Thursday November 4th 2021

Highly intrigued to see this image (above) posted on social media quite recently.  While no real detail of the locality concerned can be seen, it was supposedly taken at a site called Wallington Pool - on Wallington Heath - in Bloxwich, on the Northern-most edge of Walsall Borough.

 Wallington Heath itself, as many might already know, is the site of a reasonably famous 'ghost story'... that of the Old Kings Arms coaching inn and the 'bale of stolen cloth'....

The Kings Arms once stood just off the Stafford Road, on the aforementioned Heath, the thoroughfare being a highly busy route in centuries past.  One night, a stagecoach arrived at the inn, carrying - among it's usual array of weary travelers - a young woman with a consignment of valuable cloth.  Legend dictates that, during their overnight stay, someone associated with the inn (many versions of the story say it was a stable hand), decided to steal the cloth from the unfortunate girl and, in the process, murdered her!  No one was ever convicted of the crime and, in the years that followed, stories of a sad, ghostly girl - seen weeping under a tree, next to a nearby pool, were reported.  (*Some references say that, during the brutal attack, the assailant somehow 'cut off' the woman's hand... which subsequently 'went missing', for some reason?  Personally, I believe this detail to be a simple case of 'borrowing from one story to embellish another', perhaps, and can't help seeing a possible association with the 'Hand Of Glory' story from the White Hart Inn, in Caldmore, Walsall... one of the West Midlands most famous haunted sites!?)

Almost all references to this 'ghost' include the aforementioned 'pool'... but, over the years, a little confusion has developed as to 'which' pool is involved?  Most references mention 'Wallington Pool', which stands 50 to 100 yards from the Kings Arms site.  As indicated by the map below, another pool - a simple fish pond - is situated 'immediately next to' the Kings Arms location... so, surely, this would have been the most obvious pond for the ghost to appear near?  Whichever, both of these pools are still extant today, though - depending on the time of year - the fish pond is often SO covered by foliage and pond scum, it's reasonably hard to identify as a body of water!   

 

While the above story is almost certainly pure fiction - no names, or accurate dates, etc, are ever suggested and there is no historic data to support such a tale - the Old Kings Arms itself was indeed a long-standing feature of the Bloxwich landscape.  During the early years of the 20th, however, the coaching inn - already transformed into a private dwelling by this point - was converted into a Convent, for the usage of the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres.  With the addition of a Secondary School, built onto the existing complex just prior to 1910, the site stayed in the hands of the sisters until the early 60's, when it finally closed....

In the years following the closure, the entire area was flattened and a fairly up-market housing estate built on the site... and it is here, it seems, that the ghostlore of this particular spot takes a new direction, greatly reflecting on the more recent history of the locality.

In speaking to the partner of a friend around 25 yrs ago - a person that knew the area involved reasonably well - I was told that a close friend of theirs, whose family occupied one of the houses in the aforementioned estate, reported instances of poltergeist activity in their home... along with the appearance of a 'ghostly Nun'!? 

Subsequently, other reports of 'phantom Nuns' in the immediate area have surfaced... not only at the site of the former Convent itself, but also in the surrounding region, such as the Nun-like form that we have previously posted about, in nearby King George V Playing Fields, a little distance to the rear of the spot in question!  (The account of this latter sighting can be viewed HERE).

In light of these Nun-related sightings, it is interesting to just take another look at the photograph shown at the beginning of this post again.  While being under no illusions about the origins of the picture concerned - it's almost definitely nothing more than the breath of the photographer being highlighted by the camera flash - it is rather amusing to have, in scrutinising the pic, turned the image 90 degrees to the right and instantly noticed what appears to be a 'Nun-like face'... complete with head-gear... gazing off towards the left of shot!  Lol!  (Slightly darkened and sharpened below, purely to enhance the effect concerned!) 

  

         

 

Thursday November 4th 2021

For a number of months now, I find that I've been literally 'bending myself double' in trying to re-discover a little, archaic, 'spooky' mystery - first noticed some while ago now - that involves old 'Moseley Village', in the Eastern-most section of Wolverhampton Borough.

Skimming over details, for the sake of brevity, suffice it to say, there is a topographical feature, named as 'Hobs Hole', recorded as being situated 'near Willenhall' (just to the East of Moseley Village) in a number of old, historical references to the general region.  Unfortunately, a more exact location for this site is NEVER actually mentioned... perhaps leading to the notion that its precise position was already 'forgotten' by the time these references were made? (It's listed in 'The History Of Bilston', by GT Lawley, for example, which was first published in 1863. Again, there are a number of mentions in other publications, but the reference is always the same, very brief, 'Hobs Hole, near Willenhall...' and nothing more, leading the reader to surmise that all such references are, most likely, copied over from the same, vague source?)

However... and herein lies the rub... I KNOW that - some while ago - I saw an old map that has a site listed as 'Hobs Hole' marked on it, roughly in the position shown by the 'red circle' in the image at the top of this post.  For obvious reasons - given it's position - I'd assumed that THIS was, most possibly, the 'Hobs Hole, near Willenhall' mentioned in those numerous, historic references?
 
To clarify on the location involved: the spot concerned is just off the busy crossroads, formed by the meeting of Willenhall Road, Moseley Road and Neachells Lane, between Moseley Village and Portobello, on the edge of Willenhall.  If you follow Moseley Road in a Southerly direction, on pretty-much any map over 50 or so years old, an area called 'Moseley Hole' can usually be seen, on the left-hand side of the thoroughfare, around 200 yards from the aforementioned crossroads.  In trying to help with my research, a number of people have noted this locality and suggested THIS is actually the feature that I'm recalling... though I know this to be incorrect, as - in remembering the map - I ALSO recall seeing 'Moseley Hole' mentioned too.  'Hobs Hole', in my minds-eye, was situated North of 'Moseley Hole', on the same side of Moseley Road though... but much closer to the main crossroads.
 
