Charles Street & North
Street
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North Street. O'Connors the cobblers, is on
the corner. Photo courtesy of David Clare. |
There were a lot of houses in Charles Street. There
was the Four Ashes at the top in Stafford Street and Bowdlers the
chemist on the other corner.
There were a couple of sweet shops and
then the Broom Girl lodging house, and another pub, called the
Fender.
It was a terrible place which came to the back of the
Feathers in North Street. |
| On the other side, at the top, were a couple of
little houses by Bowdlers, then you'd got Simmonds and some cheap
lodging houses were the rent was 3s.6d. They went all the way down
the hill.
The Tin Shop yard was at the bottom and you came to North
Street. The yards at the back of the houses were surfaced with
pebbles like you get at the seaside.
They were all like that at the
backs, all irregular, just trodden into mud which would set very
hard. |
Albert Marston's lock factory on the corner
of Birchfield Street. Photo courtesy of David Clare. |
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There were three layers of them before you reached
St. Peter's Churchyard, and there were all these one-roomed houses
with cobble stones at the back. The mud holding the stones, set so
hard that when it rained the water would run off.
A lot of the
houses had candle lighting, although they had gas eventually before
they were pulled down. O'Connor's boot repairers was on the corner
of North Street. The Fox pub at the top of Molineux Street did all
of the catering for dances and entertainment in the town. It was run
by three brothers.
There was a big factory on the corner of North
Street and Birchfield Street. Locks were made there and it was very
dark inside. It had little windows, but I can't remember the name of
the company. Mr Broom's sweet shop was on the corner. They used to
make sweets at the back of the house. Trays of treacle toffee,
toffee with coconut on the top. You could have a ha'peth of toffee
and they would hit it with the hammer and break it up into little
bits. |
| At the top end of North Street was the Molineux
Hotel. It had a big bowling green at the front, with pailings all
around. We used to hire that and bowl there in later years when I
was at Sunbeam.
We didn't have our own sports ground. I used to go
there and watch them. There was another bowling green at the back of
the Molineux Hotel, where they played all of their own matches.
There was a good view of the football ground and you could watch the
match while waiting to take your turn on the green. |
The Molineux Hotel. Photo courtesy of David
Clare. |
| Walters old lock factory was opposite the Molineux. Kitson's food store
was in North Street and so was Cohen's antique shop. Mrs Cohen used to
play the pianola. There was also Mrs Trusselle's café. |
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