Tag Archives: RAF

Getting at the engines!

Following his donation of the picture of his uncle Frank training for a trotting race last week, friend of the blog Andy Dennis has been thinking more about his uncle, who lived in Brownhills for most of his life – it seems Frank was a very skilled man.
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Great historical walk around RAF Lichfield – this afternoon

If you’re quick, there’s going to be another great event staged this afternoon by Lichfield Discovered, a side project of Kate Cardigan from the wonderful Lichfield Lore – this time, it’s a walk around the site and remains of the old RAF Lichfield base near Fradley – it’s led by the wonderful Steve Lightfoot, so is bound to be entertaining, informative and fun!
RAF Lichfield Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Memory Map

Thanks to the two readers who kindly pointed out that the Linley Wood camp – occupied post World War Two by homeless families under the then remarkable and widespread ‘squatting’ movement – is actually shown on the archive 1945 Google Earth imagery.

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Posted in Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Encamped

Here’s one I’ve been trying to feature for a couple of weeks now but lack of time has prevented me from doing so – you’ll remember a few weeks ago, we uncovered the fascinating story of homeless families taking vacant possession of an ex-army camp at Linley Woods, part of a much larger movement of ‘Squatters’ across the UK in the immediate aftermath of World War 2.

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Posted in Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Squatters rights?

Sometimes I get emails or contacts out of the blue with subjects that just knock me flat – and overnight I received a lovely, kind email from Malcolm Clarke, an ex-local now residing in New Zealand – Malcolm has an interesting bit of history I had no idea had occurred locally.
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Posted in Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Heinz 47?

Here’s an intriguing bit of offbeat local history from blog stalwart Andy Dennis, relating to a friendship his father, Derrick Dennis developed immediately following the war, during military service.
Self and Heinz July 47 (549x800) Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Flight paths

This Thursday evening (12th June 2014 at 7:30pm), there’s going to be another great event staged by Lichfield Discovered, a side project of Kate Cardigan from the wonderful Lichfield Lore – this time, it’s a walk around the site and remains of the old RAF Lichfield base near Fradley.
RAF Lichfield Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Just plain daft, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Urban Exploration at Linley Caverns, in 1957

Hat tip here to the ongoing and excellent research being carried out by top local history ferret [Howmuch?], who’s located this smashing article from the August 16th, 1957 edition of the Walsall Observer. You’ll have to make do with my … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Social Media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments