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Blackbrook
Blackbrook maps
Historic maps of Blackbrook and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Blackbrook maps
Blackbrook photos
We have no photos of Blackbrook, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Ashley| Woore| Madeley| Norton-In-Hales| Hales| Almington| Swynnerton| Old Springs| Peatswood| Trentham| Cheswardine| Newcastle| Market Drayton| Pell Wall| Eccleshall| Wolstanton| Porthill
Blackbrook area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Blackbrook and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Blackbrook
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Staffordshire memories
Living at Almington Hall
I was only 5 or 6 years old when my mother was employed as a cook at the hall. I remember we had a bedroom at the top of the hall and when Mother put me to bed, Nanny would come and take to the nursery to play. I remember a big rocking horse there and lots of toys. Mother used to make butter with the cream she skimmed off the top of the milk. I also remember going upstairs to clean the ashes out of the fire place in Mrs Coghill's room, and there was a beautiful garden. I went to the local school there and mother told me that one day I had a cold but she sent me to school and when the son of the house came in to ask after my cold was told I was at school and he went and collected me from school. When we left, Nanny gave me a lovely china doll but mother wouldn't let me have it, I... Read more
Wonderful Times Too
I read John Grehan's contribution with great interest. I too enjoyed the air raid shelters and LMS Station at Cold Meece, though four or five years later than his own expeditions. I too attended St Joseph's and the two boys in the taxi with John were my older brothers. By the time I went to "St Joe's", the taxi service was not available and I was taken in my mother's car the three miles to the nearest bus stop for Stoke on Trent. As a teenager, I attended a party in one of the inhabited houses next to "Meece House", the abandoned stately home. Naturally a deputation of us party goers ventured in to the then stable structure. In the garage was an old Alvis car, completely intact. Incredible, really.
My Dad was something of a local historian and wrote articles of local interest for the "Evening Sentinel" newspaper. Later these were compiled to make a local bestseller "Murders Myths and Monuments of North Staffordshire". One of... Read more
Scout Camps
Members of the 2nd St Mary's Scout Troop Market Drayton were allowed to camp at one of the farms on this estate. Major Harding lived in the house, he was the Area Scout Commissioner and even though he only had one arm (lost during the 1st WW I believe) he was quite active. We were allowed to play on the lake with a variety of home made rafts. No "ELTH & SAFETY" in those days, we were also able to collect Moorhen eggs whilst on the lake which supplemented the rations aquired from our parents.
Trentham Railway
In the 1960's I was a ticket conductor on this train. Jack Goldstone was the driver and we took people from the gardens to the pool. Today there's no way I would be allowed to work on the railway because of health and safety concerns. We had to stand on a running board by the side of the carriages hang on with one hand and take money and issue tickets with the other while the train reached speeds of 20 - 30mph. Some times conductors fell off and Jack had to stop while we picked all the money that had been scattered over the tracks and by the lake. Luckilly no one was seriously hurt!
Happy Days
Memories of using the miniature railway to get to the open air swimming pool. Summer holidays were spent with either my brothers or my friends, exploring Trentham Gardens and Park, and swimming in the open air swimming pool. Little did we know how lucky we were to live so near to Trentham Gardens that we could use it as our playground. You could only get to the swimming pool either by foot or by this railway, which took you from nearby the lake to the gates of the swimming pool. The railway ran alongside the lake, through woodland. Amazing memories.
Memories of Hot Summer Days
My friends and I used to swim in this pool in the summer holidays. My friend's mum used to work for Trentham Gardens and so we used to have free access to the gardens in the summer school holidays. We used to take the miniature train from the lake to the pool and spend all day there. We bought ice creams from the shops above the pool. Looking back I can see that the pool is art deco in style, but when I was young I didn't consider the architecture, I just enjoyed playing in the pool. Oh, happy days!
Growing Up
My sister Pat and I lived first in Sutherland Road then Monument Lane. We went to Granville Secondary Modern in Stone. I loved growing up in Tittensor as it was a lovely village, my best mate was Sandra Wagg. My maiden name was Powell. It would be nice to hear from anyone who lived there.
