THE FLAT

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=215 BGCOLOR="#CC3366" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04106732dkcfyw.png"> <div> <B>LATEST     UPDATES</B></div> <div> <B>WHITMORE STREET  </B>04/07/08</div> <div> <IMG SRC="1b9e0a00.jpg" border=0 width="224" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>THE FLAT</B></div> <div> <B> Shopping area  </B><B>Lodge Road</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="401c8160.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="278" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>H.V SMITH still open 03/02/04</B></div> <div> <B>More images in </B><A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PHOTOGRAPHS"><B>PHOTOGRAPHS</B></A></div> <div> <B>**********************************</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #CC6699;" BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#00FF00" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> Birmingham, England. </B></FONT><B> </B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Birmingham, England. "><B>home</B></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="_winson_green.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" WINSON GREEN"> WINSON GREEN</A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="COMMENTS">COMMENTS</A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CHURCHES">CHURCHES</A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SCHOOLS ">SCHOOLS </A>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HISTORY">HISTORY</A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STREETS">STREETS</A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="REUNIONS">REUNIONS</A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BLACK PATCH">BLACK PATCH</A>   |   <A HREF="romany_memorial.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ROMANY MEMORIAL">ROMANY MEMORIAL</A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PUBS">PUBS</A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ORGANIZATIONS">ORGANIZATIONS</A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PHOTOGRAPHS">PHOTOGRAPHS</A>   |   <A HREF="parks.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PARKS">PARKS</A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STORIES">STORIES</A>   |   <B>THE FLAT</B>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOOKS">BOOKS</A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHERE ARE THEY ">WHERE ARE THEY </A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WINSON GREEN NOW">WINSON GREEN NOW</A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" LINKS"> LINKS</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <I>THE FLAT</I><I> a</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#00FFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B> SHOPPING AREA near </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#33FF99" FACE="Arial" ><B>WINSON GREEN</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>***************************************************************************************</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="738ce2c0.jpg" border=0 width="206" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    <IMG SRC="73a2c2b0.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="299" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>THE FLAT </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >24/05/08</FONT></div> <div> My dad was born and bread, in Winson Green, his dad owned a shop I think they could be from around James Street (James Turner Street?). They were a big family 12 or so kids. His mother died when dad was 7 that would have been around 1928 give or take a year. Both mum and dad worked for Spencer's the "Green-grocer" on the Flat, It was quite a big shop for the time and a very busy one. I bought my first "shop bought" bike in 1962 from "Sport and Play" on the Flat, It was a racer. The shop let me pay it off weekly, I  was 13 at the time. The bike was a red and gold B S A.  Mr spencer had a Daimler, which my dad drove and washed for him and dad also drove his lorry. Looking through the photos on the site they brought back memories, even though I didn't live in the area, i spent a lot of time there.  Again, thank you for the site, I will visit it often.  </div> <div> Michael Britton<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>mjbritton1949@hotmail.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >31/01/08</FONT></div> <div> How would you like to enjoy a Dripping Cake from HUNTS.</div> <div> This area of our community holds many memories for the youth of yesterday, where we all ran errands to</div> <div> earn pocket money to go to the pictures.</div> <div> Your mom joined the Co-op before our family,by the sequence of numbers ours was 255725 never forgotten.</div> <div> Many young people used Georges Cafe,mainly to use the Jux Box to play the Latest and favorite tunes, Then save to buy your records from Sutcliffes, also many courtships started her.</div> <div> Just Memories. Regards <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Colin</FONT> Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3333CC" FACE="Arial" >cmills9@blueyonder.co.uk</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >09/02/07</FONT></div> <div> You have asked if anyone remembers <B>HE Griffin's</B> from The Flat at Hockley. </div> <div> My mother, Lillian Izzard (nee Wheeler) was 'In Service' to the <B>Griffin Family</B>. My Mother was born in April 1910 and would have been 15 years old or so when she went to look after the <B>Griffin Family</B> and live-in as their house keeper in a big house in a road between Lozells Road and Heathfield Road. Saldley my Mom passed away 13/11/2000 aged 90 years old. </div> <div> Although my Mother was actually classed as a servant, my Mom always spoke of the family with the highest regard, she said she almost felt as if she was a member of the family, they always gave her birthday and Christmas presents. She respected <B>Harry Griffin</B> the father very much and I think she had a soft spot for Harry the Son. She was deeply upset when the daughter Jessie died from an eating disorder. My Mom had every wednesday afternoon off and a day off once a fortnight when she had to take her wages home to her Mother. </div> <div> My Mother was the middle child of Mary (Polly) and Harry Wheeler, who you mention in your book BRUMROAMIN, my grand mother kept the tea rooms for twenty years in Black Patch Park after the gypies were gone. My Uncle, William Wheeler the youngest child of Mary & Harry Wheeler also worked for <B>Griffin's </B>for a few years in the late 1920's, he worked part time in the shops at Hockley and Erdington. Although he is aged 92 he has a marvellous memory and always pleased to share these memories with anyone. </div> <div> Brenda Harper  E-mail :  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0033FF" FACE="Arial" >Harperb899@aol.com</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >19/02/07</FONT></div> <div> I lived on Spring Hill but went to Icknield Street boys school, and had a good friend named George Sheard who lived in Heaton Street. I left school in 1962 but still remember the good times we had in the flat at lunch times, <B>annoying the ladies in Woolies and Nortons</B>, and chatting up the girls from Camden Street girls school.</div> <div> rob smith  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>banjosmith@hotmail.