Bomb Pecks

[O.C.]

Chris, Peck Lane .........reply 34.........

 

[O.C.]

We dain't have any telly but learnt more about life playing in the bombed houses on the peck, and so what if we fell or got cut ya just stuck a plaster or an old sock on it.
We were kings of the wild frontier, out den's were down the cellar as we worn't scared of the dark not like the lily livered kids of today and we could be transported to another world when we went to the local flea pit and ride all the way home on an imaginary horse chased by Indians till we could form a wagon train on out beloved peck, fighting the Indians with their lavatory door hinge chopper's and bows made from rafters in-between swigs of "Tizer"(which we had pinched from the local shop) which we all passed around and when we was hungry it was "Give us a suck of ya sweet" if ya couldn't find any chewing gum in the gutter......My favourite Peck The Land Mine so called because a German parachute mine blew a few houses to bits during the war and we always found money or something when we was digging for treasure. How we hated the Scholefield mob just cause they lived in the next street and often ambushed them by a ducker fight......
Angels with dirty halos ...with invisible wings that took us anywhere we wanted to be
Our pecks could be a desert or a jungle one minute or a racetrack or a war zone the next.....Mention peck today and folk think ya have been to the gym

 

[O.C.]

Walking across the Bombing as we called them, the grown ups called them Bomb Pecks

 

[harborne]

Those photos bring back memories of happy days, Crom.

Chris

 

[loisand]

"Peck Lane" prison was demolished on the orders from William Hutton, but my date differs from Cromwells (reply 28,) I have it being demolished in 1780.

 

[O.C.]

Loisand, page from book

OLD AND NEW BIRMINGHAM. Published 1874
The Old Prison of Birmingham
“It is easy “says Hutton “to point out some places only one-third the magnitude of Birmingham whose frequent breaches of the law, and quarrels among themselves, find employment for half-a-dozen magistrates, and four times that number of constables; whilst the business of this was for many years conducted by a single justice." He ascribes this law-abiding characteristic of the people of Birmingham to the industry of the people; the hand employed in business having, he says, "less time, and less temptation, to be employed in mischief." To the absence of "idle hands " in the town, therefore, may be attributed the smallness of the gaol accommodation necessary previous to the year 1733.
In earlier times the lord of the manor held a tribunal on his own premises, and probably, as was usual in such cases, a rude prison in some sort would be annexed thereto, with such implements for punishing as were then in use; as, the stocks and the whipping-post, which, as we have seen, were afterwards removed to the Welsh Cross. After the fall of the Bermingham family, one of the lower rooms of the Leather Hall in New Street was used as a prison; "but," says Hutton, "about the year 1728, while men slept an enemy came, a private agent to the lord of the manor, and erased the Leather Hall and the Dungeon, erected three houses on the spot, and received their rents till 1776, when the town purchased them for £500, to open the way." Up to this time the only entrance to New Street from the High Town had been through a narrow passage, similar to that at the entrance to Castle Street. In the days of the Leather Hall it acquired (from the use to which the basement had been put) the name of the Dungeon Entry, and this name remained for many years after the building of the houses in place of the-old hall.
From 1728 to 1733, the town had no other place of detention for offenders, except a dry cellar, belonging to a house opposite the site of the demolished Leather Hall. On the 9th of September in the latter year, however, a meeting of the inhabitants was held in the chamber over the Cross, at which it was "unanimously agreed upon that a Dungeon be forthwith erected at the Public expense of the said Parish, at the place commonly called Bridewell House, near Pinfold Street;" This was, according to Hutton, "of all bad places the worst; . . . dark, narrow, and unwholesome within; crowded with dwellings, filth, and distress without, the circulation of air is prevented." Its gloomy, forbidding aspect without is well depicted in the engraving on page 104, which is taken from the lithographic print by Mr. Underwood, contained in his series of views of "The Buildings of Birmingham, Past and Present," a work which is now becoming scarce.
This old "Bridewell" was like most of the provincial town gaols of that period; and what they were the reader may learn, if he can endure the recital of the sickening details, from the journals of visits paid to these wretched dens in 1773-5, by that noble-minded philanthropist, John Howard.
Whether the exemplary morality attributed by Hutton to the people of Birmingham suffered a relapse after the building of the new dungeon, we cannot tell; but it would certainly appear that the gaol soon became too small to accommodate its numerous prisoners; for, in 1757, it was found necessary "to take down the Three Houses fronting Peck Lane, in order to enlarge the Prison;" which proceeding was decided upon at a meeting held on the thirteenth of September in that year. This building remained the only local prison until the erection of the building in Moor Street, in 1795; and was not destroyed until 1806, when the building materials were sold for £250.

