Tag: Kings Hill

October 18th – I’ve been in Darlaston all this week, and Kings Hill continues to pique my interest. As well as some great faded architecture, this characterful post-industrial borderland between Walsall and Sandwell contains a really great park. Recently refurbished Kings Hill Park – which I erroneously referred to as King George Park in an earlier post for some reason – is hilly, wooded and beautiful. There’s a wonderful new sculpture, and the whole place is wearing autumn beautifully. Emerging into Franchise Street, I admired the view of St. Matthews, Walsall over the rooftops. There are some fantastic old houses here.

Darlaston is full of surprises.

October 14th – I was in Darlaston, and had to nip into Wednesbury, so I shot over King’s Hill on the way home. It’s a funny area, combining a post industriaair with pockets of modern commercial units and surprisingly beautiful old buildings. This one – the former Kings Hill Methodist Church is one such lovely old building. Sat on the edge of the glorious King George park, it sits unused. It was up for auction on the 5th October – wonder if anyone bought it? It would convert into a lovely home to someone with the imagination (and budget) to do so.

March 6th – I was very angry about this. Over the last week or so, I’ve watched workers from the council clear up the Kings Hill end of Victoria Park in Darlaston. They cut back the trees and scrub, swept all round and even pulled all the rubbish out of the marsh. It looked better than I’ve seen it for years. What do I find this morning? A fly-tipped armchair. What kind of selfish tossers do this? I hope their balls drop off, I really do. Those guys worked hard for the benefit of your community and this is how you repay them. You’re nothing but scum.

February 29th – I keep passing this odd house in King’s Hill, Darlaston, and it’s strangely fascinating to me. It’s not a bit like it’s neighbours, and seems like a real stylistic miss-mash. It’s an odd building, and I wonder what its history is? It’s clearly quite old. The bay doesn’t match either of the upper windows, which themselves clash – although the sills are the same. An odd little curiosity.

February 23rd – On my way to work on a sunny, warm summer- sorry, February day, I was in shirtsleeves. Taking the scenic route through Kings Hill Park in Darlaston, the spring flowers were just crying out for attention. As was a wee ladybird, sunning itself. 2012 certainly is running the whole gamut of weather, that’s for sure…

January 24th – Sadly, there’s another derelict building in Kings Hill, Darlaston that I’ve as yet not recorded. The Scott Arms has been empty and boarded up for a long tome now, and like the other lost pubs in the locality, I doubt it will see life as an inn again. I don’t know what it was like as a pub, this isn’t my patch, but it’s clear to see that the decline of local industry and a change in social habits have sealed the fate of many a backstreet, blue collar boozer like this. A tragedy.

January 11th – I also passed the old Three Crowns Pub in Kings Hill today. Once, this pub would have bustled with the workers from nearby factories like Servis. Now, it seems to be the home of Martin Inspection, and still seems to be in use – the lights are often on when I pass at night. I think this is a lovely building, with some very interesting details. Sadly, it has no architectural or historical value, so I suspect it will eventually be lost, maybe when the old Servis site next door gets redeveloped. 

July 21st – Saint Andrew’s Methodist Church in Kings Hill, Darlaston is a sad sight. An interesting edifice, built out of very red, red brick, it seems derelict and abandoned. Let’s hope it doesn’t befall the same fate as the Mellish Road methodist church in Walsall, currently being demolished after a 20 year abandonment. I wonder who owns it and way may lie in store. I fear for old buildings in our area, we seem so negligent with our architectural heritage.

June 30th – Thursday took me into the Black Country. Returning via King’s Hill Park, making a call at the hated PC World in Axletree Way, I took a spin down Franchise Street. I noticed that the view from the town end was wonderful, across rooftops to St. Matthews, Walsall and beyond to Paddock. Tameway Tower is also prominent. The sixties were cruel to Walsall, very cruel indeed.