Bilston
Bilston maps (2 available)
Map of West Midlands
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of West Midlands
Personalised maps
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Bilston books (9 available)
- 2 photos on Bilston appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Bilston
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bilston and West Midlands
Bilston memories
Read and share memories of Bilston and West Midlands inspired by Frith photos
The Ford Anglia
I owned the Ford Anglia 105E parked on the road outside the church in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph. I rang the bells at the church and usually parked in that place. The car, Harry Potter blue, registration ADH 532B, was sold to pay the solicitors fees on our first home in Wellington. I have many happy memories of that church and remember the people there with great affection.
Richard Dorrington
Contributed by Bryony Dorrington
West Midlands memories
The Ford Anglia
I owned the Ford Anglia 105E parked on the road outside the church in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph. I rang the bells at the church and usually parked in that place. The car, Harry Potter blue, registration ADH 532B, was sold to pay the solicitors fees on our first home in Wellington. I have many happy memories of that church and remember the people there with great affection.
Richard Dorrington
A memory of Bilston contributed by Bryony Dorrington
Sedgmore's Grand Colliery Exhibition
The Bull Ring, Sedgley, that is the location where on a fateful night in April 1906, The Sedgmore’s Grand Colliery Exhibition Travelling Show, set up in Sedgley on its way to the Wolverhampton Annual Suntide Fair, burnt to the ground. The Show had been built up over many years by my Great Great Grandfather William James Sedgmore who, being born in 1841 in Cornwall, moved to South Wales and there married Thurza Venn in July 1867. I have been quietly researching over the years but as Sedgley was the final port of call for the Exhibition, I thought it fair to post this memory in the hope that someone may be aware of the Show and would like ...read more here
A memory of Sedgley contributed by John Sedgmore Blundell
Home & Colonial
I can remember my Aunt Marjorie working in the Home & Colonial in the Marketplace. I used to sit in my pram outside and she would bring me something nice. I can still remember the smell of the cheeses and hams.
A memory of Wednesbury contributed by Paul Oakley
Extracts From Bilston & West Midlands books
As at Tipton and Wednesbury, the 30 ft seam of Thick Coal was near
the surface at Bilston.Though there is evidence for coal pits at the time
of Edward I, Bilston came into its own during the 19th century. In
1827 local mines produced an estimated 317,000 tonnes, and by the
mid 1860s output was around 10 million tonnes. The population
expanded from 6,900 in 1801 to 24,000 in 1861.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
The Girls’ High
School was founded
in 1918 in Brueton
House at Mount
Pleasant, but moved
to this purpose-built
accommodation in
Green Lanes in 1930.
Brueton House now
accommodates a
museum and art
gallery. The school
became Bilston
Community College
in 1983.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
The park opened
in 1911 on land
given by Sir Alfred
Hickman, a local
industrialist. He
was one of several
notable 19th-
century ironmasters
in the area. The
company he
founded became
Bilston Steelworks,
which developed
into the town’s
largest employer.
Somehow, Bilston
managed to survive
its closure in 1979.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Almost no building work was carried out at Dudley Castle for the 200 years between 1340 and 1540,
but in 1540 John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland, set about rebuilding the residential block on a
grand scale. The results are seen here. From the extreme left are a pantry, kitchen, serving place, buttery,
hall, and great chamber, most of which had bedrooms above. In zoo days the single-storey building on
the right was the aquarium.
An extract from from"Dudley Living Memories".
Historically, castle
baileys were home
to many people, and
something of that feel
is captured in this view
of relaxing zoo visitors
enjoying sun and ice
creams in the mid
1950s. The windowed
building in the centre
was lodgings added to
the castle around 1690,
some of the last new
construction on the
site. Next to that is the
rear of the gatehouse,
which is contemporary
to the keep.
An extract from from"Dudley Living Memories".