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >21/10/06</FONT></div> <div> I remember <B>THE FLAT </B>we lived in <B>little Park Road</B>, just round the corner every Monday night we would go and watch the van with the animals go into the slaughter house at the butchers. My sister worked at Masons and Woolworths. My brother used to live in the coffee shop with his mates they were teddy boys. Our name was Humphries Pat Jimmy and Irene.At night I used to walk the flat with my mates and we would look in the shop windows bagging what goods would be ours if we had the money. My mom would go to Spencers on a Saturday afternoon for any thing going cheep before they shut. What a great web site I shall find some old photos to send off the old street. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Patricia Byers</FONT>  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>lilbyers@aol.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >11/10/06</FONT></div> <div> I Remember as a kid, late forties early fifties having to take the "accumulator" battery across to a shop on the Flat to be changed for a charged one for the Wireless! Anyone remember the name of the shop?</div> <div> Patrick Limacher  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>p.limacher@ntlworld.com</U></FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="73c2cce0.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="206" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>    <<<<<<   WAS IT THIS ONE???</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE FLAT   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Arial" >23/09/06</FONT></div> <div> My family ran<B> the butchers shop Myttons</B> on the flat. The business was bought from a Mr Underwood in 1896 by my grandmothers family (Myttons) granny married a Mr John Aldington Hunt and so the family name became Hunt . We closed the shop and slaughterhouse in 1977 a sad day. However, the business has carried on and I have a butchers at the Scott Arms Great Barr.</div> <bR> <div> E Mytton ltd or Myttons the butchers were at <B>25 lodge</B> road between <B>Hunts the bakers</B> and <B>Spencers</B> the greengrocers. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="7332ce40.png" border=0 width="300" height="228" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <bR> <div> As I remember from the 1960's shops from the Park Road end on same side as our shop were </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Duoro wine shop, I used to buy bottles of Guinness or Mackeson to feed a calf on a monday night to keep it quiet if it was not to be slaughtered until Tuesday. Playfair shoe shop, Burleys butchers shop, they also had a shop further down next to Boots chemists, next was grocers Pearks, Hunts the bakers run by Mr Parkes who lived in the same road as me in Handsworth Wood, Myttons with the slaughterhouse down the entry, </div> <div> Spencers the greengrocers, fruiterers and fish shop . this was a shop with a long open frontage run by Joe Clewer and his son John, a sweet shop came next, Mrs hudson ran a wool and clothes shop next to Hudsons the butchers, I think George Masons was next ? there was a large Marsh and Baxters shop which had a lovely smell of bacon and sausage, I used to fetch bacon for the bus depot order as we did not sell bacon at that time. The next shops to Heaton Street were the Birmingham Co-op with the butchers on the corner?  Boots the chemists were on the other corner with the other Burleys butchers next door. The remainder to Icknield Street is a bit vague I will have to try and remember. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><U>To be continued</U></FONT></div> <div> <B>John Hunt</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>143topline@blueyonder.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>  </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>LODGE ROAD</B>  the Flat end <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >23/03/06</FONT></div> <bR> <div> MY WIFE HAZEL ANNE JONES (NEE JOHNSON)WORKED AS A COUNTER CLERK AT THE POST OFFICE IN LODGE ROAD CIRCA 1962.</div> <div> THE POST OFFICE WAS OWNED BY HER GREAT AUNT ROSE LINELL.</div> <div> SHE WELL REMEMBERS GOING TO THE CAFE SHOWN ON THIS WEB SITE FOR SANDWICHES.</div> <div> THE PUB ON THE CORNER I THINK WAS AN ATKINSONS HOUSE - RENOWNED FOR ITS VERY THICK GLASSES.MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS. ROBERT DAVID JONES  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>RDJ1@BTOPENWORLD.COM</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>*******************************************************************</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>ICKNEILD  STREET </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >the Flat end  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >27/02/04</FONT></div> <bR> <div> I have just made a nostalgic and happy tour of The Flat thanks to your contributers.</div> <div> <B><U>But can someone tell me what the bars or railings were at the bottom of Ickneild Street</U></B> just as it came onto the Flat they were opposite the bottom of Key hill? The pavement went below the road somewhat and this rail was on the road side. I was forever being told not to climb and do turns on them and I should like to know after all this time what they were there for! <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Sue Perfect</FONT>   Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>superfect@evemail.net</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>*******************************************************************************************</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>HEATON STREET </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >23/07/07</FONT></div> <div> I allways remember those dark cold winter nights when you had to go out to the toilet, the toilet paper was cut up newspaper stuck on a nail and every Sunday night listening to the sally army playing on the flat and listening to the steam trains whistling as they went past. I lived in Heaton Street, the good old days.</div> <div> Rita Barrett<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>jcharltom@aol.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>HEATON STREET </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >24/09/03</FONT></div> <div>  I use to live in <B>Heaton Street Hockley</B> off the flat. <B>Has anyone got photos of Heaton Street</B> or does anybody remember me <B>Rita Barrett</B>. I lived next to the outdoor there was a sweet shop called Garretts were we use to get our home made ice lollies from, across the road was "Peter the Barber" . Tommy Day use to sell friut and veg off his barrow on the corner of <B>Heaton Street.  </B>Who remembers <B>Spencers</B> the fruit shop where you would get the best smoked kippers and <B>Hunts </B>the bakers for the lovely dripping cakes which use to stick to your fingers please let me know (by email). Best regards <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Rita Barrett</FONT>   Email: Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>jcharltom@aol.com</U></FONT> </div> <bR> <div> Rita's request was answerd by Mac Joseph who sent the photos below. Thanks Mac.