IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Selwyn Close, WOLVERHAMPTON, WV2 4NQ

The view from Milford Road in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.

The houses in this residential cul de sac were constructed in a few subtly different styles, and are in alternating pairs with or without gables. I have it on the authority of a now deceased resident, who lived in Selwyn Close for many decades, that these houses were built in 1938 on the site of some allotment gardens.

A small park and children's play area, just off Lower Villiers Street in Blakenhall.

The frontage of this factory built in the 1860s is impressive, but in need of some maintenance. Some businesses still operate from within, but attaining "listed" status in 2004 could mean that proper restoration of the site may be in the pipeline. Most other Victorian factories have now disappeared from the "regenerated" area. Update November 2010. This building is in a mess. An application to convert to flats must be granted very soon in order for the frontage to be saved and integrated into the new design. Look at this!! http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=16751

Built in the 1860s, what is left of this factory complex became a "listed" building in 2004. The frontage is looking a little the worse for wear now, despite some small businesses still operating from within. Update November 2010. This building is in a mess. An application to convert to flats must be granted very soon in order for the frontage to be saved and integrated into the new design. Look at this!! http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=16751

Sedgley Street in Blakenhall on new year's eve.

Despite appearances to the contrary, I believe Niphon Works was always occupied by a collection of small businesses rather than one single firm. In the 1990s, at least part of the building was occupied by a manufacturer of denim clothing, and I have a vague recollection of a modelling agency being based in the later extension, though now the only business based there seems to be one supplying garden fencing. In general, the building looks very neglected now: apart from many of the windows being broken, there is vegetation growing from the walls in places. It really rather stands out here, being in the middle of a residential enclave that is surrounded by factories on three sides, and dwarfing the houses hereabouts. I had not fully appreciated how massive the building is until I realised how far back I had to go into Milford Road to fit the whole thing in a picture.

In 2007 I wrote: In Lower Villiers Street this Victorian factory building built for Robert Stroud and Company c1865 appears to be derelict and unoccupied, though some activity may be ongoing at the back of the site. Unless an agreement is signed very soon to preserve the frontage in a conversion to apartments, further deterioration seems inevitable. In 2017 Express and Star reported on plans for the derelict building: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2017/07/08/historic-niphon-works-to-become-apartments/ This 1897 extract is directly lifted from a local history website now off-line: "Messrs. Stroud and Co.'s machinery, plant and appliances are excellent in every respect, and no doubt the all round superiority of the facilities that they possess accounts in no small degree for the eminence they have attained in their lines of trade. Tin-plate and japanned ware, japanned stationery goods, and all classes of stamped goods, trunks baths, deed and cash boxes, wash stands, toilet sets, coal vases, dish covers, trays and waiters, fire screens, and every description of wares for art decoration are produced in great quantities at these works, the demand for them being an extraordinary one. The sound workmanship and finish and general excellence of all the articles enumerated are admitted, and the goods of this firm are thus able to withstand any competition."