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135 Dollman Street and onwards!

Re: 52 Dollman Street (KIRWANS)

KIRWAN family
We lived in 52 Dollman St in 1963 to 1970. My mom and dad were Annie and Michael KIRWAN. There were 8 of us children.
Marie, Colette, Clare, Angela, John, Patrick, Frances and Eileen.
Our neighbours were:- Mrs Philips, Miss Marks,
Mr & Mrs Farrell, The Cusacks Margaret, Mary, Patricia, Ann, and Patrick.
Margaret Cullen and her dad Jimmy. The Whitehouses Aaron, Martin, Brenda and Terry. The Murphys Madeleine and Sean. The Days Elizabeth and Trevor. The Fallons (also a big family) The Taylors Steven and Diane.
The Toppings John. The la'toohes Christine and Sharmaine. and many more which i can't recall now. The Midland Tavern and the adelaide pub come to mind. The Railway club in Inkerman st where we use to go on Sundays. We all went to St Vincents RC school whilst Sister Attracta was head teacher. Oh! the good old days it's nice remembering them again.
 
hi collete
i lived at 140 dollman st for about 5 years we lived right next door to the railway sheds and the marshalling yard formans office. i recall a lot of the names you mentioned and a few more. when i lived there there was a lady opposite called pat woolaston a big lady i remember she had 2 daughters and she was a good friend of my moms ( Barbera walker) My mom did know most people on dollman st and i remember when i when to school one day a pebble road outside our house but when i came home it was tarmac.
and does any body remember the police man who walked up and down dollman st every day.

colin walker
 
I would like to see a map with Alma Crescent Vauxhall on it when the old houses were there. I used to live at #27.

Have a nice day, Wally.
 
re dollman street, i lved there from 1961 till 1969 with my parents elsie and bob rowe we lived at number 9 by myras cafe our neighbours were daisy and herbert at 11 my mom worked at les cafe on corner of alma cresent smell the bacon lol. the walkers lived next door to les cafe, i remember dolly goodmans shop and her family gettig mothers pride fresh bread hmmm, my dad played accordian in the midland tavern he had motorbike like most of the blokes did, i remember a man lived by watsons shop used to sell ribbons ??? , used to go railway club for pop n crisps with charlie jones on the door oh what memories still in touch with friends pat conlon and diana plant after all these years loved all these pages of extracts and pics keep it up angela clayton was rowe x
 
hi all i am new to this and i lived at 183 dollman street my name is phillips there wear six of us lads and now girls anything that happened jn dollman street it always was the phillips that did it woulld like to hear off anybody who rememberd us bily
 
I Lived at 2/89 Dollman Street till i got married, my Parents lived there till they were demolished. I have a few pics some where i will sort them out.
My Parents were from Willis Street and Galton Street i was born in Heneage Street 1944. Alan
 
Hi Wendy
My Mum kept all of her old pics they have been a mine of information for me and other people while i have been doing my family tree.
Thats was my Mother standing by the tin bath taken about 1965 at 2/89 Dollman Street. I have lived in Tamworth since 1966. Alan.
 
Maybell

Thanks so much! At last I have a good view of where my grandfather and his father lived all those years ago.

Much appreciated!

Paul
 
My Uncle used to live in Alma Crescent right up till he died in the mid sixties his name was George Batchelor and he used to sweep the chimneys round the area.
Alan.
 
Not Dollman Street but same area...If anyone comes across pictures of the houses on Vauxhall Grove I would realy like to see them; particularly around 1890 or so. The ones of Dollman Street are great.
 
Maybell, The last picture of Dollman Street with the young lady on it...would that have been looking towards Alma Crescent in the sunlight at the end. The building with the sun on it led up to Cato Street and Alma ran across. In another age the young lady would have been standing right in the middle of the famous 18 century Vauxhall Gardens.
 
rupert have you een the pictures of the layout of vauxhall some one posted on here last year.
 
Yes Rupert that is correct in my time there on the left hand corner there was an Off licence(outdoor) as the locals called it the old man who ran it was an artist who liked to paint flowers and fruit.
I had a lot of relatives on my Mums side lived round the area they came from Hatton and around Warwick to work on the Railways and the gas mains of Birmingham in about 1870.
My Dads side came up from London after the 1 st War My Grandfather worked at HP Sauce in Aston.
 
maybell the old chap on the outdoor was called mr fellows he painted oil on mirrors aswell
colin
 
Hi Colin
Thats right you jogged my memory, he had a lovely Daughter or Grandaughter as well i really liked her. are you still in Cyprus in the sunshine. Alan.
 
Ok Maybell I have the picture now thanks. Colin I have the birdseye sketch and I think Erskine is on the right of it and it looks like the back yards of the houses on Vauxhall Grove are visible on the right. The gate was right opposite the end of Great Brook Street and that location can be seen in one of Phylis Nicklins photo's.
 
Did you ever go up into the loft of the offsales. cause i was best mates with ricky fellows . He took me up to the 3rd floor of the offsales and there was no roof on it . i went up there in 1967 and they had not had the roof repaired since it was hit by a bomb in the war. the bomb didnt go off it just lande in the roof .
it was wierd upstairs even then it was like walking back 50 years.
 
rupert it is strange to think it was a real posh estate then in less than 60 we all turned up there and how it had changed.
colin
 
i actually lived in the first house net to the railway cabins and i loved every minute of my life there.
colin
 
Yes it sure changed Colin but more gradual than we tend to think posibly. When you look back over the years as we are doing, things have a way of telescoping. When I was young the first world war seemed so far into the past with its ancient implements of destruction and wooden spoked wheels. The second world war was just over and was current. And yet the children of today are over twice as far in years from WW2 than we were to WW1. Now looking back WW1 seems like yesterday and just think Custers's last stand was only about 20 years before WW1. A mere blink of the eye. Vauxhall Gardens was pretty much history when the rail line cut it in half. Alma Crescent was originally intended as a location of upper class houses prior to the above happening and I think someone said, on here, that a few may have indeed been built. Possibly they would have looked down over a treed plain towards Saltley along the Rae. Anyway it did not happen...the need for industry and accomodation for workers trumped it all.
 
I know were your coming from . when i went to devon st infants school i still remember the school was so special although i was only young. I really found it a lovelly place to be you just imagine before they built the gas works in its back garden. I placed a old penny in the wall of the hall next to devon street school when i found out they were knocking down i went to get my penny back no the building was gone along with my penny.

this site has reminded me so much of my younger days and this forum is one of a kind I have searched forums all over the world and all they seem to talk about is rbish they dont seem to about history like us brummies do.
colin
 
In some respect it is a little sad. The posts here are nostalgic and take us back but one ultimately has a feeling that we are raking over the rusted out engine remains that once powered an Empire which after collapsing had no need to be driven any more. For better or for worse.
I suppose at least we did not all get topped on a hill above the Little Big Horn and who knows what the future may hold in store.
 
I suppose so but it wot our memories are made of and i think the ones we all talk about may die with us lot.
 
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