Pictures and postcards tell story of lost piece

Samera Khatoon

THIS year the Willenhall address known as Doctor's Piece has completely changed, with the construction of a brand new supermarket, plus car park and adjoining roads. Not for many years has this Black Country town, made famous by its lock and key industry, seen such a change in its historical characteristics, but thanks to Stan Warner we are able to take a few steps back to an age when the corner shop was still the most important local retailer, and a halfpenny postcard could be sent and delivered to its destination on the same day. Stan spent most of his childhood in and around Doctor's Piece, and over the last few years he has accumulated a great deal of family archive material, some items of which have already graced the pages of the Bugle. Using picture postcards, postcard messages, and photographs that define the age in which they were taken, we hope to paint a picture of life, from those early years of the twentieth century, of Willenhall folk who lived in and around Doctor's Piece, and include comments made on the Great War that was in its very early stages. We begin with a subject that is currently very much in the news, the trouble in the postal industry. No, there wasn't a strike in 1908, but the mobile phone of its day was as popular as ever; the treasured postcard. An amusing picture postcard was sent to Mrs H.Pitt (Stan's grandmother Emma) on Friday 18th December 1908, which had been posted in the Willenhall/ Wolverhampton area using a halfpenny stamp, and franked at the local post office at 9.45 am.The picture is a cartoon depicting the 'Captain of the Losing Team' walking the football pitch with the aid of crutches, his head bandaged and looking the worse for wear. Its specific meaning may have been lost over the years, but at least it shows a captain soldiering on in the face of adversity. It was sent by Alice who needed to get a hurried message to her friend Emma who lived at Doctor's Piece. The postcard read, "Dear Emma, we are going to see Vesta Tilling (a wellknown Edwardian theatrical personality) tonight. Meet the 5.25 tram at the Market Place." Who knows if Emma met Alice at the Market Place, but the likelihood is she did, to enjoy an evening out at the theatre. The year before, just after Christmas (January 17 1907), a very young Miss Mary Pitt (Stan Warner's mom) received a postcard from an aunt Pollie who lived in Codsall, addressed to her home at 15 Doctor's Piece, Willenhall, near Wolverhampton. It read, "Better late than never. Dear Mary, How did you enjoy Christmas? We had a lovely time of it and plenty of snow. It looked simply splendid in the country." Once again a humorous picture had been chosen, this time showing a car bogged down on a muddy road in terrible weather, with one young bloke pulling whilst a lad and another young man pushed with all their might. With the First World War starting in Europe in early August 1914, the initial effects felt by the general public were few and far between. But that didn't stop casual remarks being written in the small space a postcard allowed for correspondence. In Prestatyn, North Wales, Mary Pitt was enjoying her stay at the Lichfield Diocesan Girls Friendly Society Home of Rest, and on Thursday 20th August she penned a postcard with some important information to send to her parents back at Doctor's Piece: "Dear Mother and Father, We find we cannot stay till Monday because matron says there are about 23 waiting to come in. There are several that want to stay another week, but they can't. Thanks very much for your letter. We have seen lots of trains full of Canadian soldiers. P.S. Expect we shall come on 3 o'clock train on Saturday." (The Canadian soldiers had most probably disembarked at the port of Holyhead in Anglesey). Institution The G.F.S. (Girl's Friendly Society) where Mary was staying was formed in 1874 and was an institution widespread throughout the country, involved with the moral and general welfare of girls. It provided numerous facilities for the young women under its protection, most important of which were the lodges which offered cheap, good quality accommodation, both to respectable servants between jobs, and also young women such as mill and factory workers in non residential employment. Membership By 1913 G.F.S. membership had risen to over 200,000, and demand for a place at the various lodges was very high. It's therefore easy to understand why Mary couldn't stay on in Prestatyn for an extra week. On the same day (Aug 20) a postcard was on its way to Prestatyn from Willenhall from Mary's aunt. "Dear Mary, Thanks for P.C. I'm glad you are having a good time and that you like the home. We are going on fine with the War. The English have already trodden on French ground, so we're sure of a fine battle, what ho! With love." There were other people staying in North Wales at that particular time who knew Mary, but unfortunately their names are illegible on a postcard which was sent to the G.F.S. home in Prestatyn on Friday 21st August from nearby Llandudno. The postcard reads, "Dear M. Re. your card this morning for which many thanks. Hope you are enjoying yourself, also K. Needless to say we are. I think this War is about the limit, don't you. My brother-in-law's mother and sisters came from Brussels last week and they are terribly upset. Trust to hear again from you soon. My love to K. and yourself." Shops The photographs Stan has provided of those allimportant local shops that used to thrive before the supermarkets ambushed the high street are from a later era, but they too have been consigned to the history books and deserve representation. Willenhall is currently going through a transformation which will hopefully benefit future generations. But we must never forget the history that has made that possible.