Life in the northern wastes of Walsall
Oh boy, is this a cracker – this wonderful enquiry came in yesterday from Derek Broadhurst, who’s found a very curious postcard which may shed light on the derivation of the name ‘Barracks Lane’, which is the road that funs from the A461 Lichfield Road at Sandhills, right over to the A5 Watling Street, east of Newtown.
Another research project for those so inclined came in this week, again via Twitter – Rob Kinnon-Brettle contacted me on Wednesday evening looking for information about the Salvation Army in Brownhills.
A great spot here yesterday from top Walsall Wood Mon, history wonk and local author Clive Roberts, who’s been as intrigued over the years as I have by the history of Crestacre, the former ‘lost’ isolation hospital in Barracks Lane, Brownhills.
Readers will no doubt recall that one of my earliest obsessions on the blog four years ago was the ‘lost’ isolation hospital, owned by Brownhills Urban District Council, and marked on early maps in Barracks Lane, just atop Springhill, on the Brownhills/Ogley Hay border.
