Stafford
Stafford photos (108 available)
Stafford maps (2 available)
Map of Staffordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Staffordshire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Stafford books (4 available)
- 46 photos on Stafford appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Stafford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Stafford and Staffordshire
Stafford memories
Read and share memories of Stafford and Staffordshire inspired by Frith photos
Brine Baths
I remember as a child and teenager going to the Brine Baths with my brother and friends, what a wonderful building it was, swimming was never the same after the new baths were built, another fine old building was lost.
Contributed by Elizabeth Harrison
Swimming Saturdays
I received a half-crown (2/6d) pocket money per week. This enabled me to travel from Gnosall by train every Saturday (8d return), pay for entrance to the brine swimming baths for the afternoon, (wonderful memories) and have enough for either a cup of hot chocolate, or use of the dryer for my (long) hair, afterwards. The hot chocolate usually won!
Contributed by Penny Trueman
Happy memories
I was born in Foregate Street, the home of my grandparents, in 1951. I left Stafford in 1953 and returned in 1960 to live in the north end of the town. I well remember playing on the 'Witches hat' with my friends, paddling in the childrens pool, I spent some very happy times in Victoria Park. Mum used to take us down to the park on a fine sunny day, jam sandwiches and a bottle of pop, Happy Memories. I now live in the Lake District and love it but Stafford will always hold some very special memories for me. Does anyone have a picture of old Foregate Street?
Contributed by Elizabeth Harrison
The Music Library - Pride of Stafford!
The music library was in Friars Terrace until 1994, when it moved to the top floor of the library at the Green, which had been the Art Gallery before that moved to the Shire Hall.
By 1994 the LP collection was little used - it had been the biggest in any library in the UK. By 1994 we had the biggest CD collection in the UK, covering every possible kind of music. Stafford was the first library to lend CDs in the country, starting in 1983.
The Music Library moved to the Shire Hall in 1999 and is still one of the best CD collections in the UK (or world some say), priding itself on getting pretty well ...read more here
Contributed by Andrew Baker
Public Disaster!!!!
This photograph is taken from the Lichfield Road. Veering off to the right in the distance is Greengate Street, and to the left, round the far corner of the library, the Newport Road. I used the library often. It had an annexe a little further up and 'off' the Newport road, past the Odeon Cinema, containing the library's music collection. I spent an even greater amount of time there. It was wonderful. Everything from Scarlatti to Lead Belly. What an education! (This was in my mid-teens.) You could actually borrow these records, take them home and play them on your Dansette if you wanted to, and/or listen to them in cubicles, rather like a 'language laboratory' as we used to call ...read more here
Contributed by Penny Trueman
Extracts From Stafford & Staffordshire books
The Baths, opened by the Duchess of Teck in 1895, used brine recently
discovered under Stafford Common during the search for a good water
supply. In 1950, prices included 3s for a private brine bath, with a
shower 6d extra, 3s 6d for a Turkish bath, and 1s for mixed bathing
in the swimming bath.
An extract from from"Stafford Living Memories Pocket Album".
The river Sow surrounds Stafford
on three sides. This is the Green
Bridge, over which traffic had
to pass before entering through
the Green Gate in the medi-
eval walls. Note the small shops
along the front of the Baths, and
the Bridge Café opposite, now
the Curry Kuteer. Firemen used
the tower of the Baths for hang-
ing hose-pipes to dry.
An extract from from"Stafford Living Memories Pocket Album".
In the 19th century this area of the town was prone to flooding, and the
mill dam was blamed. In 1879 the Corporation bought the mill from
Lord Stafford and built a new weir and floodgates. Later, the level of
some of the surrounding land was raised, and Victoria Park was opened
in 1908.
An extract from from"Stafford Living Memories Pocket Album".
In the 19th century this area of the town was prone to flooding, and the
mill dam was blamed. In 1879 the Corporation bought the mill from
Lord Stafford and built a new weir and floodgates. Later, the level of
some of the surrounding land was raised, and Victoria Park was opened
in 1908.
An extract from from"Stafford Living Memories Pocket Album".
The building of the church was begun around 1190. The nave of St
Mary’s acted as the parish church for the town, while the large chancel
was used by a secular College of Canons, responsible to the King, whose
duty was to pray for members of the royal family. Originally there was a
spire, but it crashed down during a storm in 1594. During the 1840s St
Mary’s was heavily restored by George Gilbert Scott, but as the ladders
and scaffolding indicate, there has been a continuing need for roof repairs.
Note the grave slabs and box tombs, and the rear of Brookfields shop
behind the church.
An extract from from"Stafford Living Memories Pocket Album".