Bilston Town Hall, Tech School, Library, and a switching station/Gurdwara

Not much to say about any of these…just some photos of our wee walk east of the Bilston Central tram stop.

Stopped to photograph the old Harthill’s Cycles signage and was confronted with the motor gang here. Live to ride, ride to live.

Bilston Town Hall yielded a Cut Mark.

Just above that we spotted the Blue Plaque commemorating John Freeman. We didn’t know who he was and I haven’t yet found his books in libraries but when I do I’ll give an opinion.

Along the way we passed a Gurdwara occupying an old bus and tram depot and the adjacent Wolverhampton District Electrical Tramways power station, c 1902. This was the generator building for the tramlines back then although they were superceded by buses within a few years.

The local museum and library (probably where I’ll have to go for the Black Country Sketches and Stories noted above) is another fantastic building. The landlady at the Trumpet told us that Bilston was an affluent town and someplace truly special to visit when she was a child. You can pretty well imagine it from some of these buildings.

The Bradley family made galvanized buckets in their Beldray factory, here (now luxury flats). Odd things to note: the automobile in the logo has nothing to do with the output of the plant and the name, Beldray, is the dyslexic signature of one of the children of the founder.

This listed yet derelict school is heartbreaking to encounter and I would invest lottery money — if my numbers ever came in — converting it to our residence.

The walls seem structurally sound but you can tell it needs the entire interior and probably the roof replaced.

Eleven years older than our house, we would know what to expect in these voluminous confines.

Oh well, dream on.