I Meet A Vagrant I Know

A Memory of Stramshall.

September 1958 I meet a vagrant I knew.

In 1957, I was appointed to be Village Constable, at Lower Penn, Wolverhampton, an upper class district of wolverhampton. My station, was in Springhill Park. The beat was divided by the A449, The SW Trunk Road, no M5 in those days. One side of the beat was Lower Penn, the other Penn Common, both different. It was my wont to be on the main road, in the mornings, as a large number of vagrants passed in both directions, some coming out of New Cross, Wolverhampton, some travelling to New Cross from Kidderminster.
I noticed a man sitting on the bench on Lloyd Hill, A449, he did not quite fit the description of the average vagrant. He looked familiar. I decided to speak to him. As I approached him, he said, "Hello, Jack, how is your Dad". I was astounded. I immediately recognised him, it was 'Jim', a Second World War veteran, a hard working man. I will not go into details, but his marriage had broken down, and his established life disrupted, his sister, who we all knew, would have helped him, but he was too proud to ask. I took him to my Police Station, my wife fed him, I telephoned my father. He contacted his sister, and they asked me to get him home. I took him to Bone Mill Lane, Wolverhampton, then the Co-op dairy, with regular transport to Fole, near Uttoxeter. I got him a ride and he returned to his native heath. I saw him several times after, he was always grateful. Whether he is alive or dead I do not know. An act, which I remember.
John Mellor

---

---