at Brownhills main station will be moved into a modern detached house on the same site, which is the crime prevention facility for the force.

The move is expected to take place over the next two years.

Chief Supt Sturman added: ‘It makes sense to move into a more modern facility because the main station is under utilised.’

The neighbourhood policing team will be accommodated alongside Aldridge, Streetly and Pheasey teams.

Read the full article here.

I’m not surprised, frankly; Brownhills has been virtually abandoned for years, but it’s sad to see it go. As for moving Green Lane into Bloxwich and the Civic Centre, that sounds like madness to me – but the force has the pound signs in their eyes. That land will be worth a fair bit.

Click on the screenshot to read the full story.

Something happening at last? Let’s hope so. It’s a shithole.

Just a short enquiry – lots of folk have asked me this weekend what’s going on with Ravens Court, the derelict precinct in the centre of Brownhills, as surveyors and wonks in suits have been seen milling around, opening up closed units and so forth.

Movement at the indoor market in #Brownhills & not the squatters for a change. Surprised the shutters aren't rusted stuck!

— Julia Littleton (@julittleton) September 12, 2014

Thanks to Julia for the above tipoff.

I have some clues, but not much and the folk who do know would rather tease that open up.

There is an apparently baseless rumour of Poundland moving in. Nice try, but I doubt that very much. What we do know is that Walsall Council have been pushing hard and have applied just about all the legal pressure they could.

Remember, Ravens Court is privately owned.

Anyone have any hard information? Contact me in absolute confidence on BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.

Cheers.

Although the view is now verdant and shrouded in handsome trees, only a few decades ago the whole hill was surrounded by a sprawling, filthy slum. Not all change is for the worst.

Here’s a quick one I’ve been trying to get time to run all week – today, there’s an open day at St. Matthews Church in Walsall, the prominent landmark at the very crest of Church Hill. You can take tours, go up the tower, and visit the vaults.

This venerable church has parts that are 800 years old – the building is alive with history.

The event is part of the Heritage Open Day project, and there are lots of other events going on. Check out the website.

If you can’t make it, theres a brilliant gallery of photos at the foot of this post, sent to the blog by reader and local historian Clive Roberts, who recently visited the vaults.

Please do visit if you can.

St Matthew’s Parish Church, Walsall – Open Day
St Matthew’s Parish Church, St Matthew’s Close, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 3DG

The Parish Church of St Matthew’s Parish Church is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year with a series of events and heritage open days such as this. Visitors to our church can see a 12th century crypt, beneath the chancel, including parts of the east wall of the medieval church; a 15th century chancel, with a set of finely carved misericords or choir stalls; a 15th century font decorated with the coats of arms of local families; the monument to Sir Roger Hillary of Bescot, a 14th century knight and courtier; the nave, remodelled in 1819-21 with an impressive plaster ceiling; stained glass windows by Burlison & Grylls, Clayton & Bell and other makers; a fine bell tower with a tall spire; and outside, a rare archway under the chancel, allowing access around the churchyard; and a fine view, weather permitting, of the surrounding hills including Cannock Chase and the Wrekin. Unsupervised creche facility available for visitors to the church

Opening Times

Saturday 13 September: 1000-1500
Additional information

Max 20 people per tour/session.

Directions

Look out for the church spire – we’re on Church Hill, overlooking Walsall Town Centre

This cottage on the brown of Springhill, between Shire Oak and Muckley Corner used to be a pub. I took this picture in 2011 when it was up for sale.

I have an enquiry here that popped up via the comments on my old ‘Lost pub of Piehill’ article yesterday, and it’s a good one, so I think it’s worth sharing: reader Claire asks if anyone has any information on the Red, White and Blue pub at Springhill, on the Walsall Road between Shire Oak and Muckley Corner?

Claire asked:

Hi

I’m trying to find some information on an old pub called the Red, White and Blue on the Walsall Road it is now a house called The Willows.

I don’t ever remember the old and run-down cottage as a pub, but now renamed The Willows, it was extensively renovated in the last decade. Despite all the work, the cottage is still recognisable as a old building. I must confess, I know little about the place and I’d be interested to know if readers have anything to contribute on the matter.