</div> <div> <U> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="987" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 315 ><NOBR><div> <B>Heaton Stree</B>t </div> <div> 26 October 1969</div> <div> <IMG SRC="39d5efd0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="253" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="638"><div> <IMG SRC="3a2082c0.jpg" border=0 width="264" height="300" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Heaton Street</B> </div> <div>  15 November 1961</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 276 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="5794ffa0.jpg" border=0 width="335" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="638"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="276" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="638" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></U></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="781" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 296 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="57e5e0e0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>WHITMORE STREET</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="411"><div> <B>WHITMORE STREET</B><IMG SRC="5805e0d0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="269" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>WHITMORE STREET  </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >04/07/08</FONT></div> <div> I was born in Dudley Road hospital on 6 January 1950 and lived in Whitmore Street until I was 18. We lived down the entry next door to the laundry on the corner of Park Road (cant remember what it was called) CAN ANYONE? My maiden name was SPITTLE not a name you would forget, I had two elder sister Margo and Ann who used to hang around the FLAT, I remember the Palladium Picture House I went there on a Saturday afternoon to watch "Flash Gordon" also I remember the Espresso Bar (cafe) on Hockley Brook ,the times I have walked into town to meet friends. There is one person I would love to see is Brian Curtis we used to all meet on the old market stalls in town then go round the old bus garage, does anyone remember going there . After I left Camden Street school in 1965 I worked at Woolworth on the Flat until I was 18 . I also remember the Methodist Church I took the pledge when I was about 11 I think it was a Miss Fisher and Miss Fry sorry to say I broke it. Where our house was at the back of the shops on ? Linda Kelly  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>lindakelly84@msn.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>WHITMORE STREET </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >23/03/06</FONT></div> <div> Bostin site spent so long reading the story's here. The pictures of the flat bring back memories as we shopped there when I was very young in the late 50's and 60's Mom and Dad were from the area of the flat Mom Elizabeth Cain from Abbey Street and Dad Fredrick Styles from Whitmore Street.</div> <div> Gladly they are still with us in there 80's.</div> <div> Keep up the good work. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Robert Styles</FONT>  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>ppcunitcars@aol.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>WORKING ON THE FLAT </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >21/03/03</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  I worked at <B>Peark's</B> on the <B>FLAT</B> after school and Saturdays delivering the groceries, cutting cheese and </div> <div> butter, packing broken buiscuits and best of all cleaning up after the shop cat.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="20c0fc90.png" border=0 width="271" height="201" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Next door was the home killed butchers and the fun we had when an occasional sheep escaped !</div> <div> I lost my job after I was knocked of my bike by a No 8  bus in <B>Icknield Street</B> and deliveries changed to a man & van so I went to work in the jewellery quarter. </div> <bR> <div> Thanks to<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>Brian Moore (<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF00" FACE="Arial" > No Email address was supplied)</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> 25/04/05</div> <div> I lived over Perks on the Flat from 1937 when I was two years old until 1958 the stories I've just read on the web site have brought back a flood of memories. Very mixed emotions,how many out there remember the Hockley Stonehouse Gang and that superb man Harry Webb known as 'H' and the trips to Tong.</div> <div> David Whitehouse  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>david.whitehouse370@ntlworld.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>LIVING AROUND THE FLAT</B></div> <div> The Winson Green / Brookfields zone was our widespread family patch. Some of my folks remember the Ellen Street landmine, and one in Lodge Road. Pre-War, my Ma's big family lived in Roseberry Street and Aberdeen Street before moving to a larger house in Lodge Road, close to the timber yard and BOC (for years they all heard strange 'bumps in the night' and still call it the 'haunted house'). </div> <div> <IMG SRC="1e296670.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="103" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The website picture of the no.32 tram took me back to the late 1940s, my childhood, before the 96 bus took over. I remember the tram stop just as shown in the picture, above Scribbans, and that the trams on this route were shorter than other trams (such as the Bristol Road, pleasure-seeking Lickey Hills trams--summer days and illicit bluebellpicking, as I recall). </div> <bR> <div> I was born into a family branch that lived down the bottom of Lodge Road along The Flat. We were thought of as 'low' in more ways than one: we lived in Heaton Street, and I went to Icknield Street School--not good,</div> <div> many said! There were fine folks in that street, and some rough uns too. Saturday night pub banter could be noisy, from the 10 o'clock chuckout at the Brown Lion pub, which became a wishy-washy launderette around 1958(?). And on The Flat, midweek, kids plus grannies might watch animals arrive for slaughter at Mytton's the butchers--cheery Bert was the main hand; or see whether Griffins or Spencers had the best veg and whatever on Fridays and Saturdays. And then we were choosing bread or doughnuts between Wimbush's (next to Woolworths) or from HV Smith's bakery, close to Sally-Ann's up-market ladies' shop.</div> <bR> <div> There was an amiable bike shop man (Reg?) at 'Sport and Play', and another bike shop round past the Bazaar on Icknield Street (Centric). Then there were two chemists, Boots and Frank's, with the tall Tommy Day/Chapman and wife running a flower stall on his barrow outside Boots. And Pope's the gents' outfitter (he was a real 'gentleman' with his formal style, and he sold bowties, a bit upmarket, I remember); then FHW shoes, Harris's Drycleaners, George Mason's grocers, a steamy cafe on the corner of Icknield Street, the Maypole Grocers, close to Gees, the crockshop, and then Chadwick's grocers opposite Mytton's; and the CoOp and Marsh and Baxter's butchers opposite Sutcliffe's. This was the neighbourhood record shop, a goldmine of pop revenue where Italian Bel Canto opera might waft out from time to time, rivaling the 'Can Belto' sounds of more regular 1950's musicmaking; and then the Douro Hole-in-the-Wall off-licence (corner</div> <div> of Ford Street) where a railway horse and cart ran amock and charged into the corner window, by the police phone box, around 1952-3 (?).