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Alum Rock Road Shops

Hi Curly, must have been 1958-9 when i joined the cubs cant say it was 151st , memory for those details has faded i would like to find out but wouldn't know where to start, were you local to the Rock cheers Rich.
 
Very likely we were there at the same time. I would have been 9 or 10yo in 58/59.
Local? yes, I lived in Mossvale Grove, off Glenpark Rd so my route home would have been via Highfield Rd.
 
Hi Curly, know the area, my brother lived in Harts rd and his in-laws lived in ward end park rd their garden overlooked the boating lake spent some time mostly weekends in that house , climbed over garden fence into the park and set up my fishing rod very happy days . Later on early 70's joined highfield labour club again happy days cheers Rich.
 
Alum Rock/Saltley Methodist Church:- BilboC provides the answer in #51 in Yorkswood camp site Castle Bromwich thread
"Wendy/All,
I too was in the 151st Birmingham, based in the hall behind the Methodist Church at the 'Top of the Rock', as it was known - Alum Rock Road, for a few years,"
 
Thanks again saddlebag , there are more shops in this list that i remember such as Marklows was a sweet and newsagent just a couple of shops down from st saviours i cant remember Deen's chippy ? but Beeny's was where dad shopped for his clothes not sure if he got his suits from him. Sadly mom passed away in 2019 at the ripe old age of 96 she would have many memories of the shops and owners during her 50 years walking up and down THE ROCK . I went to school with Rodney Morris he was a good mate and we both shared the love of nature as i posted earlier Mr Brown a welsh teacher at st saviours would pick me Rodney, Kenny Maguire Tony Gardner up at school on a Saturday morning for a ramble through Sutton Park a fantastic place for wildlife. You were right they did have 2 lads i cant remember his brothers name we lost touch when we left st saviours i think he went to Leigh Rd but i saw him occasionally when we played cricket against each other at ward end park during our spell at senior school. Many thank's for the memories saddlebag please keep in touch and keep the ROCK alive Cheers Rich.
Wasn’t Lorna Morris the sister and also my friend, my husband Robert Jenkins and his two brothers Brian and David lived at 24 George Arthur Road. The sweet shop I think was Sellars and then Liz Woodfield and her family took it over.
 
Would anyone remember seeing in the 1940's and 50's walking along Alum Rock Road- on a daily basis - an elderly gent, wearing a well steamed bowler hat, a fresh flower in his button hole and very well polished shoes? He used to walk to Rock Public House twice daily from his home at 358 Alum Rock Road, rain or shine. He was killed outside the Rock Pub in October 1959 by a hit and run motorist. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers seeing my Grandfather.
Hi, I know this post is 12 years old. But my grandmother used to live at 356 Alum Rock Road until the late 80s. We lived in Naseby Road until 81. I'm sure my dad will remember. I will ask him since I'll be able to visit him indoors again next week :)
 
Hi Curly thanks for the info on 151st will have a look at the post you mentioned , and thank you to Trebor i do remember Sellars sweet shop cheers Rich
 
I remember the 151st cubs, joining in 1959/60. I can still picture the hall with its small rooms around the outside where we went for badge training. There was an all-pervading smell of coffee, but I was never offered one! I left as a sixer in 1963 when I turned 11 and always regretted not going into the scouts, but my friends stopped going so I did too. I also remember the 'M' patch we wore which I was told stood for 'methodist'.
 
Hi Phil, we must have been there at the same time , i was also a sixer but couldn't attend on the night i was to get the Leaping Wolf badge i cant remember why but i never went back like you i left when i was 11 and my mates went off to different senior schools ,thank you for the memories not sure if our Akela, hope that's how you spell it was leaving Cheers Rich.
 
Hi just doing some family research, I ve found some family who lived at 760 Alum rock road in the 50s does anyone know if this was a house or a business then, the family were called the Renwicks
 
The Capitol Cinema was 766 and there are photos of the cinema. So you might get a glimpse of it.

As far as I can remember the buildings close to the cinema have always been shops but that's only back to the 1970s.

This photo is probably a bit earlier than the 50s but I think 760 is on the left and it looks like a shop...

 
Hi Phil, we must have been there at the same time , i was also a sixer but couldn't attend on the night i was to get the Leaping Wolf badge i cant remember why but i never went back like you i left when i was 11 and my mates went off to different senior schools ,thank you for the memories not sure if our Akela, hope that's how you spell it was leaving Cheers Rich.
I remember Akela coming to see me when I was in hospital after having my appendix out when I was 10. Nice chap
 
In post#2 the 2nd image of a Kellys 1956 shows Mrs Ida Ball and milk bar at 760.
Only 2nd image shown below ...
Wendy
The relevent part of the 1956 kellys is on the two pages below:
index.php

mike

In post#93 the milk bar at 760 and Mrs Ball are mentioned.
Yes, there was a milk bar close to the Capitol cinema. It was owned by a lady called Mrs Ball and, you're right - the milk shakes were delicious. That row of shops had Arrowsmith's (sweets and tobacco), J House (bread and cakes), the Milk Bar, Home & Colonial Stores and Freeman Hardy & Willis.

Opposite were Clarkes (butchers), T Mayne (bread/groceries), Hawtins (records and sheet music), Galpins - my grandfather and father - (hardware and petrol sold over the pavement), Tozers (butcher), Sands (grocers), Pets & Gardens(speaks for itself), Cookes (optician) and Midland Bank.

This was in the 1950s.

Actually, the best milk shakes were at Gardners Milk Bar, adjacent to the Beaufort cinema at the far (out of town) end of Alum Rock Road
 
did the shops have flats above I wonder? does anyone remember a daniel and edith renwick?

Would they not have been running the shop? They are the only people listed at the address on the 1957 and 1960 electoral rolls.

Daniel (if I have the correct one) appears to be an interesting character.
 
Would they not have been running the shop? They are the only people listed at the address on the 1957 and 1960 electoral rolls.

Daniel (if I have the correct one) appears to be an interesting character.
so I believe, please tell me more.....dan is the man Im interested in????
 
what shop was is??

I don't know what the shop it was at that time but the directory entry on post #493 says it was a milk bar in 1956 and as I said it's been a shop for as long as I can remember so it seems reasonable to assume it was a shop of some kind in between.

I'm sure there will be directories listing it in those years, though they may not be online yet, and I'm sure there are members who remember that area from that time so hopefully someone will be able to give more details.
 
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