Tag Archives: archive

Images from up the cut

Last week I spent a fascinating (and rather frustrating) evening delving through the Canal and River Trust photo archive, which is always a curate’s egg: Whilst there are many stunning images (and many more waiting to be found) the cataloguing … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Going above and beyond

I’m pleased to see that the expansion of online history resources continues apace, with lots of formerly quite restrictive services opening up with more sensible usage terms and conditions – one such archive is the British Library’s Aerofilms archive of … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Living next door to the Grove – what do you know?

Last year I featured a very popular set of images from a place I genuinely didn’t realise still existed: The Grove Colliery, the remnants of which – the house and offices situated just off Lime Lane, between Pelsall, Brownhills, Norton and Great Wyrley – were documented by old pal of the blog Simon Swain and drone wizard Steve Martin also captured the site from the air.

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The Grove Colliery – remembering a lost pit

Last year I featured a very popular set of images from a place I genuinely didn’t realise still existed: The Grove Colliery, the remnants of which – the house and offices situated just off Lime Lane, between Pelsall, Brownhills, Norton and Great Wyrley – were documented by old pal off the blog Simon Swain and posted here as a gallery I include below.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

All that remains of the last one standing

Following my feature yesterday on perhaps the last passenger train to ever traverse the line from Aldridge to the Conduit Colliery in Norton Canes, Simon Swain has sent me a great gallery of images of the Grove Colliery site as it is today.
Image kindly supplied by Simon Swain Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

If only there was an online archive…

Nearly two years ago, in March 2014, I featured a rather remarkable image here supplied by Chris Leggett of the Express & Star, which he had released as an example of the remarkable stuff to be found hidden in the newspapers archive, which the paper is still in the process of bidding for funding to put online.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, cycling, Environment, Events, Express & Star, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Burntwood Wakes archive film showing now!

I’ve just noticed via Facebook that there’s a showing of a unique Burntwood Wakes archive film at St. Anne’s Church, Chasetown this afternoon (Saturday, 25th July 2015); showings start every 20 minutes from 1pm until 4pm – it’s free.
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Posted in Chasewater, Churches, Environment, Events, Fun stuff to see and do, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, Local music, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fast and sluice

Last week, I featured the third batch of images from the Canal and River Trust Archive, of the Grove Colliery near Brownhills in the late 1950s – also revealing the archive and inviting readers to go see what they could find.

control hut 1960 Continue reading

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One of the last standing

Here’s the final blast of pictures from the mystery archive found by local historian Clive Roberts back at the beginning of November – these images are remarkable as the show the Grove Colliery on the Cannock Extension Canal at Lime Lane in 1958 and 1959, and I know of few extant images of the time – perhaps the only good representation being in the 1963 cinefilm of Brownhills, donated by Brian Stringer.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Our back pages

There has been an extraordinary response to the old Brownhills Gazette issues I’ve been featuring on the blog, and testerday I featured issue 23, from August 1991 – so far I’ve run all issues in sequence, but sadly, issue 22 of July 1991 is missing from the collection, so I had to skip it.

BrownhillsGazettearchivesjul1991 Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Clayhanger stuff, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Classical Gas

I noted the other day that the National Library of Scotland mapping archive was growing, as is the National Newspaper archive – another service that’s quietly gaining content is the Aerofilms archive of aerial photography of Britain from 1919-1953.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Making a splash!

You readers really are a remarkable bunch – last Friday, I featured a couple of images posted on social media by Chris Leggett of the Express & Star, as part of their bid to gain funding to digitise and open to the public their photo archive – a huge treasury of newspaper images that current exist in print form only.

BinDkPhCEAA0gDO Continue reading

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The parachutist, the helicopter and the Brownhills daredevil

Last year, I asked readers to show support for the Express & Star in their bid to gain funding to digitise and open to the public their photo archive – a huge treasury of newspaper images that current exist in print form only. 27555892 Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, cycling, Environment, Events, Express & Star, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Express & Star Photo Archive Survey closes this Friday

I have a very important message for readers from Chris Leggett of the Express & Star, who I’ve noted before, are staging a campaign to get their paper photo archive scanned and online for all to access.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Express & Star, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Monkey Business?

I’ve decided to try something a bit different – it might work, it might not. I get asked lots of short, brief questions, which I usually hold back until I can shape a full post around them, but I’m going to try throwing them out there in quick, short posts like this.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Fun stuff to see and do, Just plain daft, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared memories, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Air borne

I’m very encouraged today to note that positive action is being taken by English Heritage and its partners in Scotland and Wales to conserve and make available the Aerofilms archive of aerial photography of Britain from 1919-1953. Aerofilms, as the … Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Churches, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments