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My
home, until 1965, was in the Lapal area of
Halesowen. Lapal was a mile or so to the north east of the town, and
stood at a higher altitude. With the prevailing South Westerly breezes
for most of the year, it follows that sounds originating in Halesowen
and the surrounding areas could be heard quite clearly. |
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By
far the most significant sound was the steam forge at the Walter Somers
factory. The sound of the hammer was an everyday (and night) part
of life. In fact the only time you noticed was when it became
silent during the Christmas closedown. |
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A
regular sound came from Cradley Heath when the "Heathens" (Cradley
Heath Speedway team) had an evening meeting at their Dudley Wood
Stadium. But financial difficulties forced the closure of the club in
1952. Then it was resurrected in 1959, which meant the return of the
"roaring motorcycles". In fact I attended several meetings and
thoroughly enjoyed myself.
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The
third regular sound was that of of a train having difficulty climbing
the steep gradient from Cradley Heath, through Old Hill Tunnel, to
Blackheath. The beat of the steam locomotive got slower and slower, and
sometimes stopped. Then after a few minutes the train was away again,
heading for the tunnel. Then silence until the train emerged at the
Blackheath end. The whole sequence frequently took up to 20 minutes, and
often seemed to occur at around 9pm. This would lead me to conclude that
one of the
trains concerned might have been the 7.05pm Hereford to Birmingham Snow Hill, a
Tyseley Hall or Modified Hall working home. The train was due off
Stourbridge Junction at 8.48pm. |
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What
a pity that these yesteryear sounds have now been replaced with the
monotonous noise of Aircraft and Road Vehicles. |
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