</div> <bR> <div> Talking of railway horses, one branch of our tribe lived in the railway house next to the stables in the yard at the end of All Saints' Road, corner of Crabtree Road, close to the canal moorings. The Dad of that house knew ALL the railway horses by name and they knew him, even  on the street. He was devastated when BR switched to lorries and three-wheel wagons for local deliveries. He loved the horses and was their Blacksmith and general carer--before that he had smithied in Spring Hill  Passage. That branch of the family did well and became posher than most of us. Their well-organised and thrifty daughters ran the ladies' hairdressers (Glarry's) on The Flat. We kept a cool distance most of the time--family  members don't always get on very well. We lived in the less reputable spot. THEY were UP the hill by All Saints', and WE were down in grubby Heaton Street. They had an indoors loo and other plumbing. Many of our neighbours  shared outdoors loos, and yard taps ... and thumped their washing dollies in big tubs in the yards on Monday mornings. We probably smelled a bit compared to our better-off folks ... But ... That part of the family moved out to Derby, with opportunities in Rolls Royce engineering. They are still in that locality, or at least their descendants are. And there is a better sense of tolerance nowadays.</div> <bR> <div> Another branch of the tribe lived in Little Park Road, grossly overcrowded,   no privacy at home, noise and hurly-burly. Always clean-scrubbed smartly turned out, they lived behind the house of one Mr Hinman, piano</div> <div> tuner from Crane's, the big music shop in the city center, behind Lewis's. He was pink-faced, amiable, cheery, always smart in his huge grey suit. These family folk are out in Tamworth nowadays, or Sutton Coldfield, and</div> <div> Streetly. Their old homes are long gone. </div> <bR> <div> Coming down towards Little Park Road from All Saints' Road, past the railway weighbridge entrance, on the opposite side close to the bottom you'd come to a clean and tidy, spick and span alleyway, a well-used but</div> <div> unmarked entry, leading to a well-kept yard. This is where as little kids who did not know what was really going on, you were instructed in pairs to take packets of coins wrapped in paper containing instructions, say not a word to anyone and silently hand the packets to silent hands which reached out from a silent kitchen or back room--this was an illegal betting shop! Home you came; not a word was exchanged. All nods and winks, cos nothing had happened, had it? Of course the coppers knew about it! How could theynot? Everybody knew everything.</div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1e396680.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="104" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >At the Triangle, by the horsetrough at the bottom of Warstone Lane, more or less opposite to Rees and Felix the drapers, people in my childhood remembered a butcher with the name Quick, a chap with the unfortunate initials I.P. And even as I write this message, I can see an old Rees and Felix heavy quality blue brocade bed cover which I still use to cover a musical instrument these days. My Granma bought it for my Ma around 1933, I am told--what a time ... It is faded but still good. I like it. Many members of my family used to walk that way and look in the shop windows, either going to Spring Hill public library (a fine building which I too used to haunt, and drive the staff bonkers until I mastered or ignored mysteries of the catalogue system) or on their way to work in Bulpitts, making chrome-plated kettles and the like, Swan Brand. Or they were going up to Bellis and Morcom if they were in to engineering. Otherwise, going up from The Flat, they'd walk up Key Hill, past Norton's the biggish department store which later moved out to Perry Barr, up past the Misses Reeves' ladies shop (these saintly sisters also ran the Pentecostal hot-gospel church on The Flat), past the toy shop, with its dreamland trainsets, a place we could not go in as we had no money, and then up through Key Hill passage and into the jewellery quarter. There was plentyof paid work in those days. My sister left Camden Street Girls' School and worked up there, making shiny enamelled badges. Other family members went that way on foot to the Lucas empire, then flourishing forever, it seemed--like Rolls Royce ...</FONT></div> <bR> <div> This was the then loosely-organised though highly productive zone, the jewellery quarter (no Heritage center was even dreamed of) where I worked as a child every evening after school. There was no homework in those days, and we left without a qualification to our name but hopefully with survival arithmetic and English to see us through. And no foreign language experience at all. We used Brummie at home, standard English in the</div> <div> classroom, as best we could, and foul language with our pals! The 4 o'clock sprint was common, up from Icknield Street School into scores of teeny workshops, some staffed by only two or three blokes, sizing rings and setting stones. We'd run errands, take packets of gems elsewhere, collect  assayed gold and silver, make tea, wash up, sweep the filthy stairs and  workshop floor for gold-dust, store the sweepings carefully and get the evening's mail off to the post office--every day, for perhaps half-a-crown a day, often less.</div> <bR> <div> Some of my family married in All Saints' church. The rector was a man called Johnson, said to be a bit quarrelsome or grand. But at weddings he apparently warned people that they could drop the ring through the heating grill at the entrance to the chancel. A disaster to be avoided. A nice stand-in called Eric Marsh helped out until the mild-mannered John Morris came in from somewhere (in 1962). The church had a peal of bells on which simple tunes could be rung out, wafting nostalgically over the area on quiet days. Who installed those bells and the key system to operate them? What happened to the organ when the church was pulled down? And where are the bells now?</div> <bR> <div> Not everything was idyllic--far from it; or unmitigated Hell. Or reliably safe, or predictable. There were some strange things, odd people doing wayward acts you were never warned about or prepared for. Ugly street</div> <div> fights could erupt between grown men in their middle years (not just between kids) apparently over old issues, or from a flare of temper between post-War spivs and local rivals. Once in the gentle Peter Duffy's barber</div> <div> shop in Heaton Street, some guys took in smiles and beer and whisky and encouraged Peter to turn on the Saturday races on the radio--or was it a boxing match? All customers got merry for a while, and merry smiles turned to aggressive growls, and brawling soon followed. The police came down in a Black Maria from Kenyon Street and were probably more heavy-handed than necessary. Not a happy end to the day, as we all saw, and it was customary for many to turn out and watch a fracas. Likewise when a fit and</div> <div> aggressively wiry woman in her early forties (mother of kids who for long were the terror of the neighbourhood) bullied and physically assaulted a frail white-haired isolated woman aged about 75. The latter's crime was to</div> <div> want a bit of peace, and to be old and defenceless against the sadistic and repeated attack. Violence does much damage ... to onlookers as well. As a seven-year old I recall feeling sickened at witnessing that horrible</div> <div> spectacle. These days such assaults would be in the courts, and should have been then. It seemed acceptable, I am sorry to say.</div> <bR> <div> Then there was the time the council started to repair the surface of The Flat (1952?), smoothing out some of the bumpy tarry fibre and rubber blocks or whatever they were; and, a fatal error, interrupting repair work from</div> <div> Friday night to Monday morning. On the quiet Sunday afternoon, some sharp-eyed locals spotted a few loose and accessible blocks and examined them carefully. Aha! Gold, well almost! The neighbourhood was not rich and winters were cold. The word got out that free winter fuel was there for the taking ... Those blocks burnt wonderfully, brightly, and long, soaked as they were in decades of pitch and whatnot. People came from far and wide, with mokes, old prams, pushchairs, and bags and boxes -- no one had a car then in our circles. Like in the picture house where news footage captured the energies of large teams of Soviet workers (or German slave labor), there were men and women, young and old, pulling the street to pieces, with hammers, picks and shovels, lifting perfectly good paving blocks and whisking them away for future domestic firesides, never to be seen again. Somebody told the police, of course, as I recall when a few vehicles tried to pass and people would not cease pulling up the road--they had to work quickly and remove the evidence pronto. When the cops arrived there were few folk around, and the road was much transformed! Those blocks had been</div> <div> swallowed down hundreds of street-level cellar grills; and front doors were firmly closed, inhabitants probably dreading the knock which might signal a stentorian inspection. Most people got away with their spoils and kept</div> <div> their mouths shut.</div> <bR> <div> Then, around 1956-7, very distinctive strangers, predominantly uprooted and lonely men, arrived in large numbers, first inhabiting a single house sold by one of our neighbours at an extortionate price. The neighbourhood was wholly unprepared for other ways of living, strange aromas of spicy cooking, different attitudes to local women, high-spirited attitudes to noise, vigorous social life, late-night partying. Thank goodness some people in our street made an effort to communicate constructively. The  national authorities had made no effort to prepare anyone. Somehow, at least in my time, we did not suffer the bad feeling which overtook Sparkbrook or Handsworth--once a revered and leafy zone to us, and where we were NOT welcome as noisy slum children. 'Get back down your own end!', the  well-to-do would yell when we seemed to threaten their manicured gardensand flower beds!</div> <bR> <div> Talking of gardens and strange things back in the 1940s, when we kids came down to The Flat from the Lodge Road Scribbans tramstop, we'd cross over to the side where houses were once quite grand, where an Irish Dr O'Brien used to have a surgery, and where the garden railings had been sequestered for the War effort. We could run over garden after garden, which can't have pleased people. One such place we called The Money Garden. Here, I'd now guess, someone DID like to see us kids playing in their overgrown grass. We would find money there, small coin, farthings, halfpennies, silver threepenny pieces, hidden in the greenery. So it would be down on hands and knees, going through every blade, turning every clump in the hope of gaining something. If two or three of you found a coin or two, you might all go off to the nearest sweetshop and together buy two pennorth of something, kayli, or liquorice, or two ounces of striped mints, to be shared out with glee. It was magic! We never understood that someone in that house, a kind person, had obviously thrown coins out from time to time knowing that little kids would come and search, and often go away in triumph. The amused benefactor was probably watching us from behind net curtains. Who was it? Their kindness is still remembered.</div> <bR> <div> However, by the early 1960s the area was emptying of solid 'old families' who had provided much of the stability that we took for granted and never valued, probably. These were the many households with the same family name, spread up and down the street. Private landlords had not repaired or maintained properties for years--their agents seldom came near except nervously or aggressively to collect the rent; and agreeing to no improvements to War-damaged properties perhaps dating back to the 1860s-70s. This is what happens when an area gets a 'blight' reputation. Low self-esteem gets even worse. After years of doubt in the late 50s, we were bought compulsorily by the City and scattered to Northfield high-rise pleasures (they *were* then, with bathrooms, immersion heaters, and indoor loos); other folk went to Pheasey Estate, Kingstanding, or Erdington, or Castle Bromwich. Supportive communities were destroyed. Some people fought to stay, and ended up in Newtown as a last resort, nowadays a troubled spot despite the very best efforts of many good people, I understand.</div> <bR> <div> If anyone wishes to talk on Email I shall be pleased to respond within the limits of my knowledge. My formal education was all local, inadequate I'd say, and limited therefore to a fairly concentrated knowledge of some</div> <div> locals' ways. Having learned much from them, I may also have learned a bit since that time, having lived in London, Bristol, Dublin, Amsterdam, and now fenland Cambridge; and having lived and worked for spells of time in central-southern Africa and Eastern Europe (before and after the end of Soviet rule). Of course, I can only re-evaluate or re-interpret a formative past, one which I don't share with many people nowadays. It shaped much of my outlook.  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >from Paul   </FONT>E:Mail <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>pn203@cam.ac.uk</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> more from Paul</div> <div> Many people from many streets had living connections with nearby zones--I used to go up to the Blackpatch Park area to train spot as a 10 yr old; and a couple of times went to the Brookfields Workhouse (as we still called it) in 1958 where my old (great) uncle Alf died amongst some pitiful ragged wrecks of humanity; and a few early-middle-aged moms in our street used to talk about taking chesty kids up to Summerfield Park where the air was supposed to be clean, and would help clear infections. And older people remembered the pre-War Palais de Dance on Monument Road/Spring Hill (and the big rear-view sign, 'BERT'S BACK', when dancing opened again after the War and a certain dance band could line-up and play again). And the dance jaunts to, and post-dance adventures at, Edgbaston reservoir . <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Paul 28/02/03</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>***************************************************************************************************************************</B></div> <div> <B><U>THE FLAT </U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Arial" ><B><U>and YARNOLDS</U></B></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >30/04/05</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Just looking around the site, especially The Flat - does anyone remember a shop called <B>"Yarnolds",</B> I think they sold net curtains. I may be wrong but I'm sure I used to go there with my Mom and Nan</div> <div>  Mac Joseph<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>macjoseph@ntlworld.