In considering the version of map that I am currently trying to locate again, I have guessed that the source material concerned was of sufficient age - or 'copied from earlier maps' of sufficient age (as most mapping is carried out / created, of course) - to have had the site of this greatly forgotten 'Hobs Hole' still recorded on it, possibly?  In studying maps over the years, however, it is a often a practice to 'miss out' certain details on the newer map (being created / drawn) that are originally shown on the older map (being used as source material)... especially so, I'd imagine, if the feature concerned is possibly regarded as 'of little consequence' or of no particular, further importance?  (This kind of practice does actually work both ways, it should be noted, as long demolished sites can still be found on the most modern maps, despite having vanished literally decades and decades earlier!  As an example of the latter, I have an 'A to Z' from the 1990's which still shows the grand, old Moseley Court, Bushbury, on it... despite the fact that the property was actually demolished in the 1960's!  I've not seen a more recent 'A to Z' to check whether the place is still recorded as extant therein?)  With regards to the former suggestion, however, I'm just guessing that this is possibly why the Willenhall 'Hobs Hole' came to vanish from maps over time(?)
    
To say this conundrum is bothering me is a considerable understatement, as I've been wracking my brains over the matter for many, many weeks now!  Sadly - try as I might - I just cannot seem to locate the map concerned again!?  I've searched and re-searched all of the available map services online (that you could possibly imagine).... but all to no avail!  Inquiries at Wolverhampton Archives and Wolverhampton Main Library have also revealed nothing of use, though the History Centre service isn't 'up and running' properly as yet - due to ongoing Covid restrictions - so I wasn't able to exactly search the archive anywhere near as freely as I'd have wished, sadly.

In furtherance to the above conundrum, it is also interesting to find that nearby Deans Road was, at one point in time, called 'Buggins Road'. (Some listings call it 'Buggens' Road or Lane).

Also of interest, moving slightly North of the crossroads mentioned earlier, we find an intriguing (if somewhat tentative) suggestion regarding the origins of the name 'Neachells'... which, according to etymological sources could indicate it might, in some interpretations, translate as 'The Hill Of The Apparition'?

In following this vein, Ray Fellows - in his book 'Wednesfield Our Village' - mentions Hart Road (Neachells) and says: "At the bottom end towards the "Tube" many strange things have been seen here over hundreds of years.  It is said to have been a place where the devil, elves and goblins have appeared. I must say that it does have an atmosphere about it, that I cannot explain...."  (I must admit that I was most interested to see this comment, for a couple of reasons... not least because Merrills Hall - the site of which Hart Road literally 'leads to', from the direction of Wednesfield - was rumoured to be quite haunted).
 
In just attempting to round up the above waffle... I have, of course, neglected to really say anything about the archaic usage of such words as 'Hob', 'Bug', 'Pouk', etc, which greatly leads to them frequently being used topographically, in the UK.  As this post is already a bit of a ramble, I basically took this angle as fairly self-explanatory to anyone interested in the ghostlore of the British Isles and so forth. It is interesting to note, however, just how old most of the references possibly are... local examples, in such a highly industrialised and heavily populated region as this, standing out particularly, as most places holding such titles would have originally been isolated and greatly 'rural' in nature!  Lol!  I always refer to these words as 'archaic' when mentioning them, but we seldom realise just how truly ancient some terminology genuinely is, eh!?

Thursday November 4th 2021

I would always try and keep my personal views on politics - at least 'non-ghost-related' subjects - from being aired on this blog... but, having only come up in the local press in recent days, this is one item that I believe 'has to be' mentioned.... 

Greatly related to the post above, Pouk Hill - on the border of Walsall and Bentley - has been 'on my radar' for a number of years now, mainly due to it's name... and what such a title might signify in the region, historically speaking, in a potential, 'paranormal' context? 

As with topographical sites and features containing such words as 'Hob' and 'Bug' in their names, 'Pouk' is also a potential indicator of otherworldly influences, the Middle English translation for the term often meaning: 'An evil spirit, a devil, goblin; a devil, or the Devil, Satan', etc. 

Similar to a number of other terms, like those (most common examples) mentioned above, this is a name that was frequently associated with places or regions that had some kind of 'paranormal' history or reputation - such as a site that was thought to be 'haunted' and so on. Usage of such terminology is archaic at the vest best, however, so - in most of these examples - the reason for the usage, or 'the story behind' such usage, is completely lost to time, sadly.... 

In the Walsall example, however, I have been told - in more recent years - that some 'ghostly activity' is not exactly unknown! (Though I find that this is a distinct rarity, with these places, it has to be suggested?) A year or two ago, I was told by a woman that she was cycling through Pouk Hill during the early hours of the morning, returning home from work, when she saw a misty, figure-like form silently cross the road in front of her. The shape simply passed from one side of the thoroughfare to the other - within yards of the bewildered onlooker - before passing into the open space formerly occupied by the local quarry and out of sight....? 

And so... it now seems, according to recent, local press coverage, that a considerable portion of Pouk Hill is - the same as a LOT of the UK at present - in fear of vanishing forever, under some hastily erected, panic-built housing project! I shall purposefully leave my own views on the why's and wherefores of this current, highly destructive 'plague' out of these comments and, suffice it to say, it would be an horrific shame to see one of the few green areas in this region - especially with potential, supernatural history - disappear under an unwanted avalanche of brick and tarmac....!! An article on this matter - explaining the usage of the picture at the top of the post - can be viewed HERE