Walsall, Approach To The Arboretum 1967

Photo ref: W161017

Does anyone recall the pole squatter who spent nights/ days in a barrel perched high overlooking the Arbouritum. It was around 1955. How long and what was his name. Was it the same man that did the same outside the Spring Cottage in Shelfield??

The shop on the right of the picture used to belong to my father and his brother. They bought it in about 1927. It was known as the Rendezvous.

I was brought up in the Chuckery and so my friends and I regarded the Arboretum as our personal back yard and "'m going down the Arbo" was the usual refrain shouted to my mother in the school holidays. We usually entered the park by way of The Broadway but I always thought that the gates in the picture were particularly elegant and a wonderful entrance into this land where one could play on the swings, ...see more

I was born just around the corner from this photo, in Ward Stree, it's now a car park. This junction is going through yet another re vamp. As a teenager I would visit the Aboretum with friends and race the boats across the pond and get told off by the staff. We would visit every year for the lights, many now are from Blackpool.