He was onny a little ’un, but he could swing his ’ommer
Reader provides background to recent mystery photograph
When she fell asleep and the music stopped, the audience would shout ‘Wind it up, Maude!’
IT’S always a delight when we get a response to an appeal for more information regarding a photo we’ve dug out of the Bugle archives.
Many of course have no information with them, but we’re always hopeful a Bugle reader will recognise a face or a place.
And a recent request for readers’ help, in our March 1 edition, has hit the jackpot – it turns out the photograph has appeared in our pages once before, almost three decades ago.
Colin Cartwright contacted us by email to give us more information on the photograph of workers posing with wrought iron railings, as featured on page 13 of that edition – we’ve reproduced it again, below. Colin told us: “The picture featured in your article titled, ‘Our forebears earned their living the hard way,’ is a portrait of the Cartwright Brothers works, of Vine Street, Harts Hill, Brierley Hill.
“Interestingly, this picture featured in The Bugle back in October 1994. My late aunt, Janet Fullard, detailed who they were in that original piece, and some of the products that they made.
“This article featured my grandfather, Arthur Cartwright, the small man in the middle of the photo in the 1994 article/your recently published image.”
The details which Janet originally provided explain that Arthur was just 4 feet 10½ inches tall – “but he could swing his forgin’ ommer as good as the rest of them.”
Amongst the firm’s more unusual items were animal cages for Dudley Zoo and Bailey Bridges for the Second World War.
Also in the photograph were Fred Cartwright, second from the left, and George Paddock, husband of Arthur’s sister, fifth from the right.
Colin added, “I have also attached a smaller photograph which shows the three Cartwright brothers, sons of Arthur. In the front middle, left to right, are Alfred (fourth man from left – my father), Arthur junior and Jess (my uncles). Arthur senior (my grandfather) is standing at the back with a cigarette in his mouth. “Unfortunately, I’m not able to identify the other workers. “When my grandfather died the company carried on manufacturing stampings for the motor industry. This included British Motor Corporation (BMC), Jaguar and Ford until 1966 when they sold the company to Moss Gear. “It was later sold on to Dudley Dropforging Company whose premises were directly opposite in
Vine Street. Today, the whole site, including Dudley Dropforging Co., is housing.
“Vine Street is also famously known for one of the early, if not the first, Lime Lights. This was a small cinema which can now be found at the the Black Country Museum for all to see.
“It was run by Jack Revell who at one time worked for my grandfather. Stories of old suggest that Maude, daughter of Jack, was tasked with keeping the music for the silent movies in the Lime Light running by winding the music.
“When Maude started to fall asleep the audience would shout out, ‘wind it up Maude!’
“I would be delighted to hear from anybody who may recognise others in the photos or who have fond memories of Vine Street Lime Light.”
■ If you’d like to contact Colin, please get in touch with the Bugle and we will put you in touch.