History of the website.

The website is now over 25 years old. It first appeared in August 1999 as a small website containing a few articles about local history. Since those days it has grown to be one of the largest local history websites in the country. I hope you will continue to enjoy your future visits to the site.
                                                                                                      Bev Parker.


The latest additions to the website over the last year:

October 24: The 1960s A Decade of Change in the articles menu has been extended as has the story of Boulton Paul in the aircraft section in the museum transport hall and the Heath Town section in the history of Mander Brothers in the Museum entrance hall. The section on World War Two in Dudley in the Past has also been extended. The story of John Perks & Sons Limited in the museum Metalware Hall under manufacturers has been greatly extended. The Early Years section and the 1950s and 1960s section in Images of Wolverhampton Polytechnic in the articles menu has also been extended. A booklet about The Greyhound & Punchbowl pub in Bilston has been added to the pubs menu in the entertainment hall in the exhibition and to the Bilston articles menu and also to the new acquisitions section in the story of William Butler & Company Limited. The story of  Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company and Lowe & Fletcher Limited in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum, has been extended. The story of Midland Tar Distillers Limited in Part One of Industries Alongside the BCN in the museum other trades hall has also been extended.

September 24: The 1918 Official Wednesbury Handbook has been added to Into the 21st Century in The History of Wednesbury and the sections on The Borough Council and its Works and Some Shops and Businesses in the early 20th Century have been extended. The following sections in The Annals of Tipton have also been extended: Tipton industries section, Coal Mines, The Twentieth Century, the explosion at Dudley Port, Local Government and the story of E. E. Jeavons & Company Limited. The 1900 catalogue in the story of  Arthur Shaw and Company Limited in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum, has been extended. Additions have been made to the following sections in A Brief History of Darlaston: Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, Wilkins and Mitchell (Servis washing machines) and Industries. Additions have also been made to the following sections in the museum engineering hall: The Star Aluminium Company Limited, and Joshua Bigwood & Son Limited, also to the following sections in the museum electrical engineering hall: Contactor Switchgear Limited, and The Final Years of The Electric Construction Company.

August 24: The story of Joseph Sankey & Sons Limited in the museum metalware hall and the museum engineering hall has been extended. A 1961 trades directory has been added to Into the Twentieth Century in Willenhall Through the Ages and the section on The Development of Local Government in Willenhall has been updated. The section on Heath Town Works in the history of Manders in the museum entrance hall has been extended, as has the story of Bayliss, Jones & Bayliss in Industries Alongside the BCN in the museum other trades hall. The story of Chubb locks and safes in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum has also been extended. A new addition to the Articles on Local History menu is 1930s Photos and Adverts of Wolverhampton. The story of Reade Brothers, manufacturing chemists in the Other Trades Hall in the museum has been updated and additions have been made to the story of St. Catherine's Convalescent Home in the Penn menu in Local Areas. The section called Into The 20th Century in A Brief History of Darlaston has also been extended.

July 24: Part 3 in the story of Molineux House and Family in the General History section in the articles menu has been extended. The section on the Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in the General History section has also been extended, as has Into the 21st Century in The History of Wednesbury and the section on the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Technical College in Images of Wolverhampton Polytechnic in the articles menu. Additions have been made to the story of the Star Aluminium Company Limited in the museum Engineering Hall 3 and to The Decline and Fall in the story of Sunbeam Motorcycles in the motorcycle section in the museum transport hall. Additions have also been made to the story of Wolverhampton Power Station in Industries Alongside the BCN in the Other Trades Hall. The history of Charles Lathe & Company Limited in the Industries Section in the Annals of Tipton has been extended as has the history of Joseph Evans & Sons in the museum engineering hall. 1919 to 1939 in the history of the Villiers Engineering Company Limited in the museum engineering hall has also been extended.

