1066-1840: The Growth of Great Wyrley (and the Walsall Road)

Landywood Farm, 2018.

It is impossible to know if the Walsall Road led to settlement in Wyrley or just connected it to the existing road network – this is because of the lack of physical evidence and the road joined the more ancient and larger settlements of Bloxwich and Cannock. The Walsall Road (A34), I would suggest, was already a well trampled out ‘hollow way’ by the time of the population expansions of the early medieval period – indeed, as the name Wyrley is Old English in origin, the road was possibly in existence by the Saxon period in some form… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/wyrley-landywood/1066-1840-the-growth-of-great-wyrley-and-the-walsall-road/

The Road to Great Wyrley: Watling Street and the M6 Toll

The old Watling St, now isolated as a no through road at what was once a cross roads with Leacroft Lane and Washbrook Lane (now completely gone). 2018.

The purpose of this series of articles is to examine, if only in brief, the relationship between the settlement of Great Wyrley (alternatively, the settlement of people within Great Wyrley) and some of the roads that have defined it or, indeed, may have created it. The first part is on the M6 Toll road and Watling Street… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/wyrley-landywood/the-road-to-great-wyrley-watling-street-and-the-m6-toll/

Essington Laid Bare: Springhill and the Birches Sun Club (Part 2)

Springhill House: built in Georgian style, it is orientated to face the old gardens, not the road. 2017.

This is the second part of a three part article on the archaeological and historical landscape of Springhill (Essington Wood) with a special focus on Springhill House and its Covert, a piece of woodland to the rear of this house that once hosted the Birches Sun Club, a former naturist (nudist, in parlance of old) site… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/?page_id=3544&preview=true

The Churchbridge Pubs: The White Lion

The White Lion in Ind Coope & Allsopp’s Livery, so prior to 1959(ish)
(Bridgtown Local History Society)

This history of the White Lion is the last of a trilogy covering the C19th pubs of Churchbridge. The White Lion was the new kid on the block when compared with the Robin Hood and the Red Cow, both of which likely appeared swiftly after Gilpin’s works was established by 1817. They can be traced at least to the 1830s, whereas the White Lion, equally a product of industrialisation, can only be traced to 1861. It is funny, the White Lion may be in Churchbridge, but its closest neighbour was the Anglesey Arms (now the Stumble Inn) in Bridgtown…https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/wyrley-landywood/the-churchbridge-pubs/the-white-lion/

Suffering in Silence: Harriet’s Story, 1913.

The Pleck, Walsall
(Walsall Local History Centre)

The story of Harriet, which acts as a warning on stress, worry, vulnerability and simple family communication that seem as relevant today as it was then. https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/suffering-in-silence-harriets-story-1913/

Finding ‘N’: The Pleck Canal Mystery, 1915

The Scarborough Rd Canal Bridge, from around the point where ‘N’ was pulled from the water. 2014.

This story revolves around the unidentified body of a woman found in the canal, by the Scarborough Road bridge, in the Pleck area of Walsall. This body was discovered by a child on 31 July 1915, so 99 years ago this very day. Just how did the police try to discover who she was?.. https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/finding-n-the-pleck-canal-mystery-1915/

‘RUN’: The Ryecroft Plane Crash, 1917.

Brewer St Cottages, Ryecroft. 1884.
(Walsall Local History Centre)

The events that relate to this article take place in and around Brewer Street in the Ryecroft area of Walsall. On 7th April 1917, Second Lieutenant Thomas Mann left Tern Hill on a routine flight to the Castle Bromwich in his Avro 504 aircraft. Mann was to crash and while he was to survive the accident killed the 62 year-old Frances North and her 10 month-old grand-daughter, Edna May Vass… https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/tales-from-the-walsall-coroner/run-the-ryecroft-plane-crash-1917/

The Churchbridge Pubs: Introduction and The Red Cow

Aerial photo of the Gilpin Works and lock system. 1926.
(English Heritage)

The first of a three-part story into the pubs of Churchbridge. This one briefly covers the historical landscape and the now long forgotten Red Cow, which was de-licensed in 1891 https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/wyrley-landywood/the-churchbridge-pubs/churchbridge-introduction-and-the-red-cow/