Tag Archives: Utopia

A remarkable local rail journey – stepping right out of time

There’s currently a buzz in the local rail community and in some groups on Facebook about a 1968 cinefilm recently converted to digital and uploaded online by rail historian and blog regular, Ian Pell – it’s a remarkable, wonderful thing, and Ian has written a fascinating account of the film and line it covers especially for the blog, which I feature below.

image009 Continue reading

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

Get your Freakley on…

Just recently we’ve talked extensively about the Midland Railway through Walsall Wood and Brownhills, and the notorious rail tour that seems to have been the last passenger train along it – but we’ve also discussed local brick making too, and I think this is an excellent time to feature this article by top local historian Gerald Reece.

15419578 Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Chasewater, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Fired up

Last week, we looked at early evidence of local brick making on an industrial scale, after a remarkable passage describing a local brickworks was spotted in an 1850 book by the wonderful Simon Briercliffe.

image007 Continue reading

Posted in Brownhills stuff, Chasewater, Environment, Events, Followups, Fun stuff to see and do, Interesting photos, Local Blogs, Local History, Local media, News, Reader enquiries, Shared media, Shared memories, Walsall community, Walsall Wood stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments