Postcards star in Walsall heritage display
Walsall Arboretum's bandstand was opened up to the public for a display of old postcard pictures as part of the national Heritage Open Days.
Alison Maxam shared her old postcard collection of Walsall Arboretum with the public inside the bandstand on Saturday and Sunday as part of the scheme.
The bandstand, which is normally closed to the public, housed the collection of postcards – which included views and landmarks of Walsall Arboretum from the 1900s to the 1960s.
Alison, who organised the event in conjunction with Walsall Council, said: "As it is Heritage Open Days this weekend and this week, I was really keen to do something in Walsall. I have a collection of postcards of Walsall Arboretum and I really wanted to share them with others.
"I had the postcards enlarged to poster size and put them on display. The Heritage Open Days is all about opening up places to the public that they don't normally have access to – so they opened up the bandstand especially for this, as you can't normally access it.
"I live near the Arboretum and have noticed all the people who have been using the park this year because of lockdown so I thought it would be a nice thing to do. And as a result, I have met lots of people who wanted to share their memories of the Arboretum.
"We were really surprised as lots of people came out to see us especially for the event, while other people popped in while they were strolling around the park."
She added: "I just had all these images of Walsall Arboretum that I wanted to share them with everyone.
"There is so much heritage in Walsall and we should celebrate it. The Arboretum is a fantastic resource, we just want people to enjoy it."
