I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year - I'll catch up with all my reads and rates whe...
I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year - I'll catch up with all my reads and rates when my guests have all gone home!
Member since:21.10.2000
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What can I say about Walsall? The place where the local council is so daft we regularly appear on the National news. For all of you who have ever thought ‘I wonder what Walsall is really like’, here’s the low-down.
I was born in Lichfield, which is a few miles away from Walsall, but have lived in Walsall (the Rushall and Bloxwich areas) for the majority of my life.
I had worked for Walsall MBC for almost 30 years until I became ill due to stress and depression partly brought on by the bad management at work. I was eventually dismissed from my job, as no one was interested in helping me to sort out the problems that were causing the stress. Still, I do feel so much better now I have escaped! Anyway back to Walsall …….
Walsall is situated in the West Midlands just north of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Parts of the borough date back many centuries. For example Rushall Hall is actually mentioned in The Doomsday Book.
The comment about the mad council refers back to the idea a few years ago of setting up lots of little town halls all over the borough and closing the Civic Centre. Certain of the councillors got a lot of national publicity about this one and some even got expelled from the Labour party so they formed their own Labour party! If anyone asked me where I came from or where I worked I was guaranteed to get a
laugh when I said Walsall, as we really were the laughing stock of the country.
Walsall is still the centre of the leather industry and saddles are made here for the Royal Family. We have a thriving Leather Museum where you can see the history of leather making and actually try your hand at some real leatherwork too. They have a shop where you can buy goods that have been made at the museum and they also host regular craft fairs during the year.
You may have heard in the media that Walsall has a new art gallery, paid for with National Lottery funding and opened by The Queen in the year 2000. (www.artatwalsall.org.uk) The building itself has won accolades from all round the world for it’s architecture. I can’t for the life of me think why! It is dreadful! It is just a plain square building with flat windows and looks very dated and boring to me, but what do I know? I haven’t yet been inside but those who have say that it is very interesting if a little sparse. It houses the Garman Ryan exhibition, together with paintings by both famous and local artists.
On the subject of art, if I can call it that, our latest acquisition is a statue allegedly of Diana Princess of Wales. A local sculptor made the statue from marble and presented it to the town. The skin of the person represented by the statue is made from black marble and she has silver marble for her hair and dress. It does not bear much resemblance to Diana anyway, but it’s the wrong colour for heaven sake! The Leader of the Council originally said that he thought that it was demonic, and then changed his mind to say it was wonderful – make of that what you will. Some people are saying that those of us who think that the colour is wrong must, therefore, be racially prejudiced! No, sorry, I can’t see that one at all! I would be just as horrified to see a statue of Diana Ross made from white marble wearing a black dress.
If you would like to see the statue and judge for yourself there is a tongue in cheek website, which has not impressed the Walsall councillors, at www.walsallwonderland.ic24.net. It even gives you the chance to destroy the statue on line!
One of Walsall’s big successes is the Arboretum Illuminations, an annual event run by the Leisure Services department of the Council. (www.walsall-lights.com) There has been an arboretum on this site here in Walsall since the fifteenth century and it still boasts a huge variety of different trees. There is a large lake where boats can be hired and which forms the backdrop for some of the spectacular lighting displays at illumination time. There is also a smaller lake and both of these were formed after the abandonment of limestone workings in the area. When I was a child I remember that the story was that the lake was bottomless. I believed this in my naïve way until my dad asked me how the water stayed in if there was no bottom! There are some lovely walks around the park and up to the extension which houses the children’s play area and lido and a 9 hole and an 18 hole golf course.
The illuminations are on from the middle of September until the end of October each year and visitors come from all over the country to see them. We even have coach parties from Blackpool! There are tree lights, tableaux, fountains, and lasers and a host of entertainment and souvenir and food stalls too. The prices are £4.50 on the gate for adults and £3.50 for children, OAP’s disabled people and their carers.
Walsall Town centre is currently undergoing a major transformation. A lot of the old buildings have been refurbished and many new wine bars have opened. This makes Walsall a more popular night-spot, although it isn’t a place I would go at night, as there used to be a reputation for trouble although, to be fair, I don’t know if this is still the case.
The very centre of the town, to be known as the civic square has been repaved and landscaped but the floor is none too even and it is already covered with discarded chewing gum. It has become a haven for skateboarders who are terrifying older people as they whiz past. (The skateboarders are whizzing not the old people!)
The shops in Walsall lack variation these days. Every shop seems to be a card shop, a shoe shop or a mobile phone outlet! There used to be a wonderful hardware shop run by two old ladies and it was a known fact throughout the area that, whatever you wanted you could be fairly sure they’d have one. Nowadays all we have are chain stores where the assistants look at you as though you’re mad if you ask for something out of ordinary!
On the subject of shopping there is a good market in Walsall with a lot of stalls selling a wide variety of goods from net curtains to garden plants and from fruit and vegetables to greetings cards. The market is open every Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and on Wednesday as a craft market.
There is a good web site for Walsall at www.walsall.gov.uk from which you can follow links to the other web sites that I have mentioned as well as finding out more information about the town and it’s inhabitants and history.
I wrote this opinion to show that there is a balance to be struck here in Walsall. We do have some exceptional things here such as the Illuminations, Leather Museum, market, etc but we also have litter, bad behaviour and a Council who don’t seem to be able to organise the proverbial in a brewery.
Now that my partner has almost finished his degree at University we will be looking to move down to the south coast as soon as possible.
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Well written as always Susan, I had never considered Walsall before now, but at least now I have some idea about the place.....Robin
craiggy_boy 07.06.2001 02:16
Hi there Susan:
Nice to see that I'm not the only Walsaller on Ciao! Great opinionk, although don't be so hard on the place :)
The town is better now than it ever has been - more shops and bars etc. with the development still going on till next year. True, the various youths around the centre are slightly off-putting, although I find it so much nicer than larger towns such as Wolverhampton to shop around - a few independent record shop (Sundown Records and Bridge Records, me like a lot :)) do sway me slightly.
Oh yeah lol and true, our lights are good and attract loads of people, but I think we stole a lot of them from Blackpool anyway - or so the story goes anyway.
Dogbert 06.06.2001 12:52
Great op. I'm a Walsall (FC) fan and have been for 4 or 5 years now, not that this is relevant, great op
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