Aston

Third World Conditions in The English Countryside.

It is all too easy to look back to the past and remember an idyllic picture of country life and forget how it was in reality, I often think back to when I was growing up in Claverley in the 1950s and 60s. My parents, younger brother, and I lived in a tied cottage which came with my father's job as a farm worker, this was no picture postcard house by any means, in fact it was a semi-hovel. It was the middle house of three and consisted of a small room with a door which opened to the outside. There was a lean-to kitchen with barely enough room for a small table, an electric oven and boiler, a tin bath and a sink with a single cold tap, also there was a tiny room off the main living area which was used to store anything and everything including my mother's vacuum cleaner, etc, and there was a cellar which flooded on a regular basis. Upstairs there was a landing bedroom which... Read more

Gatacre Hall

I was taken to the ruin of the hall which was almost completely overgrown. Shortly afterwards a newspaper article appeared about Lord Gatacre abandoning the property earlier in the century. I recall a tree growing up through an old car but there was still a lot of furnishings in the building. In 1964 I acquired one of the nameplates from the GWR steam locomotive Gatacre Hall which I had for nearly 20 years. I also met one of the Gatacre family who lived near Claverly. I am searching for more information on this fascinating place.

I was working for a builder from Claverley and we were doing work on the Gatacre estate and 3 of us decided to try to see the ruined hall; after hacking through what seemed a "veritable" jungle we came upon the outer walls where there was an ancient car covered in undergrowth. I also remember a farm on the estate which was run by a family named Hyatt who remembered Squire "Calfery" Gatacre when he lived at Gatacre Hall. After the hall fell into disrepair, the squire on his return had a bungalow built to live in. It was always said that whenever the squire went in to any of the farms on the estate he recognized furniture from Gatacre hall, "allegedly". I also remember being told by a man who grew up in the area that he remembered the library just after the hall was abandoned, some of the books (tomes?) were so big, a wheelbarrow was needed to remove them.

My Family

I was born in Burnhill Green in June 1955. Most of my mother's side of my family were born there. My mother's name was Doris Mytton, and my grandfather's was Richard (Dick) Mytton. He worked on the Dartmouth Estate (Patshull Hall) for the 4th Earl.

Childhood Days

                                    Wrottesley Park

92 Wrottesley Park, it was a nice address, a suggestion of elegance perhaps, a hint of grandeur even. However there was nothing grand about the place we lived in even though it was part of the Wrottesley Estate. Home for me as a child in the fifties was part of a Nissen hut in a converted army camp but despite its lowly status I consider myself most fortunate to have spent most of my childhood there.

We were the Baby Boomer generation although we didn’t know that at the time. They were lean times, rationing was still in place and household items along with food and much else were in short supply but we younger children were blissfully unaware of it all. Everyone was hard up, some more so than others; poverty was measured in varying degrees.

Like all children everywhere we took our way of life for granted, we... Read more

Halcyon Days in The 1950s

What fantastic days they were, despite the hardship. I too remember Greys shop, also Mr Bach from down the lane towards Wergs post office, he used to deliver groceries around the CAMP, as it was known by the locals as I remember. My mother and eldest sister used to work at the ministry building near the Polish church, checking tins of corned beef. School for us was at Tettenhall Wood, we used to catch a bus at the cottage which is now where Mr Brown's farm shop is. We left Wrottesley Park in 1960, we were one of the last families to leave as I remember a lot of families were going to Codsall or Wombourn. Due to the strength of my mother and her reluctance go to either of those locations we ended up in Pattingham. We lived at no 56, a large oak still stands to this day in what was our front garden.

The Glorious Days of Our Lives

I was born in 1953, my parents came over after the Second World War there was a little community of foreigners. Our family's name was Cozubovski, there was Dad, Mom, and the three children, Tom the eldest, Bob the middle one, and George the little one. We went to Christ Church school, on School Road. When I look back at my life then, it was glorious, I loved it so much. My name is Bob. My, how time has gone by so fast. When I think about the good old days it brings tears to my eyes. I can't remember the year we had to leave, but if my memorie serves me right we all had to leave Wrottesly Park. I can remember going to Mrs Grey's shop, buying sweets, she was a lovely and plesent woman. I can just remember the Wolleys so hello to you. I think you might remember the Cozubovski's