A few misty eyes around Wolves I should think. Until I saw the photos I hadn’t realised how big a part of my youth (30 plus years ago) that chimney and the smell of the rubber actually were.
Picture 1 showing the whole site from the air includes a bungalow built by my husband’s grandfather, a furnace builder, in 1925. The bungalow is the 10th building to the left of the main Goodyear entrance, and to its right is a narrow plot of land which was,I believe, still owned by Goodyear when it closed down.
We have the original drawings for the bungalow and all the documentation regarding the original purchase of the land, at which time the only other area which had been purchased at the time was a small site immediately to the left.
My husband’s parents owned the bungalow until the year 1999 and my husband could not believe when we passed along Stafford Rd 2 weeks ago that it appears you can once again from the back garden see over to Bushbury Hill, a view he had not seen since he was a young child before building 44 was erected.
I had visited the bungalow for 33 years until it was sold and can remember the smell of tyres and the black smut on my mother-in-law’s washing. There were tales also of tyres being passed by workers over or through the fence to the piece of land next to the bungalow!
I can remember 12 feet being taken off the front garden when that part of Stafford Rd became dual carriageway - I’m sure this was 1974.
My husband is delighted that building 44 has gone as the new owners of the bungalow are prepared to let my husband visit to see the view (almost) as it was over 50 years ago. Very interesting article!
It should not be knocked down it is a landmark of this great city! You see it when you come into the city on the motorway and when you see it you know your home. Save Goodyear Chimney !!!!!
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4 Comments
A few misty eyes around Wolves I should think. Until I saw the photos I hadn’t realised how big a part of my youth (30 plus years ago) that chimney and the smell of the rubber actually were.
Great aerial photo.
I would like to see some pictures of the Goodyear factory before demolition.
Picture 1 showing the whole site from the air includes a bungalow built by my husband’s grandfather, a furnace builder, in 1925. The bungalow is the 10th building to the left of the main Goodyear entrance, and to its right is a narrow plot of land which was,I believe, still owned by Goodyear when it closed down.
We have the original drawings for the bungalow and all the documentation regarding the original purchase of the land, at which time the only other area which had been purchased at the time was a small site immediately to the left.
My husband’s parents owned the bungalow until the year 1999 and my husband could not believe when we passed along Stafford Rd 2 weeks ago that it appears you can once again from the back garden see over to Bushbury Hill, a view he had not seen since he was a young child before building 44 was erected.
I had visited the bungalow for 33 years until it was sold and can remember the smell of tyres and the black smut on my mother-in-law’s washing. There were tales also of tyres being passed by workers over or through the fence to the piece of land next to the bungalow!
I can remember 12 feet being taken off the front garden when that part of Stafford Rd became dual carriageway - I’m sure this was 1974.
My husband is delighted that building 44 has gone as the new owners of the bungalow are prepared to let my husband visit to see the view (almost) as it was over 50 years ago. Very interesting article!
It should not be knocked down it is a landmark of this great city! You see it when you come into the city on the motorway and when you see it you know your home. Save Goodyear Chimney !!!!!