Cradley Library, Colley Lane

Image: © Leigh Cotterill Taken: 22 Feb 2023

Cradley Library, Colley Lane. Built 1936. Memories of Muriel Bennett The land Cradley Library is built on originally belonged to the Strawson family, as did the rest of the land around here. They lived in The Elms, a large house that stood opposite the library, where the bungalows are now. The land was sold off in parcels, the first house below the school (now the new nursery) being originally used as the Rates office before the library was built. My Grandfather purchased enough land to build the four houses below the library. Miss Wright, the schoolmistress at Colley Lane School, lived in the house next to the library; my family lived in the next one, my Grandfather in the next one and Mrs Roper, schoolmistress at the Church Schools, in the last one. Before the library was built, the land was used for allotments, Mr Corbett who lived in Lyde Green, having one and our family the other. I remember being sent to pick raspberries there. We also kept pigeons and rabbits on the allotment. I remember having lovely long warm gloves made out of rabbit skins. The Library was built by David Tate, the local builder. My mother was worried, as the building rose higher and higher, that it would block out the light from our kitchen window. By the time it was finished, it did indeed stop our view up the road, and keep some of the light out of the kitchen. I was not actually here when the Library was opened, as I worked in Birmingham at that time. Walter Hodgetts, who was Chairman of the Council at the time, was my mother’s cousin. I have been a regular reader at the library ever since and still enjoy its services today. (from 2006 when the library was 70 years old and Muriel was 90)

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