Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield photos (94 available)
Sutton Coldfield maps (2 available)
Map of West Midlands
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Personalised maps
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Sutton Coldfield books (9 available)
- 4 photos on Sutton Coldfield appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Sutton Coldfield
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Sutton Coldfield and West Midlands
Sutton Coldfield memories
Read and share memories of Sutton Coldfield and West Midlands inspired by Frith photos
Watson House
What a delight to find this site and the photographs of Sutton Coldfield. I too have memories of a children's home but mine were of Watson House. From what I remember it was a big beautiful Tudor-built house, with the biggest in and out drive I have ever had the pleasure of being permitted to walk on without being chased off, the sound of the gravel beneath my child sized shoes always amused me. I often think of the years I spent there. I remember the pond where we used to feed the swans, thanks to Sister Mary who used to put a couple of us in the back of her Morris car and take us there. I remember the 'Old ...read more here
Contributed by Maria Carey
Chester Road.
I spent 9 years from the age of 6 to 14 years old, (1936 to 1944) living in the Princess Alice Home & Orphanage in Sutton Coldfield.
I do not recognise any of the pictures on this website. So I am presuming there have been many changes, besides the demolition of the Home and surrounding property.
I do remember spending so many weekends in Sutton Park, just a short walk from the Home. It felt longer when I was small. We played in the Woods, Picked Blackberry's and Bluebells. Swam and paddled in the streams and Picknicked, until we were so tired we had difficulty walking back to the Home.
I attended school in nearby Boldmere walking to and ...read more here
Contributed by Pam Davies
West Midlands memories
Watson House
What a delight to find this site and the photographs of Sutton Coldfield. I too have memories of a children's home but mine were of Watson House. From what I remember it was a big beautiful Tudor-built house, with the biggest in and out drive I have ever had the pleasure of being permitted to walk on without being chased off, the sound of the gravel beneath my child sized shoes always amused me. I often think of the years I spent there. I remember the pond where we used to feed the swans, thanks to Sister Mary who used to put a couple of us in the back of her Morris car and take us there. I remember the 'Old ...read more here
A memory of Sutton Coldfield contributed by Maria Carey
Chester Road.
I spent 9 years from the age of 6 to 14 years old, (1936 to 1944) living in the Princess Alice Home & Orphanage in Sutton Coldfield.
I do not recognise any of the pictures on this website. So I am presuming there have been many changes, besides the demolition of the Home and surrounding property.
I do remember spending so many weekends in Sutton Park, just a short walk from the Home. It felt longer when I was small. We played in the Woods, Picked Blackberry's and Bluebells. Swam and paddled in the streams and Picknicked, until we were so tired we had difficulty walking back to the Home.
I attended school in nearby Boldmere walking to and ...read more here
A memory of Sutton Coldfield contributed by Pam Davies
Extracts From Sutton Coldfield & West Midlands books
Bracebridge Pool
was formed around
1420 and leased to Sir
Ralph Bracebridge at
a yearly rent of £10 or
120 bream. In 1921 a
catering business was
started at Bracebridge
Cottages and in 1983
it became Bobby
Brown’s. Despite the
popularity of this
waterside restaurant,
Bracebridge Pool is
still a good place to
see wild birds such as
heron and moorhen.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Sutton Park was one of the largest in Warwickshire, over
2,000 acres of woodlands and lakes.The park made the
town something of a tourist attraction. During Whit-
week 1882 the town had over 19,000 visitors; in 1883
it had 11,300; and in 1884 it had 17,400.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
Sutton Park is a National Nature Reserve, which puts it among the top
rank of our protected areas. It has never been cultivated, and it is a typical
example of the kind of landscape which thrived throughout the region before
industrialisation. In 2001, wild Exmoor ponies were introduced to graze the
coarse vegetation, keeping areas of heathland in good condition.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
During the reign of
Henry V (1413-22),
several pools were
constructed, probably
for the Earl of Warwick,
in what was later to
become Sutton Park.
Wyndley Pool was almost
certainly one of them.
There used to be a
17th-century water mill
by the pool, but it was
demolished in 1962, soon
after this photograph
was taken.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".
Though Dr Boddington was most famous for his work with TB patients, he also cared
for mentally ill patients at Driffold House Asylum at the corner of Wyndley Lane and
The Driffold. In 1953 this garden, at the junction of Birmingham Road and The Driffold,
was remodelled and named in Dr Boddington’s honour.
An extract from from"West Midlands Living Memories".