A Well Spent Life In Stourbridge

A Memory of Stourbridge.

Most of my life was spent in Stourbridge although I came from Amblecote and went to school in Wordsley. Mom used to take me to Mary Stevens Park as I took my son in later years. I used to love the swingboat seesaw and the roundabout where you had to hang on. There was also a paddling pool that was filled in hot weather as most parks had then. It probably wasn't hygienic but we loved it. It was a lovely walk around the park to feed the swans and you could fish in it too. Later on I used to walk to the park with boyfriends, enough said! There were four cinemas in Stoubridge. The Danilo, Odeon, Kings Hall and Savoy. The first to close was the Kings Hall it was a lovely cinema. Stringers a classy furniture shop was almost opposite in the High Street and next to that was the Odeon and I remember seeing 'She Wore A Yellow Ribbon' and was given a yellow ribbon as I went in and Mom tied it on my plaits. The Odeon became Owen-Owen and the Danilo where I saw Richard Attenborough appear on stage to present one of his films, became a bingo hall. You do realise these Cinemas were where most of the towns 'snogging' took place? There was the Golden Gallion café in Lower High Street which I couldn't afford to go in as I was still at school. It later became the Ravello. I later worked in Lower High Street at Newton's Restaurant, which was called the Commercial Hotel, as a waitress. We used to walk around Stourbridge at night to meet the 'chaps' but it was all very innocent. For a time Stourbridge was flooded by RAF chaps from Bridgenorth camp who came on the 190 bus. We loved the Corbett Hospital Fete on Bank Holiday Monday. They stopped when the hospital raised enough money to build their extension and left no more room for the Fete anyway. When I was young I attended Amblecote Church and later on Stoubridge Spiritualist Church in Union Street. So you see I really do know Stourbridge and have seen all of it's changes, that's when I left the area.