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> NAME: Pam Willis  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >04/05/05</FONT></div> <div> Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>pamela.willis@whsmithnet.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <div> Comments: In reply to Mac Joseph's comments about a shop called <B>Yarnolds</B> on the Flat - yes, he remembered correctly. The shop sold net curtains and bedding, towels etc. I remember my Mom used to pay a few shillings a week into a "club" with several other ladies she worked with and was allocated a number. Every week a number was drawn and you could then take your "chance" as it was called and go to spend it at <B>Yarnolds. </B></div> <bR> <div> NAME: Mac Joseph  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >11/05/05</FONT></div> <div> Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>macjoseph@ntlworld.com</U></FONT></div> <div> Comments: Pam, thanks for confirming <B>Yarnolds</B>. The only other thing I can remember is that when you went in, on the left hand side were lots of net curtains. My mom and nan always bought their curtains from there and when we went down the Flat we always ended up there. Coming from Ladywood it was always an exciting trip, sounds like it was a long way away, but in those days it seemed that way. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>************************************************************************************************************************</B></div> <div> <I><IMG SRC="1c496390.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="313" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >                     </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B><U>THE FLAT</U></B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> THE BEST PLACE ON <B>THE FLAT</B> WAS <B>GEORGES CAFE</B>,"OUR GANG" LOVED THIS CAFE. ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS ENOUGH MONEY FOR A BOTTLE OF COKE, AND SOME TANNERS TO PUT IN THE JUKE BOX. THE YEARS WE CALLED THE FLAT OURS WAS 1961 TO EARLY 1964. </div> <div> BEST SINGERS THEN BILLY FURY, THE EVERLYS, HELEN SHAPIRO, JOHNNY  TILLOTSEN  ETC. </div> <div> THERE WAS A LADY WHO WORKED AT SPENCERS, AND SHE USED TO TELL TALES TO MY MOM THAT I WAS IN <B>"THAT DIVE"</B> OVER THERE WITH THAT THUG! I`VE BEEN MARRIED TO "THAT THUG" FOR 39 YEARS NOW! I WORKED IN <B>WOOLIES </B>FOR A  SHORT TIME WITH MARGIE FOWLER AND BARBARA  RANDALL,  WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!</div> <div> IN OUR LAST YEAR AT H.N.R. SCHOOL BARBARA AND MYSELF ALWAYS HAD TO GO DOWN THE <B>BAG-WASH</B> ON TUESDAYS AFTER SCHOOL TO DO THE WASHING, GUESS WHERE WE WERE WHILE THE WASHING WAS DOING-GEORGES CAFE WITH THE LADS!!! GREAT DAYS.</div> <div> from Jacqueline (Carnell) Perry   <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >05/02/03</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>dotmay2003@yahoo.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ************************************************</div> <div> THE FLAT <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >12/03/04</FONT></div> <div> A shop to add to your list Neals the Jewlers, the shop was opposit the Penticostal Church</div> <div> Bert Neal the owner is still an active member of The Church being now over 90 Years of age.</div> <div> Roy Warrender  Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>rwbg04774@blueyonder.co.uk</U></FONT></div> <div> Does anyone have any early  photographs of the Penticostal Church????? Please</div> <bR> <div> *************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> FORD STREET <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >30/01/08</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="972cacf0.jpg" border=0 width="202" height="207" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1st<IMG SRC="9715eec0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="236" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> photo shows me standing outside No 4 Ford Street circa 1956</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> 2nd photo shows me with hula hoop, No 6 haberdashery shop which was owned by Minnie Powers, Mrs Miller standing at No 8 and people going into No 9 which was Bingham's shop (Bingies.</div> <bR> <div> My mom worked at Wasdells Mudguard factory which was opposite where we lived. Does anyone remember it? It was Tommy Wasdell. There were ledges on the outside wall where we used to play 'ledges' in teams. On that same side of the street as you came down there was the Irish Yard, Donkin familty used to live there. Then there was the Pawnshop who Reg used to look after, in between there was the entry where Len the milkman lived and the O'Carroll family. Then Wasdells, and after that was the brassfactory. Then we had the opening what a great place that was where we used to congregate for play.</div> <div>       <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Carol William</FONT>  Email <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>Sarah.dunlop2@btinternet.com</U></FONT>.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" >FORD STREET</FONT> and the FLAT</div> <div> I lived at number 3 <B>Ford Street</B> opposite LLoyds and Pastalls (brass ) I went to <B>All Saints School</B> in 1962 Mrs Brooks and Mrs Pool looked after me I remember a few teachers from that time, Mr Williams was the head, Mr Manning, Mrs Pierce,Mrs Thorpe (my favorite ) Mrs Rowbottom, Mrs French,Mr Morris was the vicar. in my class where many "kids" Elaine Maylin has to be top of my list. Robert Chapman, the Saddler twins, Kay Waller, Angela Evans. too many to mention here. Ford Street was by the island with Lodge Road ,the flats as it were known. On one corner, outside the off licence was the fruit barrow, on the other was a cafe run by two men. at the bottom of Ford Street was the bus garage,back now up to Park Road was the chippy with its little "pews " to sit in I used to work in the second hand shop a little higher up. I had a very good friend  called Alan Brooks <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bimini" >, </FONT>we went everywhere together. I not seen or heard from him in 35 years because we moved to Sheldon. I have tried but to no evail. A few doors away from Alan lived a girl named Pat Healy, she was the tallest girl in the world. I bet she could see for miles. </div> <div> <I><B>Sometimes I close my eyes and I can walk out of our house and walk round the flats or up Lodge Road, past the post office, up the hill ( making sure I don't step on the cracks or you'l break your back) past the bakery, cross over and into school. </B></I></div> <div>  Paul Gattrell<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>carole.hewitt@btinternet.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> 17/07/03</div> <div> I remember a small shop about half way down Ford Street, run by Mr &Mrs Bingham. A few doors away, was a garage that repaired cars. I also remember my dad taking my brother and me to an <B>airshow at Summerfield Park </B>the star of the show was a vulcan bomber does anyone else remember these? .</div> <div> Paul Gattrell <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>carole.hewitt@btinternet.