Wolverhampton

Out of darkness cometh light.

Wolverhampton is the hampton of Wulfrun, and the place in the West Midlands, England, where we lived From January (2017)—date at which Fabrice took up his position of Director of Studies for Physics at the University of Wolverhampton—until December (2023) where we brexited the decadent island. This is where Luz was conceived and lived the first months of her intra-uterine life, before our covid escape, also to Spain (Luz was born in Madrid).

It is nearby Birmingham (the big local city, in fact, UK's second) and Telford (UK's fastest growing city) and not too far from Shrewsbury, Worcester, Stafford and Coventry. Almost as close are Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Liverpool. It is not even far from London (less than 2 hours).

It is one of the three millennium cities (along with Brighton and Inverness [1]) and the first town in Britain to introduce automated traffic lights (in 1927), in Princes Square, at the junction of Lichfield Street and Princess Street. Charlie Chaplin, who might be of black country origin, made his debut as a pageboy in a Sherlock Holmes story in the city theatre (the Grand), where also Churchill held a meeting (in 1909) that got disrupted with stink balls by local suffragettes. The city was home to a few history-making people, including a Nobel prize in chemistry (Arthur Harden) and the first signature on the Declaration of Independence on the 4th July 1776 (Button Gwinnett). The local football team, the Wolves, were the first English to play in the Soviet Union.

Gallery

Stafford street, in the city center, where we live, April (2017).
One of our favourite pubs, after the Hogs Head: the Royal London, (id.)
Typical Wolverhampton skyline, the typical British brick house (id.)
A wall from the old train station (not the one you see now as a traveller, which buries it), July (2017).
Julia in the beautiful Saint Georges' street (id.)
This is the Londonian bit of Wolverhampton (id.)
It also benefits from the local canal frenzy (31 July (2017)).
Julia in Queen-square, with Saint Peter in background, (28 April (2018)).
Wightwick Manor, with Camilo (id.)
A canal in Wolverhampton (pointing to Birmingham, id.)
In the Victorian (so-called West) park of Wolverhampton, May (2018).
The boys and girls school, on 14 March (2020).
The pretty Tettenhall Road that goes down to Wolverhampton, on 9 December (2023).

Saint Peter

The choir stalls are mid-15th century and come from the Lilleshall Abbey.

Locks

Wolverhampton has 21 locks on its canal (Birmingham Main Line canal). All of the Locks, the cottages at Broad Street and the railway viaducts are Listed structures and are part of the Wolverhampton Locks Conservation Area. The walk is about 2.8km.