I believe that in the 1980s the house was occupied by a family by the name of Mason, and may have operated as a plant nursery, but I’m not certain of that.

Brian Ansell commented later that evening:

All I can offer is that the last time I went in there was in the mid 1960s with my brother Robert (Sailor) Edwards and his friend Gordon (Gogga) Gibson (whose father Elijah Gibson ran the Top Oak for many years).

I was fourteen at the time and the only beer they had was a barrel sitting on the bar which was usually for the farmers sustenance but knowing our Bob and Gogga the landlady would allow me a half pint and the others a pint. This was a regular occurance as in the summer months we would walk to Lichfield and back for a day out and whilst doing so we would pop into a few pubs on the way.

Thanks to both Claire, for an interesting enquiry, and to Brian for a great memory, there. Please, if you have anything further to add, do comment here or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Thanks.

A quick one here send in by reader Bob Pugh, which I think may make for interesting discussion – Walsall Wood FC’s 1936 lineup featured on a cigarette card, and also a mystery team known only as ‘Walsall Jolly FC’.

It used to be a standing joke that if a smoker was considered mean, the phrase used was ‘he’s so tight, last time he opened a pack of fags, a picture of Stanley Matthews fell out.’ In this case it was a couple of local teams – so what do you readers think?

I know the Walsall Wood contingent will like this, so some names to faces would be nice. However, it would be great to know about Walsall Jolly FC too. Who were they, why that odd name? Where did they play? Do they still exist in some form?

Thanks to Bob for a great contribution. What do you know? Please comment here, or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.

The Woodmen of the past on a cigarette card… Image from Bob Pugh.

Hi Bob

A snippet you may wish to use on a slow news day!

You keep your ‘fans’ up to date with all things Walsall Wood FC, a recent photo (attached) caught my eye. In these days of celebrities and Premier League superstars it amazed me to find that Walsall Wood were included as part of a cigarette card collection, issued by Ardath cigarettes in 1936. I think most cigarette packets included a card in those days but can you envisage smokers or their kids all round the country saying ‘I’ll swop you a Manchester United for a Walsall Wood’!

Perhaps your experts can put names to the players or even add some biographies or anecdotes.

Incidentally the set also included a picture of the team ‘Walsall Jolly’ – an unusual name, does anybody know anything about them?

Regards
Bob Pugh

Walsall Jolly. Like, um, what? Image from Bob Pugh.

Castings PLC in Brownhills. Imagery from Bing! Maps.

A couple of weeks back on August 24th 2014, I put out an unusual enquiry as I’d had a reader get in touch who said they’d found something belonging to one D.I. Sims, who may  have worked at Castings PLC in Brownhills. They wanted to remain anonymous, but hoped to get the item back to the owner.

Following the appeal, thanks to a number of people getting in touch via Facebook and email, I found that Dennis Sims did indeed work at Castings Brownhills factory and someone obligingly tipped him the nod. He wrote to me last weekend.

After an exchange of emails between all involved, Dennis wrote to me today:

Hello Bob

Just to let you know I contacted the finder and the lost item has been returned safe and sound thank you very much for your assistance.

thank you
Dennis

Thank you to all involved – for the honesty and trouble of the reader who found the item, and to all those who helped with information to enable it’s safe return.

These days, it’s easy to be cynical, but there are still good people around and it’s nice to share a happy ending – and it’s very courteous of Dennis to say thanks, too.

So, we got from lost relatives, to lost canaries, found keys and now, lost mystery objects. What’s next?

The folded deed. Image courtesy David Evans.

Some time ago, when Brownhills local Councillor Barbara Cassidy very generously donated some excellent images for publication on the blog, there was an extra item David Evans was allowed to handle and photograph, which is a rather astonishing and wonderful artefact. The item in question is a Deed or Inclosure document, pertaining to land just off Hednesford Road in Brownhills.

The Deed was drawn up by the Inclosure Commissioners for England and Wales on the 15th October, 1868, for Mr. Charles Thacker.

Keen readers will note that the Thacker family have been mentioned in relation to that area of Brownhills – up on the West – before.

Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale 1884 plan of the area in question, the specific general sale area highlighted in red. Bare in mind this is 15 or so years after the deed was drawn up and much has changed. However, I’m convinced the road ‘Leading to the New Colliery Plant belonging to the Conduit Colliery Company’ is now Albutts Road. Some treats buried in the map too, including the Rifle Range and Magazine. Click for a larger version. Image from the National Library of Scotland Archive (NLS).

What happened to the photos of the deed next is remarkable. The patient, generous spirited and eagle-eyed Andy Dennis offered to transcribe the document from David’s photos – no mean feat, and no small task. This Andy did, and not only that, he added to the history known by finding the relevant sale notice in newspaper archives.

This whole project is a demonstration of collaborative local history at it’s best, and at the outset, I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to Barbara, for her generosity and time; Andy Dennis for his patience and excellent work; and David Evans for organising it all and doing the running, emailing and photography.

I’m hoping that as folk read this, let it sink in and digest, we may be able to add even more to the knowledge.

I will include the transcription first. The text is heavy, legalese and demanding to read. Skip down if it’s heavy going, there are notes and further material below it – you can refer back as required.

The full deed, painstakingly transcribed by top history whizz Andy Dennis. Image by David Evans. Please click for a larger version.

In the matter of the Inclosure of that part of Cannock Chase which is situate in the manor of Norton Canes in the Parish of Norton Canes in the County of Stafford

We the undersigned Inclosure Commissioners for England and Wales by virtue of The Acts for the Inclosure Exchange and Improvement of Land and in consideration of the sum of twenty one pounds paid into our hands by Charles Thacker of the Manor and Parish of Norton Canes aforesaid Miner being the purchase money of the heriditaments hereinafter described do by these presents do convey unto the said Charles Thacker his heirs and assigns ALL that piece of land containing two roods and three perches or thereabouts situate in the Parish and Manor of Norton Canes in the said County of Stafford being part of Cannock Chase and constituting Lot 10 in a certain printed particular and plan at an Auction held at the “Fleur de Lys” Inn Norton Canes on the sixth day of April one thousand eighteen hundred and sixty eight fronting on the North East to the New Road over Norton Common leading from Brownhills to Hednesford and being bounded on the south east by part of the said Chase being Lot 9 in the Particular and plan sold to Frederick [?] Thacker on the south by land of William Hanbury Esquire and on the North west by other part of the said Chase being Lot 11 in the said Particular and plan sold to Thomas Thacker and others Together with all rights members and appurtenances to the said piece of land belonging or appertaining To hold the same unto the said Charles Thacker his heirs and assigns To such uses as the said Charles Thacker by any deed or deeds shall from time to time appoint and in default of and until such appointment and so far as any such appointment shall not extend To the use of the said Charles Thacker and his assigns during his life without impeachment of of waste And after the determination of that state by any means in his lifetime To the use of Richard Hickin of the Parish and Manor of Norton Canes aforesaid Miner his executors and administrators during the life of the said Charles Thacker In Trust for the said Charles Thacker and his assigns And after the determination of his estate so limited to the said Richard Hicken his executors and administrators as aforesaid to the use of the said Charles Thacker his heirs and assigns for ever Subject ??? ?? hereinafter mentioned that is to say the mines minerals stone fossils and other substrata except surface sand and gravel under the land hereby conveyed are reserved unto William Hanbury Esquire his heirs and assigns and the devices in trust and heirs and assigns of Finneas Fowke Hussey deceased as Lord of the Manor of Norton Canes with full liberty and authority for them their heirs and assigns or by their agents and servants from time to time and at any time to enter into and upon the said land hereby conveyed or any part thereof and to make and sink such pits shafts and levels and to make and construct such buildings engines machines canals basins railways waggonways and roads and afterwards to remove all or any or such of them as can practicably be removed or the materials of all or any of them and to deposit any spoil and to exercise all such other easements in and over the said land or any part thereof as they may deem necessary and convenient for the searching or sawing working converting depositing and carrying away the mines minerals stone fossils and other substrata hereby reserved And also all other rights powers and liberties (being sinecure [?] to those before stated) for working the said mines given or reserved to them by a certain Indenture dated the twentieth day of March One thousand eight hundred and fifty eight and made between the said William Hanbury of the first part Phineas Fowke Hussey of the second part Sophia Hussey of the third part Richard Green and James Lewis [?] of the fourth part and Richard Jesson of the fifth part or by virtue of an Act of Parliament the 22nd and 23rd Victoria Chapter 43 Section 3 they the said Willaim Hanbury and Phineas Fowke Hussey their heirs or assigns paying to the said Charles Thacker his heirs and assigns in respect of any of the land hereby conveyed shall be so entered upon used or occupied for all or any of the purposes aforesaid at and after the rate of Two pounds per acre per annum and so in proportion for any quantity less than an acre during the use and occupation of the said land and no longer and also paying for any damage or injury which may be done to any then growing crops by so entering upon such lands But the said William Hanbury and the devices heirs and assigns of the said Phineas Fowke Hussey deceased are not to be liable for any damage or injury which may happen to any houses buildings or erections of any description which may hereinafter be erected on the said land or any part thereof for any damage or injury which may be caused by the opening falling in or subsidence of the surface thereof or otherwise howsoever through or in relation to the searching for working getting or carrying away the said mines minerals stone fossils and other substrata hereby reserved or any of them. And the said Charles Thacker is to make within six months from the date hereof the fences for inclosing the land hereby conveyed situated on the north east and north west sides thereof and for ever hereafter to keep the same in good order and repair. In witness we the said Inclosure Commissioners have hereunto set our hands and affixed our seals and the said Charles Thacker hath hereunto ste his hand and seal this fifteenth day of October One thousand eight hundred and sixty eight /./

