| 21 May 2013 |
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Living in Caldmore Caldmore lies to the south of Walsall, about a kilometre (just over half a mile) from the City Centre. The area is largely the product of Victorian builders, but its antecedents were a collection of hamlets, which merged over time, and eventually became absorbed within the unfolding urban area.
Extensive redevelopment has taken place since the 1950s, with many slum properties, dating back to the Victorian era, being replaced with improved, and newly-built, flats and houses. Oral histories have been collected from residents who have lived all, or most, of their lives in Caldmore. Their memories reveal how the community developed and changed during the twentieth century. Click here to listen to a sound bite from an Oral History recording (500k - 25seconds). If you are unable to listen to the recording for what ever reason please use this link which will take you to a transcript.
Transcript“ Well, I mean, Caldmore was a … well you hadn’t really got to go down the town. Because Caldmore, well there was Perk’s and you’d got Bedworth's the fruiters, and it was a lovely little village. Everybody knowed each other and you could get more or less anything; but her (Granny) used to like going down the town.” Mr G. was brought up in Bath Street, Caldmore by his grandmother during
the 1950s. Going ‘down the town’ is going into central Walsall. |
The
main settlement was around Caldmore Green, a triangular piece of land
where several old ways met. The development of Caldmore during the late
nineteenth century was based around the Green, which became its commercial
and social centre.