Olton
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Map of West Midlands
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Olton books (9 available)
Olton memories
Read and share memories of Olton and West Midlands inspired by Frith photos
Schooldays
I have fond memories of marching up to St. Margarets Church from St. Margarets Junior and infant school, Richmond Rd. in the sixties and early seventies. We had to hold hands, and the operation of crossing the Warwick Road safely was a major one involving the best efforts of all the staff of the school.
I have lived away for the best part of a quarter of a century now and in fact reside in Madrid; however I had to return for a while on family business earlier this year. I am sad to say Solihull no longer seems the golden place of memory. I was shocked by the impersonality and consumerism of the town. ...read more here
Contributed by simon talbot
West Midlands memories
Schooldays
I have fond memories of marching up to St. Margarets Church from St. Margarets Junior and infant school, Richmond Rd. in the sixties and early seventies. We had to hold hands, and the operation of crossing the Warwick Road safely was a major one involving the best efforts of all the staff of the school.
I have lived away for the best part of a quarter of a century now and in fact reside in Madrid; however I had to return for a while on family business earlier this year. I am sad to say Solihull no longer seems the golden place of memory. I was shocked by the impersonality and consumerism of the town. ...read more here
A memory of Olton contributed by simon talbot
The shops on Yardley Road
I remember when all shopping was done by visiting independant local shops. The shops I remember going to with my mother on Yardley Road were Alldays butchers, Timms greengrocers, The Bargain Shop, Terry Lovetts Sports, The Iceberg (drinks store), The Chocolate Box, Washland and many more I can picture but cannot remember the names of. This was well before people had heard of supermarkets!
A memory of Acocks Green contributed by Kev Whelan
Rag & Bone man
We lived at 1, Northanger Road, which was at right angles to Olton Boulevard East and we have had views down both directions of the Boulevard. I remember the regular visits of the rag and bone man. Cars were becoming common-place, but a horse and cart seemed very old fashioned. The horse manure was soon collected up by the keen gardeners in the area. It was a good way of getting rid of the unwanted articles, as the rag and bone man seemed to take all we gave him.
A memory of Acocks Green contributed by Maurice Adshead
Extracts From Olton & West Midlands books
It is known as the Friary now, but this ornate building used to be St Bernard’s Monastery. Founded by Bernard
Ullathorne, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham, it was completed in 1873. It originally served as a
seminary, but only until 1889; it then became the Franciscan Monastery of the Immaculate Conception.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
John Constable is known
to have painted Malvern
Hall at least three times
- one of these paintings
is now in Tate Britain.
Constable was originally
invited to the hall to paint
a portrait of the owner,
Henry Greswold Lewis,
whose sister the Countess
of Dysart was a friend and
patron of the artist.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Round Oak Iron Works in the 1850s.Though by no means the first
iron works in the area, it would become the most important. It was
constructed on the opposite side of the canal to the New Level
Furnaces and adjacent to the tracks of the recently opened Oxford,
Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway. Production began at Round
Oak in 1857, and as demand grew the works was gradually
extended. In 1889 a chain works was commissioned, and in 1892
Round Oak switched over to producing steel. Our pictures of
Brierley Hill were taken in the 1960s, a time when Round Oak was
one of the most modern steel plants in the West Midlands and
capable of producing in excess of 250,000 tonnes a year.
Stourbridge came into existence at a crossing point of the Stour.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
Just two miles from Wolverhampton,Tettenhall retained
its two greens despite the Enclosure Commissioners. In
AD910 Tettenhall was the scene of one of the most
important battles in English history. It was here that
Edward the Elder of Wessex defeated the Danes. The
battle marked a turning point. From then onwards the
English went over to the offensive, Edward’s ultimate
aim being the total reconquest of the Danelaw.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
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".