My old playground – as drawn from my mind’s eye
MOST of us regret, from time His to time, not having taken photographs of places from our younger years which now live on only in the memory.
Roger Evans of Willenhall remembers one particular corner of his home town with great fondness, and while he too lacks any snaps of it, he does, fortunately, have an almost photographic memory. sketch, reproduced above, was drawn entirely from his childhood recollections, of the area of wasteland that occupied him and his friends for most of their childhoods. Roger told us: “The drawing shows the end of Cedar Road, off Aston Road, Willenhall, as it would have looked in the late 1950s/early ’60s. I lived at 42
Cedar Road, which was the last house at the end of the road back then.
“A dry ditch ran across the end of the road which, in very bad wet weather, would act as an overflow for the culverted Waddens Brook.
Bridge
We were soldiers, cowboys, spacemen; whatever the imagination could dream up
“A little wooden bridge spanned the ditch, the path on the far side leading, through an alley between two houses, onto Noose Lane.
Beyond was a large wasteland field and two banks, each with a pylon on top.
The Grand Junction railway ran across the far end of the field, with Vaughan’s drop forging works on the far (Willenhall
Road) side, a large black factory which dominated the skyline.
River
The River Tame ran round to the left, around Josiah Parkes’s playing field. Waddens Brook ran into the Tame.
This whole area was called ‘the banks’, and it was my playground,
from morning till night, throughout my childhood years.
“Soldiers, Cowboys and Indians, spacemen, riding our bikes; whatever the imagination could dream up. And we became oblivious to the old steam locos and diesels passing by all day.
In the early 1970s the road was finally extended and
houses built on my old playground.
“Even though I had stopped playing over there for years, there was still a tinge of sadness at seeing it go.
“I’ve also supplied a photograph of how it looks now. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who might remember this area, or indeed have any photographs of it.”