Lye
Lye 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
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Lye books (9 available)
- 1 photos on Lye appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Lye
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Lye and West Midlands
Lye memories
Read and share memories of Lye and West Midlands inspired by Frith photos
Nan's house
Mr grandparents lived at 80 Dudley Road. This property was many years earlier a public house (I think it was called the Raven or the Blackbird). It was next to the railway line. To this day it has helped to give me a love of steam engines.
I remember the Christmas tree was at the top end of the high street (later it was moved to the Cross). The Clifton cinema had been converted to a toy store, it was like an Aladdin's cave. John Webb and his pony and trap were a regular sight.
Later I would work in Lye, first with the parks department of the council, later for Annabel's florist. I love the humour and warmth of ...read more here
West Midlands memories
Nan's house
Mr grandparents lived at 80 Dudley Road. This property was many years earlier a public house (I think it was called the Raven or the Blackbird). It was next to the railway line. To this day it has helped to give me a love of steam engines.
I remember the Christmas tree was at the top end of the high street (later it was moved to the Cross). The Clifton cinema had been converted to a toy store, it was like an Aladdin's cave. John Webb and his pony and trap were a regular sight.
Later I would work in Lye, first with the parks department of the council, later for Annabel's florist. I love the humour and warmth of ...read more here
M.D.Gittens
I remember Gittens high class grocery shop when it was in Hill Street, it then moved to 10-12 High Street, moving into Shakespears hardware shop. What I remember most was the aroma of the coffee being ground in a special machine. The staff were always friendly. The shop was taken over by Ernest George. I remember 'Minnie with the glasses' who I identified when I was about 5 years old, she had worked there for years.
The old shop in Hill Sreet was used for the Home Guard during tha war. My Uncle Tom used to deliver groceries to the villages, until he went into the R.A.F.
A memory of Brierley Hill contributed by mary myers
Coming Back home
I came back to brierley bonk in 1966, complete with surfboard, after leaving BH in 1961 ,with my parents for Australia, to start a new life ?,well when i got back the place haden't really changed, Except me.I had left behind golden beaches and fantastic surf,But it was the revolution of the 60's, so i was going to get into that revolution. I met up with some old school mates, Howard Cooper, John cownley, and of course all my cousins,aunts and uncles, it was really fantastic visiting old haunts,wich took on a different picture now,i had experinced another life but, the old place was pumping,
Come back again for part 2 1970 visit
A memory of Brierley Hill contributed by Roger walker
Extracts From Lye & West Midlands books
Frequently known as ‘the Lye’, this small town has been described as ‘the last place God ever made’, apparently
because so much of it was once waste ground! The first people to live here built their houses from mud (the area
later became an important centre for brick production), so that Lye came to be known as the ‘Mud City’.
An extract from from"Stourbridge Living Memories".
This magnificent clock is made
of iron and has the words ‘This
column was constructed at the
Stourbridge ironworks 1857’ cast
into its base. The company had
been founded in 1800, and the
clock was designed by the works
engineer, William Millward. The
little sign on the railings in front,
however, is an advertisement for
a taxi company.
An extract from from"Stourbridge Living Memories".
Notice that although this
is just a small store for the
immediate suburbs, this
shop also supplied petrol:
there are four pumps on
the left supplying different
types of Esso petrol - Esso
mixture, extra or golden.
The shop is still here, and
so is the petrol station,
although both have grown
in size.
An extract from from"Stourbridge Living Memories".
The shop window has
a display of boats and
a poster asking ‘When
will Alec Rose arrive?’
The photograph must
therefore date from the
summer of 1968, when
Alec Rose, a 59-year-
old greengrocer from
Portsmouth, completed
his single-handed
voyage around the world
in his yacht the ‘Lively
Lady’.
An extract from from"Stourbridge Living Memories".
Along with the nearby Lickey Hills,
the Clent Hills (which rise to 1,000
ft above sea level) form a clear
boundary between rural countryside
to the south and west and the man-
made industrial landscape to the
north-east. There is a toposcope just
beside the Four Stones which was
erected in 1929 by the Rotary Clubs
of Stourbridge and Kidderminster.
An extract from from"Stourbridge Living Memories".