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Old Swinford

Old Swinford photos (8 available)

Old photo of Old Swinford

Old Swinford maps (2 available)

Old map of Old Swinford

Old Swinford books (9 available)

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

Wollaston, Bridgnorth Road 1968

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

Brierley Hill, High Street 1968

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

Brierley Hill, High Street 1968

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

Old Swinford, Hagley Road c1960

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".

Old Swinford, the Castle, Church Road c1960

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".

Old Swinford, The Labour in Vain c1955

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".

Old Swinford, Hagley Road c1955

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, Hagley Road c1955

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".