[End]

Andy says:

On its own this does not reveal much except that the Lords of the Manor, Hanbury and Hussey, retained all underground mineral rights and absolved themselves of any liability for damage caused by subsidence from their mining activities, though they agreed to compensate for damage to crops. Charles Thacker had paid £21 for the privilege of having this contract drawn up and would receive £2 per acre per year in perpetuity in respect of mining beneath his land.

The auction particulars (below) reveal that the 2 roods and 3 perches[1] (approximately 0.52 acres or 0.21 hectares) of Lot 10 were for building land. The neighbouring plots were for building (9) and just ‘land’ (11).

From the Birmingham Journal, Saturday, April 4th, 1868 p1,col1 Via Findmypast.co.uk. Click for a larger version.

In the 1871 census a Charles Thacker lived next to the Pear Tree Cottage (William Hartson, Publican). Next to him was an unoccupied house ‘recently built’, then Thomas Hicken, Miner (not the son of Richard Hicken, Miner, whose address was ‘Wilkin’ and who also had a son William), then Thomas Thacker, Grocer.

Still, this looks like the people mentioned in relation to Lots 9, 10 and 11. The auction particulars refer to Conduit Colliery Works, but this was surely not the place we understand as Conduit Colliery at Betty’s Lane, see details about Lot 19, which places the works next or close to the reservoir.

[1] 1 acre = 4 roods and 160 perches; 1 rood = 40 perches.

Hi folks –  this is just a small enquiry for a reader.

I’m interested in contact details for a local lady called Brenda Pitt who was very possibly married to John Thomas. I think Brenda was a Brownhills resident originally, but may also have lived in Rushall and/or Aldridge. It is believed she may be resident in the local area still.

There’s nothing wrong, and no need for concern, but if anyone knows Brenda and would be so good as to pass on my email address, I’d appreciate it.

BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.

Thanks
Bob

Looks like a great event! Why not pop down?

Jasmin Fisher has been in touch to ask if I’d let readers know about the above event – a Charity Cricket Game and Barbecue being held at Aldridge Cricket Club at 1:30pm today, Sunday 31st August 2014.

The match is between Aldridge Cricket Club XI and Walmley Cricket Club.

The teams feature some top cricketing names – including Warwickshire’sDominic Ostler and Nick James – and a host of Brum Premier League players, so it’s guaranteed to be a good game.

The game is all in aid of Crohn’s and Colitis UK, a very worthy charity indeed who are  fighting a really horrid condition, so it’s all for an excellent cause.

Parking and entry are free, so what’s not to love?

The match is at:

Aldridge Cricket Club, The Green
Off Little Aston Road
Aldridge
Walsall
West Mids
Postcode WS9 8NH