Old Swinford
Old Swinford maps (2 available)
Map of West Midlands
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Old Swinford books (9 available)
- 6 photos on Old Swinford appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Old Swinford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Old Swinford and West Midlands
Old Swinford memories
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You can also read memories of nearby places in West Midlands below.
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
Where I once lived as a young boy
Lovely to find a photo of the road in which I lived as a young boy. I lived at the Fruit and Vegetable shop (owned by my Uncle Norman Evans) which stood on the corner of Cobden Street and Bridgnorth Road. It can be seen about halfway along the right-hand side of the photo titled Wollaston, Bridgnorth Road 1968. Cobden Street is the turning on the right. I remember opposite Cobden Street was Parke's Bakery who had a shop also in Coventry Street in Stourbridge. The Bus Stop on the right hand side brings back so many memories of visiting my Grandparents in Kinver. My Mother and I would catch the then 250 (Stourbridge to Kinver ...read more here
A memory of Wollaston contributed by Malcolm Atkins
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 Old Swinford & West Midlands books
This photograph shows
a similar view to O51014,
but much has changed in
the intervening five years.
Look at the depressing
differences in the first
building on the left, which
has gained a coat of
cement render and lost
its original windows. The
three ugly new traffic signs
and modern street lights
are also a sign of the times.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
There are few places in the
Black Country as attractive
as this secluded corner of
Old Swinford, where superb
Georgian houses grace quiet
streets below a medieval
church. There are a few
oddities too, such as this
charming building with its
mix of brick, stone and timber-
framing. Despite its name, it
was never a castle, but parts of
it are 15th-century.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Red Hill is one of the pleasantest streets in Stourbridge,
created centuries ago by cutting through the red sandstone
which outcrops locally. At the bottom of the hill stands this
fine pub, still looking much as it did in 1955. One thing has
changed - the unpleasant sign which depicted two white
women scrubbing a black man has been removed.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
The photographer
was standing
towards the northern
end of Hagley Road,
looking towards
Stourbridge. The view
is greatly changed
today, with the
cottages on the left
barely recognisable.
On the right-hand
side of the road a
solitary petrol pump
is just visible outside
the white-painted
garage. A modern
petrol station stands
there now.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Old Swinford is a suburb of Stourbridge today, which represents a reversal of fortune:
the Domesday Book (1086) recorded Stourbridge as part of the manor of ‘Suineford’.
The scene recorded in this photograph is impossible to find today, so greatly has
Hagley Road changed. The charming cottages on the left have either been demolished
or modernised out of recognition.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".





