Windermere Rd Park/ground Saved

[Morturn]

Its quite surprising what you can see from height, I took this today at Windermere Fields with my drone at 100 feet. Look at all of the old markings, could be tennis courts etc.

 

[Vivienne14]

Couldn't find anything about tennis courts at Windermere Road Mort but found a short description of the 1955 ground conditions. (The last part of the caption covered by the watermark reads: "our groundsman Ted Palmer knows he is on a very good thing and gives the pitch the upmost care and attention"). I also came across a couple of good photos of a WW2 rugby match at the grounds you might like to see. Viv.

 

[Morturn]

Viv, many thanks for that, fascinating.

 

[pjmburns]

I can remember rugby, football and cricket pitches plus a running track all being marked. Pitches on both sides of car park (right carefully positioned to avoid slope! ). Track to left in my memory.

 

[pjmburns]

Mort - whereabouts over the field was the photo taken? A map dated 1952 (I also have one from 1937) shows tennis courts where the hedge is between the fields and Pickwick.

 

[pjmburns]

Having studied the maps in more detail I do not think the courts on the map can possibly be anything to do with the lines on Mort's photo. They seem to be where the drive to Pickwick now runs, This means they are not on the fields at all.

 

[Morturn]

Hi Janice. I can only see the thumbnail, are you able to upload the full sized image please?

 

[pjmburns]

Does it not come large when you click on it? Try this. I was carrying a copy this morning but must have missed you!!

 

[Morturn]

Hi Janice, sorry I missed you yesterday, I did an early dog walk as I was off to London to see the Wallace Collection. I have put a red circle in the approximate location, I may have been slightly further south.

The lines may just be other football or rugby pitches, but its interesting in that they can still be seen. I used to say that the landscape is a store for past events. I have been walking that field for over ten years now, and have never seen it marked out so the lines must be quite old.

 

[pjmburns]

Hope you had a good day. I suspect there have been so many different pitches all in various places that there is a mishmash of lines visible. We know from Viv's post there were pitches there in the 1930s and possibly earlier! Wonder what they used to mark the lines with?

 

[Morturn]

In the late 60’s a groundkeeper told me it was a substance called ‘Fleet’. It sounds like a trade name. He said it was not lime, as lime damages the grass. It is interesting because there is not trace of the markings, but it seems the fertility of the ground where they were had changes, the grass seems to grow better on the lines. So, it may have been lime.

Saying that, in Sutton Coldfield they used to mark out their pitches with creosote.

Here is another picture form the same spot, looking south over Moseley Bog, a very interesting skyline.

 

[pjmburns]

On Time Team they often take to the air to look for markings. I suppose disturbances to the soil ages ago which are then not dug a giant do change the fertility of the soil. I have played (many moons ago) on pitches where the lines were brown and looked almost burned. I imagine that would affect the soil. Interesting photo across the Bog.

 

[Vivienne14]

They look closer to rugby pitch lines than any other sport judging by the rugby pitch example below. Having said that, the dimensions of Mort's drone image are difficult to judge. Viv

 

[pjmburns]

There have been rugby pitches on that part of the field to my knowledge and probably those in your 1930s article as it is the flattest part of the field.

 

[Morturn]

Yes, I too know that rugby was played there as well.

 

[Vivienne14]

I've looked through newspaper listings for matches etc and the earliest record I could find for the ground being used for sporting events was October 1929 (for rugby).

The listings found for matches played/to be played at the ground are as follows:

1930 - Dec rugby
1932 - Feb rugby
1939 - Sept rugby. (Also in Jan 1939 an application was made for a temporary sports Pavillion. And in March 1939 a planning application was made for a pavillion extension)
1943 - May (mentions of a Pickwick Sports Ground in connection with Windermere Road (not sure where this was)
1948 - March rugby
1951 - March rugby
1953 - April rugby
1954 - Jan and Nov rugby
1955 - April (7 a-side rugby), Sept and Dec rugby
1958 - Dec rugby
1959 - Apr (seven a-side rugby)
1960 - Feb, April and Dec rugby
1961 - Jan (football), April (football), Dec (rugby)
1962 - Jan (7 a-side rugby), April (7 a-side rugby)
1964 - April and Aug 7 a-side rugby
1967- Nov rugby
1968 - Feb rugby
1976 - Nov football
1979 - Nov and Dec football

Back in October 1915 it's possible the ground was used for the Moseley Volunteer Training Corps.

The gaps in dates mean I couldn't find any matches planned/reported. That doesn't mean to say there were no matches. The ground seems to have been mostly used for rugby matches until more recent times. Or maybe football matches weren't reported ? Viv.

 

[Phil]

Viv

The Pickwick Social Club was on Windermere Sports Ground and a very good club it used to be.

 

[pjmburns]

Pickwick Club is still there but is totally separate from Windermere Fields. On the map I posted Pickwick is the "sports ground" to the right of the marked tennis courts and Windermere Fields are to the left. Only part of the Fields are shown. Pickwick has a pavilion. The Fields no longer have a pavilion after it burnt down several years ago.

 

[Morturn]

I've looked through newspaper listings for matches etc and the earliest record I could find for the ground being used for sporting events was October 1929 (for rugby).

