Tag Archives: Station Hotel

Do you remember the Station Hotel talking clock?

I’ve had an interesting enquiry come in from reader Bee who’s asked something that has very much intrigued me – do you remember the ‘speaking clock’ next to the Station Hotel, Brownhills? For those too young to remember, the Station … Continue reading

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Some top brass, a tuba groover and an unsung hero

There has never been enough attention paid anywhere that I’m aware of to the Victorian father of modern Brownhills, William Roberts – sometime railway plate layer, ganger, brewer, publican, entrepreneur, civic stalwart, JP and philanthropist, William  was a very rare man … Continue reading

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Memories of the Station Hotel: A great couple of hours with lovely people

One lost local pub that always generates warm memories and lively conversations is the Station Hotel, which was a somewhat notorious pub that stood about where Aldi is today at the Miner end of Brownhills High Street.
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Making a Marklew

One enduring subject of very much debate here that continues to receive a lot of attention is the thorny subject of the Marklew family, Marklew’s pond off Coppice Lane, William Roberts and the claim that the farm was one of the last Tommy Shops operating.

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Where there’s a will

I keep returning to the subject of the man I consider to be the father of modern Brownhills, the one and only William Roberts – railway plate layer, ganger, publican, entrepreneur, civic stalwart, JP and philanthropist.

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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Local History, Local media, Local politics, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The estate we’re in

I had an interesting email from reader and top local history technician Andy Dennis a couple of weeks ago that expands on a recent topic beautifully: that of William Roberts and his empire.
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Posted in Brownhills stuff, Environment, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, It makes me mad!, Local History, Local media, Local politics, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Spotted whilst browsing the web, Walsall community | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Just William

The interesting history of William Roberts – the father of modern Brownhills – continues, and this time, Peter ‘pedro’ Cutler has taken issue with some other, intersecting local history, and just when exactly William Roberts came to Brownhills as a lad, and where he lived when his family moved here.

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Such was his devotion

Back to William Roberts, then – railway plate layer, ganger, publican, entrepreneur, civic stalwart, JP and philanthropist – a very rare man in his time, he appears to have been generous, considerate, imbued with a real sense of social justice, and was undoubtedly a sharp-dealing rogue too.

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Trouble brewing?

There’s something I’ve been needing to get off my chest for a good while, and it won’t go away – however, recent finds and articles on the blog have brought it to the fore in my mind, and this is as good a juncture as any to brooch the subject: William Roberts is not recognised enough in our collective history.
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Rhyme and reason

While service is operating on reduced power, I thought I’d share this curious mystery – over the new year period, a Brownhills history group was created on Facebook, and it’s proved to be very interesting indeed.

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From the Station to Paradise

Mike Leonard, the reader who supplied the wonderful images of The Railway Tavern and Wheatsheaf last week has done it again – this tie with two super photos.
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Odds and sods

One of the things about compiling the weekly old pictures post that irritates is that there are some really interesting old images floating about that you just can’t fit into a post. One or two-offs that don’t really fit in … Continue reading

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High Street in the 1930’s

This week’s pictures from the past feature is specially selected for reader Steve Hickman, who’s sent me a fascinating enquiry about Stonnall, in respose to which I’m currently putting together an old mapping post about changes to the area. Steve … Continue reading

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