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    New John Street West & New John Street

    Hello Tom, Our family lived just across the road from Millmans at 4/23. Often used to get sent there on errands by my Mum. She also used to loan my sister and I out as shoppers to a couple of elderly ladies who lived in the yard in the opposite corner. When I was a kid Millmans seemed to have...
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    H.P Sauce Birmingham

    I went to KEGS in Frederick road in the early 60's and we reckoned that you could always tell what the weather was going to do if you could smell the brewery and the HP factory. Happy days, I live in Essex now for my sins but drove back last year to look at the school. It seemed more like an...
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    St George's Church Newtown

    Hi Astoness, We lived in New John St West and my older sister went to St Georges and I vividly remember what a treat it was to be taken by my Mom to wait in, what I presume were, the grounds until it was time for my sister to come out of school. As I remember it there was a circular gravel path...
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    Clifton Cinema, Great Barr

    Re: Clifton Cinema, Great Barr saved Great news; although I'm an exiled Brummie, I lived on the Beeches estate for 10 years and the Clifton and the Beacon were our two local cinemas. I distinctly remember talking my way in to see the Day of the Triffids, when I was still a couple of years under...
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    Traditional Songs we sang at school

    What memories, I remember that we using to have singing together on the radio at our primary school. Lots of the songs that have already been mentioned and some pretty weird offerings; something about: From Lucerne to Vegis blue, holdirideea, hol de ra, you can go without a shoe hol ... etc. It...
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    Getting to school

    Hello Mike, Glad to hear from someone who knew Hawthorn roead well, we used to go from Aston to the playing fields in Hawthorn road for games, alternatively we would use the old trinity road games field near the Villa ground. Sadly that's long since gone I expect; I drove through there on...
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    new john st west slum clearance

    I just spotted the slum clearance maps that relate to the 30s and wondered if anyone had any idea if there were any which showed a similar thing for New John St West? In particular I am looking for anything which would show the area of the street which lay between Summer Lane and Newtown Row. We...
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    ELKINGTON ST SCHOOL

    Hi Nanet, It's great to finally find someone who also went to Elkington Street. As you will have seen from my post, I loved the school and I only left when we were moved out of our three room house in New John St West as part of the slum clearance programme that changed the face of the city...
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    Burlington St Schools

    Hello Alf, It's ages since I've been on the site and I was just exploring it when I came across your post about Mr Jones. You're absolutely correct, he was the Deputy Head and a really good teacher. I did a teaching practice there in 1968/69 and was lucky enough to be given his class. I...
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    Birmingham then and in 2008

    What a brilliant set of photographs and the placing of the old and new together reminded us of how much the city has developed from the concrete monstrosity that the planners made it into during the 60's/70's. How lucky we were that people came to their senses in time before too many more acts...
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    Hospital Street

    Thanks very much Wales a fascinating picture. I was born in New John St West and lived there for the first ten years of my life in a back yard court at the rear of number 23. It was about halfway down the Street between Summer Lane and Newtown Row; many happy memories of playing there especially...
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    Hospital Street

    Hospital street was right at the centre of family life for us, our great grandparents lived there and my father and grandfather both worked at Newman and Sons, later Newman Tonks, for most of their lives. Indeed my grandfather Albert died on the premises while at work. Newman's was one of those...
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    Newtown Palace Cinema

    Hello Astonite, Great to see a picture of the old bug hole again, I often frequented it as a kid and have posted some thoughts about it on the cinemas thread. I think that the picture was probably taken at the start of the 60's rather than late 50's becuase I lived in the Street opposite...
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    Birmingham Cinemas

    Having read one of the early posts in this thread, which lists the many cinemas in the city, I can only agree that the Newtown Palace was a 'flea pit.' Living in the section of New John St West between Summer Lane and Newtown Row meant that it was no more than two minutes walk away and we...
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    Summer Lane School

    Hello Diane, I'm Gillian's cousin and have also posted on this thread. I was interested to see your reply since both Gill and I lived in New Johns St West. I lived roughly in the middle section between Summer Lane and Newtown Row and Gill lived much nearer to the top, up by Summer Lane. We...
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    Aston - Miscellaneous Pictures

    Hi Michael, Thanks for posting such a great set of pictures, the ones of Elkington Street were particularly evocative for me. I am the little boy on the end seat in the front row on the left as you look at the picture, Mrs Cropper is on the same side. A more distinguishing mark would be the...
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    Getting to school

    Hello Jean, The only music teacher I had was the one at school, who was Mr Cooke, sadly I never really got on with him or with music for that matter. He told me that I was too useless to be able to read music and he wasn't far wrong there. As I've got older it's a talent that I've often wished...
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    Getting to school

    Hello Derek, Plenty of the rest of us used to do the same and were members of the stiff arm brigade; nothing unusual was it we were happy kids didn't matter that hankies were for special occasions. I was born in new john st west in a three room house, living room, bedroom and an attic, for me...
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    Greys Department Store

    Brenda Brenda, Just saw your post. My mother and sister both worked at Greys in the early sixties. My sister Jackie was there for a couple of years before training to be a hairdresser but my mother Olive Brackley worked on the glove and haberdashery counter until she was taken ill in 1968/69...
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    Millmans

    Just wondered if anyone else on the site knew anything about what I think was called Millmans, which was a typical small shop in New John Street West between Summer Lane and Newtown Row? I was often sent there as a kid to fetch the odd things, especially if we'd run out of milk or bread but it...
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