William Farmer, Pelsall's first historian describes what Old Town Lane used to look like in his book Pelsall  Early Years of the 20th Century.

At the junction of Paradise Lane and Old Town Lane there once stood two houses and an old cottage which had stone floors and a well between them.  There was a large boulder in front of the houses which was used as a seat by the old man who lived in one of the houses.

The green in front of the houses was once bounded by three narrow roads forming a triangle of grass.  As children, William says that he and his friends spent hours playing on it.  William goes on to say that the area was also used as clothes drying ground by the local housewives where it was a constant battle between them and the children who wanted to play there.

On the left of Old Town Lane going towards the village once stood Shortlands Cottage which is where William and his family once lived for a while.

William describes the cottage as having two bedrooms, living room, parlour and large brewhouse with a bread oven and pantry.  The old earth closet was halfway down its long narrow garden which stretched from Shortlands Lane to what is now Clarendon Place.  At this time it was a narrow stiled path with a hedge and ditch on one side and open field on the other crossing to Wolverhampton Road.  

Then followed three old cottages (he goes on to say) built close to the roadway having no front gardens only a narrow paving and a red ash footpath.

Next came the old houses still standing and by an entry in the middle there was an old thatched cottage.  At the far end a single storied building was at right angles to the road.  Then followed a garden and another four cottages, the last being about where the school gates are today.