Step back in time to 1970 with a fascinating collection of photographs capturing life across Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Staffordshire.
From industrial workplaces and civic occasions to everyday street scenes and suburban life, these pictures offer a glimpse of the people, places and traditions that shaped the region at the start of a new decade.
Do you remember any of these places or scenes from 1970? Share your memories in the comments - we’d love to hear your stories.
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5. Little bow ties and big smiles for a quiet birthday at home
Dressed smart in matching shirts and bow ties, four-year-old triplets Earl, Lee, and Heath Fletcher share a reading lesson with their mother, Edna, at their Queen Street home in Walsall on August 13, 1970. Because Edna suffered from agoraphobia and rarely left the house, the family celebrated the boys' fourth birthday with a special quiet day indoors. With their father Douglas - a local postman - handling the family shopping, local health officials and Walsall South MP Sir Harry Goldsmid stepped in to arrange support and home help for the family. Do you remember reading about the Fletcher triplets or similar local family stories in the local papers during the 1970s? How did your family like to mark birthdays and quiet celebrations at home in those days? | Express & Star archive
6. Leaning into history at a busy town-centre corner
A distinctly wonky street light tilts at a precarious angle beside the Darlington Street Methodist Church at the corner of School Street in Wolverhampton on January 12, 1970. The unusual slant prompted an amused letter to the editor of the Express & Star from a local resident, who joked that George Formby himself must have leaned on the post to push it so far out of line. Pedestrians in hats and winter coats pass beneath the grand stonework and noticeboards advertising upcoming sermons by Rev Joseph Dowell, with the spire of St Peter's Church rising gracefully in the background. Do you remember walking past the famously leaning lamp-post on Darlington Street back in 1970? What other quirky street details or memorable sights around the town centre do you recall from those days? | Express & Star archive
7. Glowing scoreboards and a quiet crowd on election night
A modest handful of onlookers pause on North Street outside the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton to check the local election results on May 7, 1970. Mounted high on the grand facade, large illuminated scoreboards displayed vote tallies for local council wards including Bilston, Ettingshall, Tettenhall, Wednesfield, and Penn. Despite the council installing the state-of-the-art light-up boards to keep the public updated as votes were counted inside, only a sparse crowd turned out on the damp pavement to watch the numbers roll in late into the night. Do you remember gathering outside the Civic Hall on local election nights back in the 1970s? How do you recall following the local news and election fever around town before the age of instant digital updates? | Express & Star archive
8. Cameras roll as a classic biplane touches down for bank holiday racing
A vintage De Havilland Tiger Moth (G-ANKK) skims just feet above the grass runway as a television crew films its arrival at Halfpenny Green Airport on August 25, 1970. Spectators and cameramen watch intently as pilot and plane come in for a smooth landing in preparation for the upcoming Bank Holiday air races. With its distinctive striped tailfin and sleek fuselage, the classic biplane was a star attraction at post-war flying displays, drawing aviation enthusiasts and local families alike to the airfield perimeter. Do you remember attending the Bank Holiday air races or watching flying displays at Halfpenny Green back in the 1970s? Did you ever spot classic biplanes like the Tiger Moth taking to the skies over South Staffordshire? | Express & Star archive