Pictures from the past: Walsall throughout the years
Picture from the past is an Express & Star feature giving you the chance to look back on bygone days.
Today we take a look at the changing features around Walsall town centre.
From the town's market stalls to canalside developments, these 10 images show just some of the changes through the decades.
If you know any more information about the images featured please contact us via newsdesk@expressandstar.co.uk
A snapshot of Walsall through the years
1. High Street, Walsall, in November 1970, with St Matthew's Church in the background.
2. A photograph of High Street, in Walsall, looking towards the Bridge, as it looked around the early 1900s.
3. Park Street, in Walsall, had been decorated for the town’s festival fortnight when pictured here in July, 1984.
4. The ABC Cinema as it was then at the top of Towns End Bank in 1973. It had originally been The Savoy Cinema which opened in October 1938. Previously the site had been home to Her Majesty’s Theatre. Later the land was redeveloped for Woolworths at the top of Park Street.
5. A busy day at Walsall Market, taken in March 1980, shortly before the opening of the Saddlers Centre.
6. An aerial view of Walsall on February 14, 2002, showing the New Art Gallery (lower left) and the Walsall Canal running above it and the new Crown Wharf shopping centre (right).
7. Walsall Bus Station was a very basic affair when this picture was taken in April, 1969. Plans had been put forward to cover-in the station and provide space for additional shops, but the proposals were threatened by a dispute about ownership of the site.
8. The redesigning of Walsall’s Bradford Place bus station in January, 1980, had shown the Victorian building in a new light. It was one of the remaining historical buildings in the town. The bus shelters which for many years had hidden the ornate frontage of the Victorian Art School had been removed. Built in 1888 at a cost of 4,500 it was opened by the then MP Sir Charles Forster as the Walsall Science and Art Institute. It was later used as a painting and decorating section of the School of Art.
9. A view of Digbeth Arcade from October, 1981, showing the domed glass roof. The arcade was built from 1895 to 1897, and retained its Victorian character, providing an interesting alternative to the modern Saddlers Centre.
10. The view from the flats at the wharf near the New Art Gallery in Walsall in January 2005.
