Bilston memories
Here are memories of Bilston and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Bilston or a Bilston photo.
The Fields us Kids Used to Play On.
Many years ago, about 1951, us children myself and my brothers and our friends used to play on the fields where now Bilston Colledge is situated off the Wellington Roa in Bilston. We had such fun playing on those fields, running up and down the bonks, as us Bilstonians would say, and also jumping the rusty brook. If there is anybody out there who remembers those fields, let us know. I am also trying to find some of my friends from the past who attended Etheridge Girls School between 1947 to 1957, my maiden name was Bromley.
Bilston Town 1947, my School Days
My name is Pauline Powell, my maiden name was Bromley. Where I lived on the corner of Moseley Road in Bilston there was a farm on the corner of the road called Dickie Bevan's farm, can anybody remember it? Us kids used to have fun there. I was one of four children and I have fond memories of St Leonard's, me and my brothers were all christened there and a relative of mine played the organ there too. I attended Etheridge Girls' School, Fraser Street, Bilston between 1947 to 1957. I have been to trace some old school friends from years gone by, it would be fantastic to hear from them. On a Saturday afternoon we would all us kids go to the Saturday matinee, our mom would do us chip sandwiches to eat in the pictures while watching Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans.
Good Old Days
I lived at my grandmother's house in Wolverhampton Street in Bilston. My gran's name was Mary Ann Tucker and she had a son called Ralph, my uncle who was only 2 or 3 years older than me (don't ask me). He had a neighbour called Jones and I believe their daughter was called Beryl, she was a few years older than me and as I am 75 now I guess Beryl (if she is still alive) would be about 80 to 83 now. Ralph's best friend, I am sure, was called Leslie? Corbett and I think that he lived in Wolverhampton Street as well, near to the corner of the High Street (it may not be called High Street, but it is the main drag with The Trumpet Pub in it and the very old pub opposite). Sorry about all this bad memory thing but I was only 6 or 7 years old at the time (about 1941/42) and only down there for a few months as I really lived... Read more
Bilston Born
I was born in Bilston at my granny's house although we moved to Tipton when I was 6 but I spent most of my life around the area and have fond memories of Bilston market (the old one), it was magical when I was small. I was born in Moxley, my granny's house was behind the Quasi Arc factory (not sure of the spelling), it became the BOC, and my mom and auntie worked there. As an adult I went to the music festivals in Hickman Park. My nan lived in Wednesbury and I remember walking with her to the Hickmans bakery to get fresh bread. My auntie still lives in Tettenhall. I moved to Nottingham 9 years ago and I love it here but I like to browse my homeland.
The Ford Anglia
I owned the Ford Anglia 105E parked on the road outside the church in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph. I rang the bells at the church and usually parked in that place. The car, Harry Potter blue, registration ADH 532B, was sold to pay the solicitors fees on our first home in Wellington. I have many happy memories of that church and remember the people there with great affection.
Richard Dorrington
Is it True?
A friend of mine told me a tale of a small farm, or small holding, that existed in Beckett Street in Bilston. The man who ran it delivered milk from a pony and trap and sold it from a milk urn. Does anyone remember this, or was it a tale?
Memories of West Midlands
Princes End Bred
I was bought up in Princes End from the age of 6, my brother and parents are still there. It's a bit dilapidated now but was brilliant when I was young. The community was full of families where generations lived just streets away from each other. We all knew one another, we played in the streets and in the fields ... yes fields ... including the one across the road from my house with the pond in it which was drained and turned into a park (boring), we had a maze in there and a den, and we had a rope swing under Cox's Bridge across the old drained canal. What a childhood.
Owen Street
My dad was the sub postmaster of Tipton Green Post Office approximately from the years 1949-1961. I attended the local grammar school. Owen Street was then a thriving shopping area, so who remembers Mrs Yates the Newsagent at the railway end and the 2 almost identical sweet shops next door? And The Maypole, Harry Edge the barber (and Charlie of course), and Danks for your fish and chips? And Eades the chemist (who had a fabulous young assistant who I dated a few times), The Miners Arms and the Fountain for liquid refreshment and that poor man who sat in a chair on the pavement every day? Happy years but gone forever.
Owen Street, Tipton
I remember what Owen Street in Tipton was like. I myself used to work in Eades chemist, Tipton in the early 1970s. Tipton was full of shops then, next door to Eades chemist was a chip shop. Across the road was a hardware store and I remember Guest and Perrys, it was a clothes shop that would do credit for clothes. The shop owner was by the name of Joyce. And there was the Miners Arms pub...the good old days...wish I could turn the clock back.
Born And Bred
I was born in Great Bridge when it was a thriving centre. One could get absolutely anything there, from wet fish, tailored suits to model aeroplanes! I attended Tipton Grammar School, from 1962 to 67- which I hated. I remember a totally different Tipton from my youth - it always has been a poor area, but life was so much more pleasant in those days. Nowadays, all there seems to be are feral kids, takeaways and acres of one bedroomed flats. My best memories are of the people of the area.
Peel Street, Tipton
I lived in Peel Street in Tipton from 1950 till 1966 when we left to live in Australia, I also attended Tipton Primary School, then Tipton Grammar School from 1961 to 1965 but I also remember Owen Street quite well. I remember Mrs Yates from the newsagents, a member of her family looked after me while my parents both worked until I was old enough to look after myself after school, I used to call her Nanna White, she was the mom of Mrs Yates's daughter-in-law. I also remember Robert Yates and Elizabeth Yates. I worked in a little deli in Owen Street for a short time but can't remember the name of it though, so many years ago but good memories. I regret not keeping in touch with the family.
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