Some of these sights might bring back fond memories - from the early arrival of the milkman and the unmistakable call of the rag-and-bone man to the rhythmic clink of local workshops, familiar street vendors and everyday scenes that were once simply part of life.
Over the decades, many of these trades and traditional ways of life have changed, while others have quietly disappeared altogether. But through this gallery, we can step back in time across Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Staffordshire to discover the hardworking people, traditional crafts, familiar scenes and everyday items that once featured in daily life. From typewriters and index filing systems to video cameras and workshops, these pictures offer plenty of reminders of just how much has changed.
How many of these bygone moments do you remember? Take a stroll through our nostalgia gallery, see what sparks a memory and share your own stories, photos and recollections in the comments.
- You can enjoy this and more with our weekly FREE Nostalgia Newsletter - with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and the Black Country - all sent to your inbox every week. Sign up here.
25. Braving the freeze for a piece of history
In February 1986, painter Bill Sheerin braved freezing temperatures and snow-covered scaffolding to brush up an ornate stone plaque. The intricate relief - featuring a royal coat of arms and the date 1887 - was created to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee on the gable of a historic civic building. Do you remember the bitter winter freeze of February 1986? Can you spot where this grand 1887 Golden Jubilee crest sits high above the local town centre, or do you remember seeing tradesmen working up on the icy rooftops? | Express & Star archive
26. Action behind the camera
On a spring day in May 1974, second-year cadet nurses at West Bromwich College of Commerce and Technology took to the studio to produce an educational film on drug abuse. Operating the cameras, checking scripts, and presenting before the lens, the young trainees carried out their own research and wrote the entire production to help educate fellow student nurses. Do you remember taking part in early media projects or training schemes at local technical colleges back in the 1970s? Did you or anyone in your family train as a nurse in the area during this era? | Express & Star archive
27. A novel new life for a classic red kiosk
In 2015, villager Wendy Hanlon browsed shelves stocked with paperbacks inside a iconic K6 red telephone box in Wall, Staffordshire. As mobile phones made traditional payphones obsolete, local communities found creative ways to save these beloved street landmarks - transforming them into tiny, community-run mini libraries, life-saving defibrillator stations, and local history displays. Has your local village or town preserved its classic red phone box by giving it a second life? What is the most unusual or creative reuse of an old payphone box you have come across around the Black Country and Staffordshire? | Express & Star archive
28. Sparks flying under the heavy hammer
In October 1966, ironworkers manoeuvred a glowing, white-hot bar of steel beneath a massive drop forge at the works of David Adams Limited in Cradley Heath. Famous for producing heavy marine tackle, skilled smiths at the foundry braved intense heat and thunderous impacts to hammer out massive anchors designed to hold ships steady in stormy seas across the world. Did anyone in your family work in the heavy iron and anchor foundries that once defined our industrial heartland? Do you remember the ground-shaking thud of the steam hammers echoing through nearby streets on workdays? | ©PA