Yes MichaelPaul, I am puzzled that I didn’t know your family but around 1957 I had left school and then spent most of my spare time with friends in Handsworth, Erdington, Sutton Coldfield and the centre of town. My main friends around Guildford Street were Barbara Clark who lived under God Bless Our Boys, Valerie Hale and others from Eden Place, Paddington Street, Geach Street and Lennox Street.
Was your mother’s maiden name Witherington?
Hi Lyn,yes i thought it would show your entrance and it was taken just before you left ...as said there are loads more photos of the street on this thread so enjoy...my nan lived in paddington st from 1900 and they had to drag her out kicking at the end of the 60s..she just did not want to leave
lyn
No rush Lyn, I have plenty of photos to process before I need those, thanks.hi john yes i have them without the watermark but had a busy day today and a tad busy until tomorrow night so can i sort them out then for you
lyn
Fascinating story Michael, great recall!Hi Paul, my mother and I left Guildford Street around 1964 after my father had died and my brother and sisters were all married. Your house was was where I thought. It was the Keelings who lived next door to the Wells. Mrs Keeling was Pat, the daughter of the Rudhalls (the shop at number 24). The shop next door to the Rudhalls was number 26 where I lived. It hadn't been a shop since the thirties before my family moved there in the late thirties. I think it was a drapers shop.
The shop part was at the front of our house and my father used it as a workshop - he mended neighbours radios and later tellys. In the late forties My parents let the Rudhalls renovate the shop as they planned to reopen it but they did not get a licence. They did use part of it for a store room as there was a door between their shop and ours.
Jack Rudhall died around 1963 and Molly moved moved out. The door between the two shops was sealed and someone else took over.
If you played dart in our shop it would have been after we moved out. If we moved out in 1964 you would have been about 8, I was 23.
The girl I remember living in your house was perhaps from the previous tenants family. When I knew her I would have been around 10 or 11 when us kids played together in the yard. That would have included me, the girl from number 15, Johnny Wells and his cousin Duncan Bagley who live up the street at the back of number 14 (Eden Place) and Christine Trotter who live at number 16 in the Barracks.
The last time I saw number 26 was around 1968.
I was a student in London then and had been visiting my mother who lived in West Heath then. Mush of Guildford Street was demolished then including the Barracks. Number 26 and 24 (Rudhallls) stood in isolation amongst the remains of the demolished houses.
The next time I visited there was a new estate; the geography had changed and it was now Guildford Drive. Somewhere on this forum is a copy of a short story I wrote about that visit. The story tells of me finding the base of the tree which was opposite the Trotter's house which was next to the brew house, behind your house.
hi john not forgotten you but busy with the grandson today free day tomorrow so will sort out those photos you wantedNo rush Lyn, I have plenty of photos to process before I need those, thanks.
Hi Lyn, it's not a problem, I have at least 25 others from Guildford Street to work on and I've got those from Porchester Street to do too. Thankshi john not forgotten you but busy with the grandson today free day tomorrow so will sort out those photos you wanted
lyn
Thanks Lyn, much appreciated.here you go john...
lyn
Lyn/anyone, what would be the approximate date these homes were built?here you go john...double check them...
lyn
I would think 1860/70s certainly in Furnace Lane the houses were built c. 1870Lyn/anyone, what would be the approximate date these homes were built?
Thank you!
Thank you!I would think 1860/70s certainly in Furnace Lane the houses were built c. 1870
I'd be curious to know just how many houses there were on Furnace Lane. I'm referring to houses with an actual Furnace Lane address. If my memory serves...and it's not what it used to be, I don't recall any houses on the first section of Furnace Lane, just the back yards of Porchester St.I would think 1860/70s certainly in Furnace Lane the houses were built c. 1870
Hi Dave,I'd be curious to know just how many houses there were on Furnace Lane. I'm referring to houses with an actual Furnace Lane address. If my memory serves...and it's not what it used to be, I don't recall any houses on the first section of Furnace Lane, just the back yards of Porchester St.
Dave A
thanks john i dont know why but ive always imagined the furnace lane houses to be much older..just a flight of fancy i think lolI would think 1860/70s certainly in Furnace Lane the houses were built c. 1870
its the corner with farm st johnCould somebody tell me which corner on Guildford Street this was located, please.