Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
Between Grasmere Road and Ashwin Road in Handsworth there is a pedestrian tunnel through the railway embankment. I believe it runs parallel to (and possibly above) Hockley Brook.
I have a memory of one night only in 1940 when I was visiting my Nan at 62 Grasmere Road, being bundled overnight with all the locals in the tunnel, which had had about eight brick "blast walls" built in. These blast walls came in pairs, about five feet apart, across all but five feet of the width, so that you (and perhaps the blast of a bomb) had a slalom to get through.
At home we had an Anderson shelter in the garden, but that tunnel was a very social place, and to a seven-year-old it was quite an experience.
During the day it was fun too, because there was next to no lighting between these barriers, and you (well, I did) needed confidence to charge through these unfathomable chambers.
It was also a challenge to the ear. Kids always loved to shout and stamp their feet going through the tunnel before the blast walls were put in, and afterwards as well. But when the walls were there and I was just a titch, the sounds could be terrifying.
Peter
I have a memory of one night only in 1940 when I was visiting my Nan at 62 Grasmere Road, being bundled overnight with all the locals in the tunnel, which had had about eight brick "blast walls" built in. These blast walls came in pairs, about five feet apart, across all but five feet of the width, so that you (and perhaps the blast of a bomb) had a slalom to get through.
At home we had an Anderson shelter in the garden, but that tunnel was a very social place, and to a seven-year-old it was quite an experience.
During the day it was fun too, because there was next to no lighting between these barriers, and you (well, I did) needed confidence to charge through these unfathomable chambers.
It was also a challenge to the ear. Kids always loved to shout and stamp their feet going through the tunnel before the blast walls were put in, and afterwards as well. But when the walls were there and I was just a titch, the sounds could be terrifying.
Peter