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  1. Mike Bond

    GEC WITTON WORKS

    Hi Trevor/ I played for G.E.C. in the mid 60's and have lots of happy memories with a great bunch of blokes. I later moved over to Sutton Coldfield RFC which was my home club. We are roughly the same age so it's quite possible that we played opposite each other one Saturday afternoon...
  2. Mike Bond

    TEETH OUT AT THE CLINIC

    Hello Williamstreet, The Dental Surgeon in question was a smashing bloke and he shared a seat with me on the coach from an away match. I thought it was a good one and it still makes me smile to this day. I wish I could say something like that that people would remember for the rest of their...
  3. Mike Bond

    TEETH OUT AT THE CLINIC

    Reading all the threads relating to the School Dental Clinic I can truthfully say, BEEN THERE AND DONE IT. When I played rugby for Sutton Coldfield one of my team members was a Dental Surgeon. He once said that it was the only profession where you spend all day meeting people who don't want to...
  4. Mike Bond

    Growing up in Streetly in the 60's

    Lots of happy memories living in Streetly as a boy in the 1960's. I lived in one of the large houses on Chester Road North before what is now a large traffic island at the junction of Queslett Road and Chester Road North. Spent hours and hours in Sutton Park. During the summer holidays a group...
  5. Mike Bond

    WW1 casualty info by street

    My Grandfather served in the Boar War and later joined the Royal Marines in WW1 but died of his wounds in a German Military Hospital in 1917. I contacted the War Graves Photographic Project with his details and for a fee of 10 pounds received a photograph of the cemetery and a second photograph...
  6. Mike Bond

    Cafes in and around Birmingham

    As an Engineering Apprentice at G.E.C.in the 1960's, I used to do day release and one night a week at Erdington Technical College. On Wednesday night I used to leave work and pop into a cafe on the corner of Electric Avenue and Westwood Road. I cannot remember the name of the cafe or who...
  7. Mike Bond

    First Jobs

    My First Job was an Apprenticeship at G.E.C. in Witton in the early 1960's. Started at one pound and fifty pence per week but I could not have wished for a better training , the Indentures were pages of parchment with elaborate print and seals which really made people sit up and take notice at...
  8. Mike Bond

    Riland Bedford High School for Girls and Boys.

    Riland Bedford was not my school but I did play rugby for Sutton Coldfield in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The club captain was a chap called Roger Smolden who was a teacher at Riland Bedford. Mike.
  9. Mike Bond

    Jazz Clubs

    My few pennies were well spent Old Brummie.Mike.
  10. Mike Bond

    GEC WITTON WORKS

    Great photograph's Martyn, I served my Engineering Apprenticeship in the 60's ending up in the New Turbo Shop but I spent a few months in the main fitting shop. I was always fascinated by the huge lathes and boring machines and the tremendous responsibility those skilled machinists had- one...
  11. Mike Bond

    Jazz Clubs

    Old Brummie, I think the name only stuck with me because as an Apprentice at G.E.C. my wages were peanuts but Saturday night with the All Stars at the Holt was within my budget. We must have past each other on many a Saturday evening. Best wishes, Mike.
  12. Mike Bond

    Jazz Clubs

    I remember Basil Wainwright and the Midland All Stars in the 1960's , their venue was the Holt public house very near to the Villa football club.There was a large room at the back of the pub with a raised stage, plenty of room to sit or dance and there was always a good crowd.Sadly, the local...
  13. Mike Bond

    Sutton Park entrance fees

    Smashing story Viv. That was a typical relationship that the local residents had with their own gate keeper. Mike.
  14. Mike Bond

    Sutton Park entrance fees

    Thanks Phil, that's how I remember the old Park huts. Mike.
  15. Mike Bond

    Scout Jamboree Sutton park

    My comments that I thought the Park had never fully recovered from the Jamboree is illustrated very clearly by driving from the Streetly Gate entrance along that roadway until you nearly reach the end. Look to your left and you will see huge square areas of Park land which is covered in...
  16. Mike Bond

    Sutton Park entrance fees

    In the 1960's I lived very close to the Royal Oak Gate not far from the Parson & Clerk public house. All the gate houses used to have thatched roofs and the Park Keepers wore a green uniform with a peak cap Yes, every gate was manned and two or three extra staff used to ride around the park on...
  17. Mike Bond

    Scout Jamboree Sutton park

    In the 1960's I lived very close to the Royal Oak Gate not far from the Parson & Clerk public house........ I felt the Park never fully recovered after the Scout Jamboree. Still have my wonderful memories though-couldn't take that away. Mike.
  18. Mike Bond

    Aston, Lozells & Witton Photos Reposted thanks to Ray Griffiths...

    Great photograph of Electric Avenue/G.E.C. Ray. I remember the end of my Apprenticeship in the New Turbo Shop when the large Pickfords tractor/trailors had to carry out a tight turn from the Turbo Shop into Electric Avenue. Those chaps had to work very hard and use every trick in the book to...
  19. Mike Bond

    Fisher & Ludlows factory

    My Uncle worked at Fishers for most of his working life in the Sheet Metal Dept. His Name was Frank Bond and if ever he went for a beer, he would always use the Bradford Arms- not sure were that was. Best wishes,Mike.
  20. Mike Bond

    Waterloo Street Birmingham

    My late Father used to conduct his business through a law firm called Coley & Tilley- Neville House-Waterloo Street which was situated at the top end near to Chamberlain Square. At the other end of Waterloo St was St Phillips Cathederal were an old Uncle of mine used to be head gardener. I can...
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