The listings found for matches played/to be played at the ground are as follows:

1930 - Dec rugby
1932 - Feb rugby
1939 - Sept rugby. (Also in Jan 1939 an application was made for a temporary sports Pavillion. And in March 1939 a planning application was made for a pavillion extension)
1943 - May (mentions of a Pickwick Sports Ground in connection with Windermere Road (not sure where this was)
1948 - March rugby
1951 - March rugby
1953 - April rugby
1954 - Jan and Nov rugby
1955 - April (7 a-side rugby), Sept and Dec rugby
1958 - Dec rugby
1959 - Apr (seven a-side rugby)
1960 - Feb, April and Dec rugby
1961 - Jan (football), April (football), Dec (rugby)
1962 - Jan (7 a-side rugby), April (7 a-side rugby)
1964 - April and Aug 7 a-side rugby
1967- Nov rugby
1968 - Feb rugby
1976 - Nov football
1979 - Nov and Dec football

Back in October 1915 it's possible the ground was used for the Moseley Volunteer Training Corps.

The gaps in dates mean I couldn't find any matches planned/reported. That doesn't mean to say there were no matches. The ground seems to have been mostly used for rugby matches until more recent times. Or maybe football matches weren't reported ? Viv.

Viv, an amazing piece of research, thanks. The Foster family, who we believe donated the ground were very sports like. I have a feeling that one of the Fosters was captain of the Warwick Cricket Club

 

[Theresaw]

Has any body heard of wintertsloe boy school in Moseley.

 

[pjmburns]

There is a Winterbourne school in Edgbaston.
Do you have a rough date?
Just done a Google search on Wintersloe - it comes up as a house on Wake Green Road near the former Sorrento hospital (no longer there). There is a reference to a school.

 

[superdad3]

Has any body heard of wintertsloe boy school in Moseley.

The Moseley Society/Local History Group has info on the school. See also this article from their website: http://moseley-society.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Wintersloe-School-by-the-Jans.pdf

 

[Bish Bong]

I used to watch football on the Windermere ground around the the late forties & early fifties on Sunday mornings.
Also remember a one armed forward, one of the best players seen there, very skilful. Also used to watch the cricket at the club opposite the Moseley grammar school. Was the Pickwick club opposite Windermere Road up a drive?
I lived in Showell Green Lane & we used to walk to these places regularly.

 

[pjmburns]

Drive to Pickwick club still is off Windermere Road at the Wake Green Road end.

 

[pjmburns]

Red line is the drive. Moseley school is also shown.

 

[Bish Bong]

Thanks for your interest in my blog.
I have found the drive that I was referring to, it is the one leading up to the Moseley Ashfield cricket club. Seem to remember also road steam rollers being stored somewhere near this driveway.

 

[pjmburns]

That is a different club. There are photos and info on the road rollers on the forum. Might be under Yardley Wood Road. When I am on my laptop I will try to put the link.

 

[chris.sk]

thanks for the interesting discussion on the marks on Windermere Field - this has become my delightful daily exercise venue over recent months. i decided to focus on the marks and the windmill as a project for the webinars on 'interpreting aerial photos' during this week's online Festival of Archeaology. the project i completed is attached. there are web links in blue - including to this site - to acknowledge sources of information, with thanks. Hope you find it useful and any comments welcome, especially on the speculative findings marked with '?' I'm not an archaeologist, so it is all speculation!

 

[rh90]

There is a blog by someone who lived at Leasowes in 1954 as a child, (Flat 1, The Leasowes, 170 Wake Green Road)
According to him, it had been divided into 4 flats by that time, was neglected and falling apart. I haven't contacted him to find out more (who was the landlord, previous owner, etc, etc.)

The Leasowes 1

The day arrived. After school I bought my bus ticket to College Road and watched as we passed the end of Billesley Lane. 2 stops later I got off and walked down Wake Green Road, past the Grammar Sc…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

A new Life in Birmingham 2

Life at Billesley Lane was good. School was not too demanding and I could cycle round to see school friends; even at the age of 9 or 10 I was given a lot of independence. My greatest friend was Joh…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

The Leasowes 3 and Boarding at School

We have reached a time when I took virtually no photographs apart from during Rhosneigr holidays. The last one for a while is another view of the Leasowes taken from the main lawn. The bay window o…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

Middle Earth

After moving in I started to explore the whole garden and the plot of overgrown land at the bottom and then I found a way out into a world beyond there. I came out at the top of a slope; to the ri…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

 

[rh90]

There is a blog by someone who lived at Leasowes in 1954 as a child, (Flat 1, The Leasowes, 170 Wake Green Road)
According to him, it had been divided into 4 flats by that time, was neglected and falling apart. I haven't contacted him to find out more (who was the landlord, previous owner, etc, etc.)

The Leasowes 1

The day arrived. After school I bought my bus ticket to College Road and watched as we passed the end of Billesley Lane. 2 stops later I got off and walked down Wake Green Road, past the Grammar Sc…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

A new Life in Birmingham 2

Life at Billesley Lane was good. School was not too demanding and I could cycle round to see school friends; even at the age of 9 or 10 I was given a lot of independence. My greatest friend was Joh…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

The Leasowes 3 and Boarding at School

We have reached a time when I took virtually no photographs apart from during Rhosneigr holidays. The last one for a while is another view of the Leasowes taken from the main lawn. The bay window o…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

Middle Earth

After moving in I started to explore the whole garden and the plot of overgrown land at the bottom and then I found a way out into a world beyond there. I came out at the top of a slope; to the ri…

gerrard1813.wordpress.com

Upon further reading, he wrote that the previous owner of the property decided to keep the plot of land at the bottom, by moseley bog/pickwick park, so there is a chance he might know their identity.