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Cannon Hill Park

J

jake

Guest
cannon hill park in the 50/60s had a paddling pool at the back of what was the war museum which is now the entrance to the nature centre,
anyone know where the exhibits from the war museum went
 
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i remember when i was a kid, going to cannon hill park, paddling in the paddling pool, which was close to the war museum i think, then jumping in the river ray and having a paddle in there, it was just like going to the seaside for us in those day's, take sandwhiches and pop with us have a picnic.
 
Jake

Do you think you could be amongst this lot. I often thought that could be myself at the drinking fountain with my mother. The similarity is amazing and the age is about right, I would have been about 7 or 8 and the woman is a ringer for my mother. The only thing missing is my sister and young brother, thats why I discount it.

Phil

Edgbaston Cannon Hill Park Paddling Pool.jpg
 
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Yes, I paddled there as a kid. The museum was a small natural history museum with fossils and things. The Bourne Brook ran in a shallow culvert, just behind the paddling pool and just before its confluence with the Rea. As a child, I was pretending I was about to dive into the brook when some unknown child came from behind and pushed me in. I was washed downstream and ended up unconscious and face down on the bottom of the Rea. I remember being carried by my unknown rescuer to the First Aid post and then taken home with a hugely impressive bandage on my head. When my dad got home he took me straight up to the Accident Hospital where seven stitches were inserted - only to be smashed again a couple of days later by a broken house-brick during a 'raid' with some rival gang on the bomb site of Mary Street School!
Health and Safety ruins all the fun!
 
Great story Silver Fox I hope there were no lasting problems from these injuries. I remeber boys carried scars form battles like medals!:) I loved the tulip festivals at Cannon Hill Park.
 
Great photo pmc, taken when kids were kids.
My hangout was Sutton park paddling pool, happy days:)
 
One or two more photo's of the park that may stir a few memories, there is one of the fairground at the original tulip festival, one of a bus exhibition and another of the civic restaurant.

Phil

Edgbaston Cannon Hill Park Tulip Festival Poster .jpg Edgbaston Cannon Hill Park Vintage Bus Rally 1982.jpg Edgbaston CANNON HILL PARK RESTAURANT 1951 .jpg
 
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Great Pic Pmc,
I Could Have Been Among That Lot
Did You Ever Go In The Green House ,where They Was Growing The Bannans
Big Green Ones ,i Was Only A Kid At The Time And I Was Facinated By Seeing
Them I Thought Blimey And I Thought At The Time ,it Was Only The Tropics
Where They Only Grew Them , Does Any -body Know ,whether They Still Grow Them Still In The Old Green House In Cannon Hill Park .
 
Does anyone remember the murder at Cannon Hill Park about 1948/9, I think it was a courting couple sitting on a bench who were attacked, I don't think they ever caught the perpetrator.
 
Wendy said:
Great story Silver Fox I hope there were no lasting problems from these injuries. I remeber boys carried scars form battles like medals!:) I loved the tulip festivals at Cannon Hill Park.
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I remember the tulip festivals!! they were great!! we used to walk from st.martins and stop off at gooch street on the way home,there were parties everywhere!! I used to be told off for having too much fizz!!!:angry2:
 
Does anyone else remember going to Cannon Hill Park to see Ted Heath and his band in the mid 1950s? It was a great night with a large crowd, the stars were Lita Rosa, Dennis Lotus etc. Hot Toddy, Blacksmith Blues etc. really got us rocking.
 
Darby said:
Does anyone remember the murder at Cannon Hill Park about 1948/9, I think it was a courting couple sitting on a bench who were attacked, I don't think they ever caught the perpetrator.
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I remember a murder about that time in the Park, I had been there that afternoon taken on a visit by a relative I was just a child so I heard scraps of conversations from the adults in hushed tones saying the victim was a prostitute, whether this was true I do not know but would love to find out. Malta.
 
I seem to think that the building half way down the tree lined route was a natural history museum. my childhood memories of cannon hill are of going to see the banana plant on afternoons out with my grandma
 
Your right Izzy. It was natural history. The inside was fairly dusty (wish museums were still like that). The main entertainment value for us was the wooden arbour that ran all the way down the side. The quest was to climb on at one end go up, along the top and down the other end without getting caught by the long suffering staff. The worst position was to be caught at the top with the staff underneath and nowhere to go.

We did the same thing at Kings Heath Baths, heaving ourselves onto the roof and while you never got caught as there were several ways down the staff always recognised offenders and stopped them using their swimming passes.
 