June 24: The section on the Royal Hospital in Images of Cleveland Road in the old photographs section in the articles menu, has been extended. The section on Walsall pubs in The Story of Walsall has also been extended as has The Early 20th Century. Additions have also been made to the story of Bayliss, Jones and Bayliss Limited in Industries Alongside the Canal in the museum Other Trades Hall. A new addition to the list of manufacturers in the museum metalware hall is J. & A. Bratt & Sons Limited of Ablow Street. The history of David Etchells & Son Limited in the industries section in A Brief History of Darlaston has been extended, as has the history of the Darlaston Bolt & Nut Company. Additions have also been made to Into The 20th Century. The section on industry in The History of Wednesbury has also been extended as has Images of Wolverhampton From Old Postcards and More Images of Wolverhampton From Old Postcards, both in the Old Photographs And Images Of Wolverhampton And The Surrounding Area menu. Additions have also been made to the story of C. & L. Hill Limited in The Industrial Town section in Willenhall Through the Ages.

May 24: The following sections in Images of Wolverhampton Polytechnic have been extended: The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The 1970s and Bereavements. A new addition to Old Photographs and Images of Wolverhampton and the Surrounding Area in the Articles menu is Views of the Black Country in the Early 21st Century, in the following sections: Wolverhampton City Centre, Cleveland Road, Wolverhampton, Penn Road, WolverhamptonWorcester Street, Wolverhampton,  Raglan Street and Alexandra Street, Wolverhampton, Corn Hill, Springfield and Dixon Street, Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Canal and Low Level Station, Old Wolverhampton Factories, Misc Wolverhampton, Bilston Town Centre, and the Crooked House, Walsall History Fair and The Lock Museum, and Darlaston Town Centre. The Churches and  Religion section in The History of Wednesbury has been extended, as has The Borough Council and its Works along with Other Industries and Early Industries. Additions have been made to the Final Years in the story of E.C.C. in the museum electrical and electronic engineering hall.

April 24: Additions have been made to the foundries section, in the industries section of West Bromwich Through the Ages and to References. Other new additions to the West Bromwich section are as follows: An 1861 trade directory, with the following sections - trade directory 1, trade directory 2, trade directory 3, trade directory 4, trade directory 5 and trade directory 6. Also The Post War Years. Additions have also been made to the following sections in Willenhall Through the Ages: The Industrial Town, Public Houses, and Into the 20th Century. The story of Josiah Parkes & Sons Limited in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum, has also been extended. The Wolverhampton section of Views of the Black Country, a Record of Change has been extended. It is in Old Photographs and Images of Wolverhampton and the Surrounding Area in the Articles menu. The following sections in The Story of Walsall have been extended: Recent Times and References. The Twentieth Century in The Annals of Tipton has also been extended, as has public houses as well as The Growing Town.

March 24: Additions have been made to the story of Arthur H. Moss safe maker and Cyrus Price in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum. West Bromwich Through the Ages has been also been extended with new sections about Education and The War Years and additions to Poor Law Union, Into the Twentieth Century and References. The History of Wednesbury has also been extended with an addition to The Growth of the Town. The section about Electric Traction on Wolverhampton Tramways in a Public Service Revolution, in the buses section in the Transport Services Hall in the Exhibition has been also extended, as has the story of the George Hotel in The Story of Walsall. The section on the South Staffordshire trams in The Electric Construction Corporation section of the story of Thomas Parker in Lives of Local People in People and Genealogy has also been extended, as has the section on Thomas Parker Limited. Also extended is the story of Years of Growth, the story of churches and chapels and also the story of the inter-war years, all in A Brief History of Darlaston.

February 24: Additions have been made to the history of John Harper & Company Limited, Josiah Parkes & Sons Limited and the Anglo American Lock Company Limited in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum and also to the industries section in The Annals of Tipton. The following sections in The Story of Walsall have been extended: Pubs, The Inter-War Years, Recent Times, and Into the 19th Century. Additions have also been made to A Description, Directory and Images of Old Tettenhall, in the Tettenhall Menu. The following sections in The History of Wednesbury have been extended: The Borough Council and its Works, Public Houses, The Growth of the  Town and Into the 21st Century. The section called Pubs on old Postcards, in Recent Times, in Dudley in the Past has been extended. The story of Iron and Steel Making in A Brief History of Darlaston has also been extended. West Bromwich Through the Ages has been extended with a new section: Into the Twentieth Century. The section on Recent Times in Coseley Through the Ages has also been extended with a few adverts. Views of Wolverhampton from the Late Twentieth Century has been added to the Old Photographs and Images Menu.