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ******************************************************</div> <div> FORD STREET  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >21/07/03</FONT></div> <div> I lived in one of the 'back to back' houses in <B>Ford Street</B>, 3 back of 11 to be precise. My parents had moved in there in 1955 two years after they were married. I was born in <B>Dudley Road Hospita</B>l on the 1st October 1959 and went home to Ford Street a few days later, we lived there until the re-development of the area in the late 1960's. It was a bit of a family affair living in that part of Ford Street because my Great Grandmother (known to me as Gran) lived next to the entry to our yard at number 11, her daughter, my Great Aunt, ran a little grocery and general provisions store at number 9 two doors away. The shop was called '<B>Binghams</B>' (which was her surname), she was Mary and her husband was called Ernie, although my Aunt was more affectionately known to a number of local people as 'Bingie'. I was known to most of the kids in the road as Gary Bingham..............although my surname is actually Callaghan. (I had lots of friends because of my relationship to 'Bingies' sweet shop!) One of the unique things about 'Bingies' shop was that you could buy a cup of pop over the counter. You would pick your flavour (Dandelion & Burdock was my favourite) and she would open the bottle and pour it into a plastic glass, and you would drink it in the shop. It would cost (according to my Mother) one penny, tuppence or threppence depending on the size of the glass you had. My Father, Bernard, had just started his own drapery business towards the end of our time in Ford Street and would sometimes sell<IMG SRC="2c35e0a0.png" border=0 width="350" height="266" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> some of his stock through 'Bingies' shop. I recall the time that he started a craze in the street for 'Batman' capes. 'Batman' was the big thing on the television at the time and my Dad had bought a stock of them. He put some in 'Bingies' shop window and the next thing you know.......Ford Street was full of 'Caped Crusaders' </div> <div> I remember with great affection the times I would sit on my 'Grans' front doorstep on Ford Street and set up a firewood shop. I would go to '<B>Spencers' the Greengrocers on 'The Flat'</B> and get some of the timber fruit crates, chop them up in to strips, put them into bundles and try and sell them as firewood to people walking down the street. </div> <div> I look forward to posting more memories here in the very near future. </div> <div> My best regards to you all. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Gary Callaghan.</B><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *****************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> The fruit and veg stall on the flat was owned by my uncle....Ernie Groombridge, my dads brother in law. After he passed away it was taken over by uncle Ernies son.. (cousin Ernie) </div> <div> From Val<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT>30/03/03<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Email: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>valmu564@msn.com </U></FONT></div> <div> *************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> My father <B>George Lowe</B> used to own the <B>Hardware/Crockery shop</B> on the bend of the <B>Flat and Icknield Street</B> opposite <B>Nortons</B> and the pub at the bottom of Key Hill.  Kind regards   <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Rob.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> ***************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> Shops on the flat <B>Clement Butcher</B>, <B>Griffins and Spencers Green Grocers,</B> <B>Douro Wine Shop</B>, <B>Wooolworths . </B>There was also a <B>Pushbike shop</B>, I can't remember the name but think it was a mans name. He had a 3 Wheeler bike. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >from</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Bryan W Drew 27/09/02</FONT></div> <div> ****************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> When Bian Drew refers to the cycle shop is it <B>Centric Cycles </B>just inside <B>Icknield St</B> just round the corner from <B>Woolworths</B>. Does  anyone remember the cycle track at the back of the Post Office in <B>Key Hill</B>, we spent many a happy hour there on our track bikes. On the <B>Flat</B> does any body remember the "<B>Band of Hope</B>" and the "<B>Salvation Army</B>" at the <B>Penticostal Church . </B> I think the butchers on the flat was <B>Marsh & Baxters.</B>    I used to live in<B> Park Rd</B> by the<B> Railway Tavern</B>.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >from Fred Herbert</FONT>   Email: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>fredherbert1@hotmail.com</U></FONT></div> <div> 24/02/03<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> ****************************************************************************************************************************<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> The Butchers on the flat next to Boots was called <B>Burghleys</B> (I think) they also had a shop at the <B>Park Road</B> end of <B>the Flat</B>. the butcher at the Boots end of the flat was a big man with a red face. I also remember the till was an elaborate brass affair that someone obviously spent hours polishing. </div> <div> Regarding <B>Myttons the butchers</B> I have heard that one day a cow escaped and was chased up and down the flat by the slaughtermen and the driver of the lorry.  Unlike Burghleys Mr Myttton ( I believe it was him) was very thin and always wore a peaked cap.) </div> <div> On saturdays my uncle Tom used to sell papers on the corner of <B>Ford Street</B> and the flat.</div> <div> <B>Hunts</B> used to sell ham as well as bread, they had a small counter at the back whereit was freshly cut off the bone. </div> <div> On the same side as the bike shop was <B>Chadwicks</B> the grocers. Mr Chadwick was a shortish moustached man and all the groceries were weighed and wrapped for you I always remeber the butter being cut off large slabs, being patted into shape and being wrapped in greaseproof paper. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >f</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >rom Andy Jarvis 24/09/02</FONT></div> <div>  </div> <div> **************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> Shopping other than from local shops was mostly done on the “<B>Flat</B>” (lower part of Lodge Road). Where a gathering of fifty different types of shops could be found.  Our family had an account at the <B>Co-op </B>located near <B>Heaton Street </B>our number was 249537.  <B>Spencers</B> the greengrocers with it's open market type front always seemed to have chickens and rabbits hanging up and fish on a slab.  <B>Boots the chemist</B>, <B>Woolworths</B>, <B>Freeman Hardy and Willis shoe shop</B>, <B>George Masons grocers, Marsh and Baxters pork butchers, Sutcliffes who sold records and Hunts the baker</B> where the best dripping cakes in the world could be bought with a toffee bottom, full of currants with a sugary top, the corner piece was the best, these are just some of the shops that occupied the Flat between Park Road and Icknield Street.