Yes it was never a war museum; very small full of stuffed animals and minerals, my favourite. I must have been in there more times than in our own house. Lol.

Graham
 
Hi all
I left Brum some time ago and as I am now getting on a bit, the old grey matter is sharply in decline. I was speaking to my sister some time ago, about a few places I thought I remembered she thought I might be dreaming. I remember going as a small lad to some kind of museum near to cannon hill park, I am sure it had a Whale, and stuffed animals in it. What I do remember is the Midland Counties man outsid.
 
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I remember the "museum" in Cannon Hill Park. It was part of the small "zoo". Cannon Hill was one of our Sunday outings. It was either spend 7/6p on a joint of meat for Sunday dinner or use the money for bus fares and spend the day out with a picnic!
 
I also remember the 'Stuffed animals' as a child, hate seeing such things now .
It was the fashion when I arrived here in NZ for many people to have stuffed Deer and even there Fawns as hunting trophies in their living rooms, no longer 'PC' though and must admit that's one 'PC' I'm in favour of
 
Thanks to all for reply's about the little natural history museum at cannon hill park, was there a full size blue whale hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the exibits.? and I remember my dad taking me out of there and down the road a bit stopping by some railings and peering down into the gloom you could just make out the "river ray" am I correct in this,
 
Can anyone clarify the situation of the Botannical Garden at cannon hill park which has be closed for years -will it reopen?
 
hi mewla4
yes thats right i remember the big green house it was really hot in there
and we would look up to those big green banna,s always on a sunday we would go a gang of us if we did not go there we would pay sixpence to get in the botanical gardens and our real reason for going was to try and collect pop bottles
to get some pennies the posh folks as we called would leave the masons bottle on he grass and we would try and race each other to see whom gets it first
i thought of the thread with bannanas but you beat me to it
best wishes astonian ;;
 
I remember the River Rea culvert very well as it was a place that we often played in even though we were very frightened of catching polio there! I also remember a high waterfall and how green and dangerously slippery it all was.


Graham.
 
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thanks Graham I never knew of the culvert, but as a youngster it always looked kind of magic and mysterious from up top. I lived in Raglan Road as a child and I remember when my old dad pushed me high on the apple tree swing, over the fence there were bull dozers and graders working masses of dust building some thing very big.was this the b'ham cricket ground it would be around 1949/50
 
Paul

The culvert started just inside Cannon Hill Park (this point is part of the Nature Centre now). Its starts where the River Rea and the Bourn Brook meet. They both drop down a weir into the culvert that was built to prevent the occasional flooding further downriver that used to occur. This is a photo of the culvert taken from one of Cannon Hills two bridges over the Rea.

Phil

Edgbaston Cannon Hill River Rea.jpg
 
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Yes, I remember the museum too, a visit to the park wasn't complete without going in there. As a grown up many memories also of the 'little zoo' as we called it with my childen and nephews.
Going back though, has anyone photo's of the tulip festival? Once held in the pak with two days of all sorts of entertainment. I remember a main ring with marching bands etc. and of course a fair! It was a yearly grand day out!
Jan
 
hi,everyone, i am looking for any photos, from past employers who worked at the nature centre 1970,s to 1980s, of frank welch, who worked on the front gate,turn stall, security work,. wore a blue uniform, can anyone help with any info. or who to ask? regards,....christy..
 
Just opened this thread on Cannon Hill Park. Particularly the reference to the little museum at the Pershore Road entrance.
It certainly was a dusty little gem of a place. One of the highlights (oh the excitement) was a glass case with a stuffed stoat/ferrett and if you pressed a button on the front of the cabinet it changed from a summer to a winter scene( seriously it was clever) we never could work out how the stoat turned from brown to white as if by magic.
With reference to the wooden pergolas, these went down (probably still do) each side of the museum. There never was a war museum there but further down the drive was a war memorial at the turn which led to the Queens Drive and the bridge over the Rea into the park.
 
biffo said:
Just opened this thread on Cannon Hill Park. Particularly the reference to the little museum at the Pershore Road entrance.
It certainly was a dusty little gem of a place. One of the highlights (oh the excitement) was a glass case with a stuffed stoat/ferrett and if you pressed a button on the front of the cabinet it changed from a summer to a winter scene( seriously it was clever) we never could work out how the stoat turned from brown to white as if by magic.
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biffo, thanks for that, I remember the glass case very well and spent many hours in that little gem of a museum. I could even leave my bike outside without it getting pinched!

Graham.
 
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