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Sandbags

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
These have played, and continue to play, an important part in protecting our buildings, homes and structures. So let's firstly have a look at some wartime aspects.

World War 2 - filling the bags, well someone had to do it.
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Improving their performance
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Protecting public buildings
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Handy bags for putting out fires.
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Where did all this sand come from ? Was it local - as we know Birmingham lies on sand deposits ? Viv.
 
So, it appears that the humble sand bag, according to the April 1940 cutting, was being replaced with those hollow concrete blocks which were then filled with sand. It suggests that they were better and were used in buildings of importance.
 
Sandbag use continues into the 1950/60s. From flood control to ammunition disposal. And a suggestion for anti-vandalism. Viv.
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I would like £1 for every sandbag that I have seen used, in floods, containment of spillages, earth containment and many other usages. I do have a supply by my garage doors for the occasions where torrential rain is promised! :D
 
Vivienne14 said:
These have played, and continue to play, an important part in protecting our buildings, homes and structures. So let's firstly have a look at some wartime aspects.

Where did all this sand come from ? Was it local - as we know Birmingham lies on sand deposits ? Viv.
Click to expand...
The Kingstanding/Perry Beeches area was surrounded by sand deposits ... we used to call them 'sandpits'. Most of them later became landfill sites when the sand had been completely dug out.
Another view of sandbag filling in Margaret Street.
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from https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/old-street-pics.38737/page-26#post-447194
 
They were quick of the mark here, as the tram routes, excepting the Lodge Road 32, ceased, being replaced by buses, at the end of September, 1939. The tram appears to be on route 29: Edmund Street to Bearwood, replaced by bus route B82.
 
Viv, there is an area of Birmingham called Sandpits, by Ladywood near Warstone Lane Cemetery and Key Hill Cemetery. One of the Cemeteries was a sand quarry so Birmingham is quite sandy!!!
(I think we had a thread about moving sand about as a punishment, different time frame though.)
rosie.
 
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