 

[loisand]

Thanks Cromwell, you answered my other question as well

 

[Pomgolian]

:angel: Great ain't he Loisand... He must have the whole history of Brum tucked away, or he's a lot older than he makes out... Shades of the portrait (not the character though) of Dorian Gray

 

[Barr_Beacon]

I grew up in the sixties and lived in Allesley Street. When they demolished the houses I used to play on the Bomb Pecks.

Anyone got any photographs of Allesley Street?

 

[Astonian]

Hi Beacon
Do You Remember A Shop On The Corner Of
Allesley Street It Was Called
George Wilkingsons , Or Should I Say The Owner Was
Called George Wilkinson ,
The Shop Retailed Fancy Goods ,
And He Sold Glass Mirrors
In Vhich He Manufactured Himself ,
And Sold Wholesale To Other Business ,s
His Wife Had Auburn Hair In Colour,
He Knew My Mother And He Treated Me Like A Son
And He Taught Me Engimeering
A Very Nice Guy And His Family
He Only Had A Daughter
I Don,t Know Whether He His Still Alive
Have A Nice Day , Astonian ,

 

[Barr_Beacon]

Allesley Street

Hi Astonian
I tried to post these pictures earlier but for some reason I couldn't. I've sorted out the problem now (too many pixies or pixals!).

The first picture shows the junction of Allesley Street & Aston Road North. The newsagents can be clearly seen on the left. Over the road is The White Hart. The road leads to Aston Cross and Ansell's Brewery.

I've posted the photograph of The White Hart darts team because I'm sure I know the man on the left but I can't put a name to his face.

I can't remember the people you mentioned but hope these photographs might be of some use!

 

[Di.Poppitt]

I've resized the photo of Bracebridge St. BB. Hope you don't mind.

 

[Pomgolian]

:angel: Hey guys I was either born in the rooms above that shop or the upstairs rooms of the house down the entry at the side of it... My view of Allesley St shows the entry.

 

[Barr_Beacon]

I've never seen that photograph before Pomgolian, brilliant! I lived in Stratford Place near a shop run by Mrs Crowe, half way down Allesley Street.
Just down the road from the shop on the corner was a courtyard. I remember as a child going down the entry that led to it and all the sheets on the lines on washday!

 

[BunnyGee]

Born in Selly Oak but brought up in Nechells (Cato Street) and later Inkerman Street which I seem to recall was nearer to Aston than Brum City Centre (hence my claret and blue affiliations).

We played on Bomb-Pecks all the time, as kids.

Found a whole load of army stuff on one occasion including gas masks and live ammunition (but no guns to fire the ammo from, (un)fortunately).

I also remember the "Ducker Fights" whereby we would split up into two teams and throw stones at each other.

I still bear the scar (proudly, I might say) of when I stuck my head above the parapet and got squarely hit by a quarter house brick, right on the eyebrow.

When I got home my elder sister screamed and almost fainted (amazing how much the eyebrow can bleed and gush - I fully understand Henry Cooper's problem) but no real harm done.

When I remember what we got up to , I'm amazed we all survived (or have I gone "soft").

Kids bounce and maybe we ought to let our kids also bounce, once in a while, rather than wrap them up in cotton wool.

 

[ChrisM]

Re: Bomb Pecks.

Welcome to the Forum, BuunyGee, and thanks for your first contribution.

It's good to see an old thread like this revived. Is there any chance that members can contribute photos to replace those which were lost in the hacking incident a few years back?

Chris

 

[Phil]

Though I wasn't born until the war was over, there were still plenty of bomb pecks around as I grew up as a child. They certainly got more use as play area's than the local parks did, after all the local bomb peck was more often than not in your own road. Then as Birmingham rebuilt itself after the war the local demolition site became the latest bomb peck.

Here we have a couple of pecks manufactured by Birmingham Council in Nechells and Small Heath and then a couple manufactured by Herr Hitler one in Balsall Heath that was used as a winter ski slope and the other also in Balsall Heath utilised as a speedway track.

 

[ChrisM]

Thanks, Phil. My memories of them get a bit muddled up - memories of not long after they had been created and then the several postwar years when they lingered, either still derelict or now used for some purpose or other, sometimes used car pitches. What I do remember is how quickly Nature started to take over. Willowherb seemed to appear out of nowhere. How did that find its way back into deepest Aston?

I once jotted down what I recalled of my child's view of all this, from the upper deck of a Midland Red. Probably from a time when the war was still raging.

