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Dudley
Dudley maps
Historic maps of Dudley and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Dudley maps
Dudley area books
Displaying 1 of 9 books about Dudley and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Dudley
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Dudley.
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or of a photo of Dudley.
Midland Bank
I used to use this bank when I was a student at Dudley Colege from 1967-1970.
The Cinema
We used to use both Dudley cinemas a lot when we were students from 1967-70. The trouble was that we had to be back at our hall of residence by 10 o'clock, and nearly always missed the ends of the films. I catch up with them on the TV now!
Fatso & Friend
It was 1970 before I found myself working in theis enclosure with 'Fatso' the male lion and his mate, whose name I, unfortunately cannot remember. I began working at Dudley zoo in 1970 as the Giraffe Keeper and was moved to the 'Cat Round' some three months later. I was responsible for the care of the lion and tiger enclosures, which were large pits as illustrated, a by-product of the open cast mining that had taken place there. The bears were housed in similar, if somewhat larger, ravines.
I left Dudley Zoo in 1971, but continued to work as a zoo keeper until my early retirement in 2003 in Australia.
But, Dudley was my first and I remember my first encounters with the big cats very clearly....
West Midlands memories
Walking Home From School
I remember walking to Brierley Hill Grammar school and back home to Pensnett most days, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. We walked up Mill Street then down the High Street, with Chattin and Hortons, Woolworths to buy gob stoppers, if we had the coupons and the cash, past the Town Hall where the Saturday Night 'hop' was held, past the Odeon and Danilo, down the hill to the end of Bent Street and then the Earl of Dudley's steel works (do you remember the wonderful red sky when the furnace was 'let out' at night?). Sharp left through the railway shunting yard and down the railway line (which ran to the Baggeridge Pits). The line ran along an embankment between the Fens and Middle pools. These were reservoirs to feed the canals. As I walked home to Chapel Street one memorable day I watched an adder give birth to its brood as it lay on the embakment in the sun. The pools and fields were a wonderful adventure playground... Read more
Sedgmore's Grand Colliery Exhibition
The Bull Ring, Sedgley, that is the location where on a fateful night in April 1906, The Sedgmore’s Grand Colliery Exhibition Travelling Show, set up in Sedgley on its way to the Wolverhampton Annual Suntide Fair, burnt to the ground. The Show had been built up over many years by my Great Great Grandfather William James Sedgmore who, being born in 1841 in Cornwall, moved to South Wales and there married Thurza Venn in July 1867. I have been quietly researching over the years but as Sedgley was the final port of call for the Exhibition, I thought it fair to post this memory in the hope that someone may be aware of the Show and would like to pass on information to John Sedgmore Blundell john.blundell1@btinternet.com
New Boy
I came to Sedgley aged ten, having been born in the dock area of Dudley. At five we moved to Wolverhampton. Finally the family moved to the new houses down Cotwallend Road overlooking the Dingle. The 1962/63 winter was a real bad one and even the trolley buses had problems running. The bus stop was outside the Red Lion pub and some used to turn on the island. Secondary school, or big school, was Dormston that was and still is up a side road next to the Red Lion pub. Across the small road was Hartill's the buchers and, at the rear, Hartill's stables. I spent many happy hours working with the horses, learning how to ride, and drinking cups of tea in the tack room which stood at the top of steep stone steps, sometimes it was in school hours!
May's paper shop stood by the crossings where I would take papers with May. She drove her Morris Minor and we would run to and fro delivering the evening... Read more
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.
