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Some of the most remarkable items we have
had at our meetings were two pairs of shoes, lent to us by Mrs.
Nicolls.. These shoes were displayed in the shoe shop window of her
father, Mr. Turner, in Oxford Street, where they advertised the shoe
maker's craft. This pair has, on its soles, roses made out of
leather, dyed red and black, and outlined with tiny brass nails. |
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The other pair commemorated the 1937 Silver Jubilee, with
portraits of King George V and Queen Mary on the red leather soles
and the union jack on the heels, all picked out in the same tiny
brass nails. These shoes are a wonderful demonstration of the skills
of the shoe maker. No one seeing these shoes should ever again
refer disparagingly to something being "cobbled together". Mrs.
Nicholls and her husband, Tony, were both teachers and let us have
many photos of the teaching staff at St. Thomas Moore R. C. School,
Willenhall. |
| Alf Lovell brought along this fascinating
book, which probably originally belonged to a member of Bilston
council.
It is a collection of the minutes of the Bilston Borough
Council Public Works Committee from 1950 to 1957. It records
details of all the building work then being carried out, for
example, on council housing, and all the repairs and improvements
to roads and sewers. |
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Barry Woodberry brought along this book, the accounts of the
Bilston Turnpike Trust. This contains a wealth of invaluable detail
about the operation of the trust - but, in Victorian times, someone
had used it as a scrapbook. Every page is covered with prints cut
out of magazines such as the
Illustrated London News and The Graphic. This will
cause a problem for any archives conservationist. As a record of
the Turnpike Trust it is unique and priceless. Even as it is, it is
a highly remarkable document. |
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In the afternoon Gerald Hanrahan gave a sermon on
old Oxford Street, with contributions from many members of the
congregation, including our committee members, Alma Darby and Kath
Kiely. There were more jokes and good stories than the traditional
sermon has and the talk was very well received. |
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Gerald rounded off his talk with a bit of community
singing - good old hymns like "Down at the Old Bull and Bush". This
was accompanied by Mary Leadbeater (Kath Kiely's sister) at the
piano. Mary had tinkled the ivories throughout the day. It was a
delightful background for the whole meeting. |
