July 1980

Built at right angles to Vicarage Road stand the little noticed but intriguing Laburnum Cottages.
The dwelling nearest the road was, circa 1939, owned by the Ballard family. The far cottage was, in time, taken by a daughter of the Ballards after her marriage with a Mr Jones. This house (late in the 1950s) came to be owned, or lived in, by Albert Baker, who was married to a member of the Jones family. In old age Mr Baker expressed the desire to live out his days in that place despite the offer of more modern accommodation... his wish was granted. The middle cottage was, in the 1950s, owned by a family named Hand.
Some time in the past they were known as Three quarter Row.
The houses which are now in great disrepair remain the property of Alan and David Jones. Alan had considered converting the cottages into one house but this plan has not been carried out

28 August 1995
Today two people stopped in their car and entered the grounds of Laburnum Cottages. They were a Mr Eric Oliver of Bellmark Developments of Stourbridge and his wife. Mr Oliver explained he was “... one of the developers” and it was his intention to make the houses habitable once more by fully modernizing the interiors and building a new roof while at the same time “... retaining their original facade and character”. Mr Oliver intended to rename them Vicarage Mews. Work is to begin next week.

31 August 1995
Work on Laburnum Cottages began today with the clearing of the overgrown gardens. So overgrown were they that a chain saw and a JCB were employed for the purpose. During the clearance an air raid shelter was discovered at the far end of the garden but was destroyed by the Machinery. Mr Oliver gave orders to the builders to preserve the ancient trees on the road side. The detritus from the houses were put into skips. Dozens of glass bottles containing multi-coloured and foul smelling potions (probably medicinal) were also found. It was decided by all that these were dangerous and were taken away for proper disposal. A number of old photographs of local buildings and people were found and were presented to St Bartholomew’s Church for safe keeping. There were many books on mathematics and engineering, and aeroplanes in particular. Hardly a piece of paper was without an engineering formula. Then a great surprise: written on the inside cover of one of the books was the name Alan Jones.

06 October 1995

Laburnum Cottages of Vicarage Mews as they are now called have been stripped of all fixtures and fittings internally; the plaster has been removed from the walls, and the doors and windows removed. Footings are in place for another structure to be built in the garden.

Ordnance Survey Map reference:
SO 8925 9535