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >by Ted Rudge</FONT></div> <div> *************************************************************************************************************************</div> <div> I remember Bob smarts gents clothes on the corner of Icknield street and the flat, Nortons on the corner of Key Hill and Icknield Street if you bought anything here the assistant would put your money into a cannister attached it to some wires that crossed the ceiling then pulled a cord and your money crossed the ceiling to the cashiers office, your change and receipt then came back to you the opposite way. </div> <div> There was a cafe on the flat next door to the bike shop near Yarnolds, also remember the Abbey pub corner of Park Road and Lodge Road with the Post Office next door  and the Police Box on the corner of Ford Street and the flat  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >by Roger Dennelly 22/04/02</FONT></div> <div> **************************************************************************************************************************<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT></div> <div>  My Dad Ernie Birch worked at Cannings <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF00" FACE="Arial" >(Gt Hampton Street) </FONT>and would on some saturday mornings walk to Hunts the bakers? and fetch dripping cakes and bring them home. We lived in Phillips Street Aston at this time, so he walked a fair way!! but it was worth it cus they tasted bostin. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >by Rod Birch 10/05/02</FONT></div> <div> <B>***************************************************************************************************************************</B></div> <div> My sister and I remember the <B>Fish and Chip</B> shop in <B>Ford Street </B>.Called <B>Reggie's</B>. We use to go there on a Saturday and have pea's and chip's they were lovely. He only had one table and 2 benches, the chips and pea's were  mmmm nice. We also use to go to <B>Norton's.</B> </div> <div> MAUREEN.HARWOOD<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>12/12/02 <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  E</FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >mail: </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>mrh223@hotmail.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>***************************************************************************************************************************</B></div> <div> I can add a few more names to the shops on <B>The Flat </B>as I lived in <B>Ford Street</B></div> <div> Miss Woolies,sweet shop and delicious home made ice cream large basin full for a shilling. </div> <div> Hudson`s the butcher`s his wife, also had a baby clothes shop nearby.</div> <div> Mytton`s Butcher`s where live cattle were slaughtered. Gee`s was the name of the china shop.</div> <div> Another chemist called Izon`s was near the bike shop, and a cooked meat shop called Mapp`s where I had to go every Saturday for my dad`s " Pig`s Brains" (ugh) "Black Pudding" and "Chicklings". </div> <div> The <B>"Brown Lion Pub"</B> was directly opposite <B>Heaton Street </B>next to Griffin`s also a green grocer`s. </div> <div> Smith`s the cake shop [not so delicious as Hunt`s.] there was also Playfair`s shoe shop, next to the "Hole in the Wall" . Tommy Day was the name of the winkle man. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >by Maureen Holtham nee Fowler 11/07/02</FONT></div> <bR> <div> The <B>"Brown Lion pub" </B>was in use during the war, it was opposite Heaton Street, it was only a very small pub. At the side was a cobbled court yard that had a deep slope (like a coach house ). I am not sure when it closed, but my sister worked in Woolworth`s and said you could get to the back entrance of Woolworth`s up the courtyard. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >by Maureen Holtham 22/07/02</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  I used to go to the bagwash which was on the flat next to the church I think: </div> <div> by Roderick Scott  02/03/03<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#00FFFF" FACE="Arial" >***************************************************************************************************************************</FONT></div> <div> <B>THE FLAT</B> (Lodge Road) was a thriving  shopping center before the advent of the modern supermarket its shops catered for the local families of Winson Green, Brookfields, Hockley, Ladywood and beyond. </div> <div> Among the shops in <B><U>alphabetical name order</U></B> were;-</div> <div> * names not known yet can you help?</div> <bR> <div> <B>Boots the chemist </B></div> <div> <B>Bike Shop </B>(next shop to Yarnolds)</div> <div> the bike shop on the flat was called <B>Harrolds</B> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >(</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Jim Evans Rosalie Street 01/08/02 )</FONT></div> <div> <B>Butchers</B>   (next shop to Boots)<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF33" FACE="Arial" >*</FONT></div> <div> <B>Bob Smart </B>(Gents outfitter)</div> <div> <B>The Brown Lion</B>  (Public house)</div> <div> <B>Burley's</B> The butchers (next to Boots)</div> <div> <B>Broadmeads</B> the electrical shop</div> <bR> <div> <B>Cafe </B>(near Yarnolds)<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF33" FACE="Arial" >*</FONT></div> <div> <B>Co-op</B></div> <div> <B>China Shop </B>(oposite Woolworts)<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF33" FACE="Arial" >*</FONT></div> <div> <B>C</B><B>hemist</B> opposite Spencers, but I can't remember the name</div> <bR> <div> <B>Freeman Hardy and Willis shoe shop</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>George Masons grocers</B></div> <div> <B>Glarys</B> ladies fashions (near Woolworths)</div> <div> <B>Griffins </B>the green grocers</div> <bR> <div> <B>Hunts the baker</B></div> <div> <B>Hole in the Wall outdoor</B></div> <div> <B>Hardware/Crockery shop</B>  (<B>George Lowe)</B> on the bend of the <B>Flat and Icknield Street</B> opposite <B>Nortons</B> </div> <div> <B>Hudsons the butchers</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Marsh and Baxters pork butchers</B></div> <div> <B>Maypole (Grocers) </B>Where my sister Irene used to have to "pat " the butter,and weight the sugar and tea into bags in the 1950s.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >(Maureen Hickin)</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Mapps</B> the cooked meat shop</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Nortons </B>(corner Key Hill)</div> <div> <B>Neals the Jewlers</B>  (The shop was opposit the Penticostal Church)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Penticostal Church</B></div> <div> <B>Penny Wink seller (cnr Heaton Street)</B></div> <div> <B>Pet Shop </B>(near Woolworths)<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFF33" FACE="Arial" >*</FONT></div> <div> <B>Playfairs shoes</B></div> <div> <B>Police box</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sutcliffes records</B></div> <div> <B>Spencers the greengrocers</B></div> <div> <B>Sid's (a second Burley shop by the Hole in the Wall)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Woolworths</B></div> <div> <B>Walter Smiths the butchers</B></div> <div> <B>Winkle</B> seller was called Tommy Day was on the corner of Ford St near</div> <bR> <div> <B>Yarnolds </B></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Have you got memories of the other shops on the Flat?  or anywhere else in </B><B>Winson Green</B></div> <div> <B>Would you like to have them published </B></div> <div>  <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact ">Contact </A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>