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Dorrington Road Infant and Junior School

nickcc101

master brummie
We sometimes used to walk up Derrydown on the way to Dorrington rd Schools, infants and junior, and used to take the short cut through the right of way at the top of Derrydown. The head teachers at both Schools were Miss Kirkham and Mr Aspinall, probably changed by the time you went there. The Saywells owned a cycle shop somewhere in Aston so perhaps you knew them from when you were there. The son, Renee I think, had a Claud Butler bike which we all lusted after and used to work for Tucker Eyelets back in the mid sixties. Sorry didn't know the Birkins, or at least unable to remember if I did.
 
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After I left Dorrington Road school and moved to Handsworth Grammar, I used to cycle through the park from the Lavendon Road entrance to the Cherry Wood Road entrance on my way to and from school. We used to play impromotue cricket and football matches in the park and cut out a 'speedway' track to race round on old bicycles with no brakes. Happy days!
 
My house was in Lavendon Road, we backed onto the Park. I went to Dorrington, between 1970-77. I spent many happy hours on the paddle boats before they finished how lovely your mum ran the cafe.
 
I lived in Dorrington Road, opposite the school, during the war. Our house was hit with incendiary bombs and a newly built Caretakers House (not yet lived in) opposite was totally destroyed by a HE bomb, blowing our windows out. By this time in the war, we had become complacent and were not going down to our shared Anderson shelter during the raids. We all survived!

My friends and myself used to go to the Perry Hall Park to talk to the gun crews and searchlight crews who where stationed there - we thought it most exciting.

After the war I used to cycle through the park to get to Handsworth Grammar School. Also spent many happy hours there with friends.
 
I lived in Dorrington Road, opposite the school, during the war. Our house was hit with incendiary bombs and a newly built Caretakers House (not yet lived in) opposite was totally destroyed by a HE bomb, blowing our windows out. By this time in the war, we had become complacent and were not going down to our shared Anderson shelter during the raids. We all survived!

My friends and myself used to go to the Perry Hall Park to talk to the gun crews and searchlight crews who where stationed there - we thought it most exciting.

After the war I used to cycle through the park to get to Handsworth Grammar School. Also spent many happy hours there with friends.
My Sister and I both went to Dorrington road infants and juniors, would have been 1947 for my Sister and 1950 when we started at the infants.
 
My Sister and I both went to Dorrington road infants and juniors, would have been 1947 for my Sister and 1950 when we started at the infants.
Hello.
My name is Tony Beasley, I used to live in Carmodale Avenue, Perry Barr, and went to Dorrington Road school infants & juniors back in 1947, I can also remember looking out of the infants classroom windows at the buckets on a cable system dumping coal waste onto huge slag heaps from Hampstead Colliery coal mine. (Do you remember this). Also what was your name back then?
 
Hello.
My name is Tony Beasley, I used to live in Carmodale Avenue, Perry Barr, and went to Dorrington Road school infants & juniors back in 1947, I can also remember looking out of the infants classroom windows at the buckets on a cable system dumping coal waste onto huge slag heaps from Hampstead Colliery coal mine. (Do you remember this). Also what was your name back then?
Hello Tony - I do remember the cable system and If my (fading) memory serves me right, your sister's name was Janet? she had dark hair? What happened to her? My first teacher at Dorrington Road was a very stern Mrs Kirkham.

My name is Arthur Waldron. I was courting a Sheila Morgan who lived in Wensleydale Road and I used the footpath from Rocky Lane across Carmodale and into Wensleydale to visit her.

The Clifton Cinema was a mecca then of course.
 
Hello Tony - I do remember the cable system and If my (fading) memory serves me right, your sister's name was Janet? she had dark hair? What happened to her? My first teacher at Dorrington Road was a very stern Mrs Kirkham.

My name is Arthur Waldron. I was courting a Sheila Morgan who lived in Wensleydale Road and I used the footpath from Rocky Lane across Carmodale and into Wensleydale to visit her.

The Clifton Cinema was a mecca then of course.
Mrs Kirkham was the head of the infants when I was there and always conducted the singing using her arm as if it was a swans neck. She lived in a house on Rocky Lane which we always walked past on the way to the right of way that lead to Dewsbury grove where we lived, we always worried that she would jump out and get us if we misbehaved on the way home.
 
Hello.
My name is Tony Beasley, I used to live in Carmodale Avenue, Perry Barr, and went to Dorrington Road school infants & juniors back in 1947, I can also remember looking out of the infants classroom windows at the buckets on a cable system dumping coal waste onto huge slag heaps from Hampstead Colliery coal mine. (Do you remember this). Also what was your name back then?
My sisters name is Lesley and mine is Nicholas (nick) cook. In the Juniors we had Mr Aspinall as the head and I was in a class with a lad called little Peter. I left the Juniors in 1957 to go to Beeches road but my Sister would have left three or four years earlier to go to Canterbury girls school. Yes I remember The colliery but more from later years when I helped the Handsworth Dairy's milkman for a short time. One of my greatest friends lived on Hampstead hill ? who I got to know from working for Stockland coaches.
 
Mrs Kirkham was the head of the infants when I was there and always conducted the singing using her arm as if it was a swans neck. She lived in a house on Rocky Lane which we always walked past on the way to the right of way that lead to Dewsbury grove where we lived, we always worried that she would jump out and get us if we misbehaved on the way home.
How times change. The majority of children in infants and senior schools did have a degree of fear about their teachers - some more so than others. There was the odd on or two that feared no-one - probably that included their parents.
Today, it seems in some schools, that teachers are in fear of some of the pupils.
 
Mrs Kirkham was the head of the infants when I was there and always conducted the singing using her arm as if it was a swans neck. She lived in a house on Rocky Lane which we always walked past on the way to the right of way that lead to Dewsbury grove where we lived, we always worried that she would jump out and get us if we misbehaved on the way home.
I was at Dorrington Road in the 50's and remember Mrs Kirkham well, she terrified me. Mrs Darlington similar and so I got moved by kind headmistress Miss Smith to another class (Mrs Little...Something) which was better because we did craft every afternoon! Mr Aspinall I remember and Mr Philips in the juniors, who was very talented and kind.
 
Miss Kirkham lived on Rocky Lane. I remember living in fear in case she was in her garden whenever we walked past, she also had loads of crocus growing on her lawn, strange how you can remember certain things.
 
Lovely to find this site. I lived in Dyas Avenue, Beeches Primary was full, so it was Dorrington for me (1959-1965) and I'm so grateful for that.
I was a the school from 1959-1965, and am writing my memories of Mr Mullins who taught at Dorrington Road in the 60s. Please can you send me any of your stories about him, or any contacts you may have. I'd love to see the records from Margaret St Education Dept of his successes - does anyone know of a contact there too?
 
I was at Dorrington Road in the 50's and remember Mrs Kirkham well, she terrified me. Mrs Darlington similar and so I got moved by kind headmistress Miss Smith to another class (Mrs Little...Something) which was better because we did craft every afternoon! Mr Aspinall I remember and Mr Philips in the juniors, who was very talented and kind.
I think it was Miss Kirkham. I was there in the 50's too. Must've started 1956. I would've been just 5. I loved being in Mr Doe's class then Miss Kirkham. She terrified me in fact I think I've been scarred for life. I ran away from school one day because I was so frightened. Another time I was in Miss Martin's class and she wouldn't allow me to go to the toilet. I wriggled on my chair and gradually wet myself. When I stood up to go home , all the children laughed. Thank god things have changed. No nice memories of my childhood.
 
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