Adventures In The Lost City

There's never a dull moment here, you know. Today, we took a 10 minute trip over to Darlaston, part of the borough of Walsall and known locally as The Lost City. Why so? Once home to a thriving mining and nut & bolt industry, after most of the Black Country's industries collapsed in the recession of the late 1980s it became a ghost town.

The council had the good sense to list many of these once grand 18th Century shops & traditional boozers as Buildings of Historical Interest so the developers couldn't move in and so Darlaston has remained as it always has been only frozen in time.

If you've read by blog for a while you may remember this post where I shared extracts from a housemaid's diary I found at a jumble sale many years ago. I hoped to track down Laura's family home but sadly, despite surviving numerous bombing raids by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War many of the traditional back-to-back houses were demolished in the 1960s to make way for high-rise flats and council housing.

Anyway, let's cut to the chase. The point of today's mission was to look at some "retro" furniture Joan, the 83-year old lady who runs the monthly jumble sale, had put aside for us. This is where the jumbles are held, Slater Street Methodist Church, built in 1910.

What do you think? Of course I had to say yes! 1950s baby blue Formica topped drop-leaf kitchen table complete with drawer, matching vinyl-topped stools and twin dining chairs? Takes me right back to eating egg and chips in Grandma's kitchen as a child.

Polly Piglet approves.

Who doesn't hang their maracas in the kitchen?

Joan insisted Jon bought this 1970 Carlton AM-FM Multiplex stereo system with 8-track tape player complete with the original manual,

and a pile of 8-Track tapes.

Funky!
Jon's already got one of these systems so he's planning to sell it as there's only so many vintage stereo systems a man can have.

1970s English Lady maxi & 1960s psychedelic toilet bag as a handbag (courtesy of Amy), fake fur jacket (£7, retail) and a heap of bastard jewellery.

Bloody hell, I look pale in these pictures, I need an early night and a date with a bottle of fake tan.

See you soon!