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Turnberry road

I lived at No 94 1950-55 delivered papers locally for Freddie Evans paper shop in Turnberry Rd, Went toBeeches Rd school then Handsworth Tech.
 
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Lived in Fowlmere Road, (next road up) 1976 to 1996 and used to walk my dogs on the parkland running behind Turnberry Road. During the time I lived their, I can remember all the press attention with the kidknapping by
Michael Sams, about 1991??
 
I lived on Turnberry Road, the end near Booths Farm Road and Calshot School. I remember the greengrocers in the row of shops opposite Calshot school. An old man owned it and he looked after his very elderly mother but I can't remember his name, was it Turpin? if you remember let me know. Then the chemist shop, I think it was owned by Mr Giddings and he had an assistant Heather Jones, then the sweet shop owned by Evans? then passed to the Thompsons? they had a little girl Tracy and when they left the shop passed to the Lees. The next shop in the row was Perks? a grocers where you could buy loose tea by the pound, butter cut from the slab which would be wrapped in greaseproof paper, and rows of metal boxes along the front of the counter all with different biscuits in. There was the wool shop which has a yellow film blind pulled down over the window all summer, the ironmongers the butchers and the chip shop, owened by Marco's at the time I left.
I also remember the midwife who lived halfway down Turnberry Road, she drove a black morris minor I seem to remember. I was sent down the road to fetch her a few times when my siblings were on the way. Upon arrival at our house she would give me and my brother a few coins to go buy sweets while she got on with the business at hand! how different things are today! I remember the bomb site and air raid shelter (where the swimming pool now sits) we used to play there after school.
Anyone remember Mrs Davies the headmistress of Calshot infants school in the late 1950's early 60's? I remember Arthur Browning, we used to walk down the gully and stand watching him fixing his motorbikes at the bottom of his garden. The Turnberry road sweeper used to wear a top hat and tails and was a real oddity, as he pushed his brush up the gutters, top hat firmly in place, a real excentric and we called him Smokey Joe. Me and my brothers used to wait for him coming up the road with his metal bin on wheels, he told us the most fantastic tales about his life which as kids we totally believed, another highlight of our week.
 
Is there anyone on this site that lived in Turnberry road, Great Barr?.
Hi, I lived at 104 from 1947 until 1996 and went to Perry Beeches , the cottage stores in beeches road before the new build was a cottage and had a wishing well in the front garden.
 
Hi, I lived at 104 from 1947 until 1996 and went to Perry Beeches , the cottage stores in beeches road before the new build was a cottage and had a wishing well in the front garden.
I also went to Beeches road school 1957 to 1960. Used to buy semi frozen jubbly's from the cottage stores during the summer and freezing your whatsits off in the winter doing cross country running in the brook.
 
Mrs Davies was head when I went there (Calshot school infants) Gittings wife was the district nurse who looked after my dad when he had a serious industrial injury. I remember Arthur Browning and rge air raid shelter but playing "Over ther Brook" was best. I was from Foden Rd but my wife was from Turnberry.
 
Mrs Davies was head when I went there (Calshot school infants) Gittings wife was the district nurse who looked after my dad when he had a serious industrial injury. I remember Arthur Browning and rge air raid shelter but playing "Over ther Brook" was best. I was from Foden Rd but my wife was from Turnberry.
Arthur Browning was there when I was, can't remember which year now as I went from second year to fourth and ended up in Miss Lloyd's class. As you probably remember Arthur turned out to be a brilliant speedway rider, something we never expected. David Burrows was also in Miss Lloyd's class with me, his brothers had something to do with Brooklyn garage, he was always tinkering with the heads car.
 
A 1938 aerial photo shows Turnberry Rd bottom left and the patch of land where Great Barr swimming baths would eventually be built. Beeches Rd school can be seen with it's large playing field.
When I was at the school we would often be allowed to play on the field for most of the afternoon once a week. The 'woods' can be seen to the left of the field and most of the kids in the area would have played there and it was very boggy. The island with the crossed pavements in Thornbridge Avenue stands out. Aldridge Rd school can be seen top left.
Turnberry.JPG
 
I lived next door but one to a David Burrows in Heston Avenue through the late 1940s/50s. His father was the Beat Bobby in Canterbury Road, Birchfields. I am assuming it is the same David Burrows. David was a few years younger than me, and I remember him being a useful little footballer. When I went into the RN, (1954) my mother gave him all my Meccano! She reasoned I wouldn't need it any more! I also met Arthur Browning in the 1980s through Vic Darling, from Tyndale Crescent; a good mate of mine.
As for Calshot Road School, my sister Jean Walker went to that school, and of course went on to Perry Beeches. Jean was 5 years my junior, so I had left school by the time she went to Beeches. Sadly she passed in 2018 at 74.
I wonder if the lady from Turnberry Road knew my old friend, Clive Worrall. Clive was a couple of months younger than me, and I last saw him in the 1990s. He lived very near to the last house in Turnberry, and might have actually lived in Booths Farm Road. Sadly another old comrade who has passed.

Reference Smoky Joe the top-hatted sweeper. I wonder if most of his tales were actually true. I can tell tall tales that would be disbelieved, but are bonafide! :cool:

John
 
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hi folks...as calshot road school has been mentioned on this thread if anyone has any class photos or maybe photos of school plays to share taken between 1950 and 1960 ish i would love to see them...

many thanks

lyn
 
I just came across this photo so a belated reply. I know the area from the early 50's to late 60's and it's interesting to see it before any post war development. Where was it sourced from? It looks as if the quarry workings did not extend up to Sandy Lane at that time. Have you ant idea when the quarry opened? The area just below Beeches Road School does not appear to have the Junior School Classroom Huts which were just by the entrance. Below the huts it looks like allotments, later to be the area where the Nursery was erected and just below that prefabs (later replaced by semidetached houses on a service drive. Dave
 
Hi Dave, because you put your text inside the quote to a post by me, I could not reply with a quote to you ... :)

The aerial photo was sourced from 'britainfromabove'. Unfortunately their two photos in the area are low res. The quarry was open in 1945 and I remember playing on the deep pool when it was iced over in 1947. If you have not already seen it I put a series of aerial views with dates in a post in another thread see link below.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...ry-beeches-secondary-school.17713/post-432904
 
Here is an aerial view dated 1955. I have marked a red line at the junction of Turnberry Rd and Beeches Rd. Thornbridge Ave and the Beeches Pub in the pic ...
BeechesRoad1955.jpg
The source of the view is from Library of Birmingham see below
 
Hi Dave, because you put your text inside the quote to a post by me, I could not reply with a quote to you ... :)

The aerial photo was sourced from 'britainfromabove'. Unfortunately their two photos in the area are low res. The quarry was open in 1945 and I remember playing on the deep pool when it was iced over in 1947. If you have not already seen it I put a series of aerial views with dates in a post in another thread see link below.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...ry-beeches-secondary-school.17713/post-432904
Thank you for the information and forbearance oldMohawk. I realised as I hit post that I'd made a mistake-I sometime have a dispute with my "2 in 1" machine if I fail to give it due attention!!!
 
Here is an aerial view dated 1955. I have marked a red line at the junction of Turnberry Rd and Beeches Rd. Thornbridge Ave and the Beeches Pub in the pic ...
View attachment 162966
The source of the view is from Library of Birmingham see below
Thanks for the image, it has a great level of detail and I can see my childhood home and the line of the brook, woods and field which were our playground.
 
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