​

........Then off again, turning right in front of Snow Hill Station into Steelhouse Lane and, once past the General Hospital, left into Loveday Street. We shall now have moved away from the central area of the city but the buildings will still be tall, towering over the bus. Every so often there are gaps where the Luftwaffe has done its work. These bomb sites will sometimes have been cleared but more often still contain a great pile of rubble covered by dull, winter vegetation and the remains of last autumn's willow herb. Usually they are bounded by a sheer, blank wall, that of an adjoining building which has somehow survived, and sometimes shorn up by vast timbers. Such walls fascinate me. They are often studded throughout their height by rows of little fireplaces, the colour of the tiles still bright and a small rectangle of the surrounding wall bearing the flowered wallpaper of a living room or bedroom. I find difficulty in reconciling these sights with my own experience. Fireplaces should be on the ground floor, in a lounge or dining room, or perhaps one storey up, in a bedroom. But not stretching up three or four floors, almost up to the sky. And who used to sit around them and where are they now?

As the bus passes through Aston along Summer Lane the buildings will become smaller, side-street after side-street of back-to-back terraced houses, sometimes with a gaping hole in their midst or a row of homes damaged and boarded up. Past the Crocodile Works..................​

Chris

 

[Smudger]

Thanks, Phil. My memories of them get a bit muddled up - memories of............

Nicely written Chris.

 

[michaelwicks54]

Bomb Pecks.

Just to add to the bomb peck discussion. When I was a lad living in Queens Tower in Nechells, we called any bit of old demolished and dormant land a bomb peck. There was one right over the road from Queens Tower, next to the side of Loxton Street School, and I spent many happy hours there, doing daft ladish things like catching butterflys, playing hide-and-seek, and starting your own fires up against the school wall etc. Until the local policeman would come around the corner and catch you red handed, and administered his own form of instant justice ( normally a clip round the ear ), with the threat that if it ever happened again, he would take me home and tell my parents. Boy, did that have an effect? Anyway, great times in a great place, thanks for the memories.

My nan & aunt lived in Queens Tower after being forced to move from st clements road. If I remember rightly, this was in the late 60's, early 70's. You may have known them. Their surname was Howell.

 

[BazzM]

Hi michaelwicks54. I'm sorry but i don't recall the name Howell. Do you know what number they lived in ?

 

[michaelwicks54]

Hi michaelwicks54. I'm sorry but i don't recall the name Howell. Do you know what number they lived in ?

Hello BazzM. Unfortunately, I can not remember what number was their flat. I can remember looking out of their window & being able to see duddeston. I can not remember what floor they was on either. I think it around the 4th floor. I know we had to turn to the right as we got out of the lift.

 

[BazzM]

I'm afraid i can't help either. We lived at No.27 on the 8th floor facing Loxton Street School.

 

[michaelwicks54]

I'm afraid i can't help either. We lived at No.27 on the 8th floor facing Loxton Street School.

I know they was not there for long as they moved into a block of flats in aston. I think it was number 6 or 9 that they lived in.Will have to dig out an old photo of them & upload it on here.

 

[BazzM]

Not a bad idea my friend. Might help with any other QT residents of the time. Best of luck.

 

[michaelwicks54]

Not a bad idea my friend. Might help with any other QT residents of the time. Best of luck.

Thank you BazzM. I have managed to find an old photo of my nan & aunt together. Hopefully this will help.

 

[Morvenna]

Did anyone play on the bomb peck in Lozells, just behind st Pauls Church, backing onto Bennetts street? I lived in Wilton Street during the 70's. I had friends living in Bennetts Street and Chain Walk who used to play there. And there was that little play area called the dragon, health and safety didn't exist back then

 

[michaelwicks54]

Did anyone play on the bomb peck in Lozells, just behind st Pauls Church, backing onto Bennetts street? I lived in Wilton Street during the 70's. I had friends living in Bennetts Street and Chain Walk who used to play there. And there was that little play area called the dragon, health and safety didn't exist back then

Hello Morvenna. I never got to play on the bomb pecks in Lozells. I was too old. I was working at Fine fare on Lozells road in the 70's & had a friend who also lived in Chain Walk, before it was all demolished & changed. She used to work at fine fare with me.

 

[NoddKD]

1964/65 spent many a happy hour on the bomb pecks around the Lucas factory. Plenty of lead pipe and cast iron window sash weights to take to the tat yard. Made quite a few bob.
Never heard the expression bomb peck until we moved from Edgbaston to Hockley.

Happy days
NoddK-D

 

[Morvenna]

Hello Morvenna. I never got to play on the bomb pecks in Lozells. I was too old. I was working at Fine fare on Lozells road in the 70's & had a friend who also lived in Chain Walk, before it was all demolished & changed. She used to work at fine fare with me.

I remember fine fayre, 'where you can be fair to your family, and your purse' the ad said. It was our local supermarket where we would shop every Friday. My friend who lived in Chain Walk was Sharon Davies, her dad was a postman. We stayed friends for years after moving, but lost touch over time.