WHAT'S HAPPENED TO NORTH STREET?

(Map of North Street)

As its name suggests this street was the principal route to the North from Wolverhampton. It ran from Queen Square for roughly three quarters of a mile, and at a time between the wars, it would contain every type of trade and business you could mention, plus two Churches two Schools, nine Pubs, until it reached number ten the ‘Gladstone’ on the Corner of Red Cross Street.

It was then renamed North Road and carried on roughly half the distance again passing many other shops, fine Victorian Terraced housing, including a home for unmarried mothers, a Working Mans Club two more pubs until it reached the five ways. Joining Waterloo Road and Stafford Street to become Stafford Road.

It’s surprising how soon we forget the details regarding these once familiar buildings and this locality but I hope, you find something enjoyable in trying to conjure up visions of the the North Street I once knew.

THE LONDES

I want to talk about a place called "The Londes". Picture this place:

(Molineux 2002)

Due to the building of the new Asda Supermarket, the re-building of the Molineux grounds, and the considerable extensions to the University Campus, the area where I spent my youth has been completely replaced by new buildings where students can stay, and also by their places of learning.

Gone forever is the lively self-contained community that was situated in between the two parishes of St Patrick's and St Peter and Paul's, where until the late 1950s you could find every kind of shop and industry, all of them drawing trade from the large amount of working class people living there.

(Map of the lost North Street around the 1950s)

For you to see and imagine this area, full of houses and businesses all to be re-allocated between the 1950s to 1970s, you start at the Molineux F.C. Car Park and go to the rear of the Asda Supermarket. Then walk twenty yards or so up what was once North Street towards the city centre.

(Steve Bull Stand seen from the Londes, mid 1980s)

On the left opposite the Steve Bull stand you will see some steps. These steps lead into what was once Nursery Street. I was born in Nursery Street in 1937, and my grandparents lived at the lower end of the street at No. 26 which overlooked “The Londes”.

Now, instead of the neat rows of terraced houses, there is just the Arthur Storer Building, which is a student faculty building. On the spot of where my home once stood is now the entrance to The School of Legal Studies.

(Steps to Nursery Street 1974)

Although the cast iron bollards that used to stand above the large steps at the bottom of this cul-de-sac have long since gone, if you were familiar with the area prior to the 1970s, then there are still some small reminders from the past there for you to spot.

(Steps to Nursery Street 2008)

Around this walk small bits of “The Londes” are still standing with original parts of the walls visible. Also you can see small portions of the diamond blue bricks that covered most of the pavements around the town at that time.

(Looking down North Street, with The Plume of Feathers sign on the right 1946)

As you carry on up North Street, past the south entrance to “The Londes” (where in my youth was the short cut to Charles Street or Stafford Street, via Lawyers Field or Deanery Row), there is now sited the main entrance to the College of Art.

(The Plume of Feathers Pub 2008)

But then what will always keep this spot clear in my memory of the past, is to see, standing on its original spot in front of the College of Art (thanks to all of the football supporters and drinkers), the Plume of Feathers pub.


Also just a hundred yards further up North Street stands what was once the Fox Hotel, now renamed and with a different brewery, but still a pub occupying the ground it did when my Dad courted my Mom from there in the early 1930s.

(The Fox Inn and the Underpass on the left 1974)

One regret - the Fox no longer looks across North Street to Charles Street and Tin Shop Yard, and the little shops up to the Chequer Ball and the Market Patch. It just stares at the large blank wall of the Ring Road under-pass.

A MESSAGE TO "OLD WUFFLERS"

Wolverhampton over the last half a century like many other towns and cities, has revelled in a orgy of of demolition and re-building, so its not surprising how soon we forget once familiar buildings and localities - My name is Billy Howe, and I do Wolverhampton Nostalgia, with my pictures and stories, over the next few months I’lI try to capture the atmosphere of the town as I knew it - which I hope will jog the memories of those who lived through those times and provoke the imagination of those who did not.

Please jump in at anytime and add your comments on anything that stirs your memory