We would like to hear from people that were born and raised in the village but no longer live in Great Wyrley. We would like to know where in the World are you now? Maybe you are a mile down the road or even living in Australia. We’d love to know why you moved from Wyrley and ended up living where you are today. How old were you when you moved? Any remaining relatives still in Great Wyrley? Maybe you have some photos from when you lived in the village? and a photo of you now, if we get enough photos be could do a ‘Then & Now’ story for our society magazine.
This is just research for the History Society, we are interested to find out why people left the village & if they still reminisce about living in Great Wyrley. Please send any photos to: photos@greatwyrleylocalhistorysociety.co.uk
Please leave a comment…
Hi
I was born in Bloxwich in 1975. My parents lived at 21 Achilles Close, which was a two bed terrace. With a growing family, myself being the third child, we moved to the much bigger 5 Hatherton Street in Cheslyn Hay when I was only 3 months old. From there I attended Cheslyn Hay First School which was very convenient as it was on the same road. I remember my nursery days at the Salem, which always seemed like a world away from home when you’re only two feet tall! I loved my old school……I used to run home for lunch to see if I could get there before the digital clock we had turned to 12:01. Sundays were spent walking with my dad along Saredon Road, over the A460 (when it was a crossroads before the M6 toll and before it was bypassed). We’d quite often end up at the Four Ashes pub, where my dad would spend an hour or so supping a pint or five, and we’d walk back in time for Sunday lunch….the highlight of my week.
We moved back to Wyrley when I was eight years old. Greatly upsetting for me as I’d loved my life in Cheslyn Haay and although it was only the next village it seemed like the opposite end of the country to me. I was familiar with the village as our family doctor (Doctor De Cruz) was at the health centre on the Quinton. We moved in August 1984 to the newly renovated prefabs. 13 Oak Avenue is where I resided for the next nine years. I was enrolled in Landywood First School and my first day loomed in this new environment which was completely alien. My first teacher (Mrs MscSorley) was a lovely, warm teacher who quickly helped me to adjust, and I soon made new connections with my fellow pupils. Before long Cheslyn Hay seemed like a distant memory. However we had a weekly swimming trip to the leisure centre ajoined to the recently built Cheslyn Hay High School. The coach trip passed by my old house. I remember planting some sunflowers before we moved so on the first few swimming trips of the new term at my new school I could check out their growth as we passed by.
Landywood First School, another iconic building lost to history. Our end of term production of “The Wizard of Oz” was my first real experience of the stage and influenced my budding acting career!! We moved down to the much more modern Primary School as the three tier education system was abolished in favour of the current two tier system. The years rolled by and by 1987 I was at Great Wyrley High School, with more new friends to come. I struggled to settle into what is now Year 7 but as time progressed I soon adapted. The lecture theatre became my home as I enrolled in as many school productions as time would allow. The art block was another solace of mine and this is where I achieved by 96% pass grade in GCSE Art. Fast forward to 1994……..Year 13 and A Levels. and the biggest upheaval of my short life. This is where my story of living in Great Wyrley ends. During my A Level I was forced to leave and relocate to Stamford in Lincolnshire. At the time this was the last thing I needed or wanted but the choice was not mine. I always intended to moved back but as I established a life in Stamford and later Peterborough the thought of uprooting again was unthinkable. Fast forward to 2023 and I bought my first house in Northstowe, just outside Cambridge, and that’s where I am now.
One of my sisters still lives locally and I have a handful of old school friends that I keep in touch with. I make the trip back a couple of time a year. I always make the point of having a drive around both villages to keep the memory of my early life alive. I may have spent the last 31 years in the east of England but Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay will always be home………where my roots were first planted.