January 24: Additions have been made to the story of Archibald Kendrick and also Samuel Withers & Company Limited (in the wf to wz section) in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum and also to the story of William Mills Limited and William Sanders & Company in the industries section of The History of Wednesbury. The industries section in The Annals of Tipton has also been extended. The story of West Bromwich's Roads, Canals and Railways has been added to West Bromwich Through the Ages and additions have been made to Churches and Religion. Another new addition is the story of West Bromwich's industry, including sections on foundries and patternmaking, spring making, Jensen cars, J. Brockhouse & Company Limited, George Salter & Company Limited, Archibald Kenrick and Sons Limited, and References. More photos have been added to the story of F. H. Lloyd & Company Limited, The 1940s and early 1950s in the industries sections in A Brief History of Darlaston and The History of Wednesbury. The section on the Villiers Engineering Company in the story of Sunbeam bicycles in the museum transport hall has been extended.

December 23: Additions have been made to the story of The Woodlands in the Penn Menu, in Local Areas, in the Articles menu. Additions have also been made to the story of Joseph Benton and part 3 of the story of James Gibbons Limited, in the Gazetteer of Lock and Key Makers in the museum. Additions have been made to Times of Change in At the Flicks in the Cinemas section in the Entertainment Hall in the Exhibition. Additions have also been made to More Accessories, Cameras and Lenses in The Corfield Story in the museum entrance hall and also to the story of Bayliss, Jones and Bayliss Limited in the metalware and holloware section in the metalware hall in the entrance hall in the museum. Additions have also been made to the story of Reade Brothers & Company Limited in the Other Trades Hall in the museum. Into the 20th Century in The Story of Walsall has been extended, as has Walsall Arboretum, Recent Times, The Second Half of the 19th Century, The Inter-War Years, Into the 19th Century and A brief History of Pelsall that is in Recent Times.

November 23: The story of Upper Penn in the 19th Century in the Articles on Local Areas Menu has been extended. The Other Industries section in The History of Wednesbury has also been extended, as has the cinemas section, the trams section, the Darlaston Pubs section, Churches and Chapels, Education, Into the 20th Century and the story of Charles Richards & Sons Limited and Wilkes Limited, both in the industries section in A Brief History of Darlaston. Additions have also been made to Recent Times, The Inter-War Years and the 12th to 14th century in Dudley in the Past. Two new sections have been added to West Bromwich Through the Ages. They are The Oak House and Early Growth and The Poor Law Union and the Municipal Borough. Additions have been made to the following sections in The Story of Walsall: Recent Times, The Second Half of the 19th Century, The Inter-War Years, and Parish Churches and Chapels of Ease, in Churches and Religion, also Into the 19th Century. More photos have been added to Into the 21st Century and Churches in The History of Wednesbury.

October 23: The history of Bloomfield Ironworks in the ironworks section in the industries section in The Annals of Tipton has been extended, as has Bricks and Pots in the Industries section and The Twentieth Century in A Brief History of Darlaston. Additions have also been made to The History of the Public House in the Darlaston Pubs section and a 1912 Directory in Into the 20th Century. The history of William Sanders & Company in electrical equipment manufacturers in the Other Industries section in The History of Wednesbury along with Some shops and businesses in the early 20th century and Public houses have also been extended. Two directories from 1922, Darlaston Streets and Occupants, and a Darlaston Residential Directory have been added to the section on the inter-war years in A Brief History of Darlaston, which itself has also been extended. The Company's Products section in the story of E.C.C. in the electrical and electronic engineering hall in the museum has been extended. Additions have been made to The Later Years in the story of A.J.S. motorcycles in the motorcycles section in the museum transport hall.