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HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
we are now using a backup solution
maggs
master brummie
My brother and sister in law lived in Castle Vale when it was first built. They lived in Stornoway Road for a long time. My step mother lived in a flat on Yatesbury Avenue at the same time, I think it was Kemble Tower, possibly no longer there.
I remember the school which was called Pegasus too.
I remember the school which was called Pegasus too.
Good Morning maggs, what was your brothers surname?, I lived in two properties on Castle Vale between 1967 and 1996, both off Stornoway Road. Kemble Tower and the rest of the centre eight have long gone, as a result of the Housing Action Trusts referb, an organisation that cost us personally a lot of money and grief, but that is another story.
Re: Castle Vale hi vale boy sorry surname is Whitehouse but thanks for reply
Hi valeboy sorry surname is Whitehouse but thanks for reply
Hi valeboy sorry surname is Whitehouse but thanks for reply
hi valeboy...i cant be sure but heyford way is not ringing any bells...sure it was only a short name though..maybe 6 letters to it so that dont really help lol..think chad was into the bike scene..im sure it will come to me but it was a long time ago..i can recall getting the no 8 from nursery road then i think it was the 67 from aston cross???
lyn
lyn
yes valeboy im sure that was it..casting my mind back all those years is not easy but im sure that was it as you came into the vale i think it was on the right hand side...i was only about 17 at the time..thinking back i wonder if chad was short for something else.. poss had one sister with a baby...couple of times a few of us would go to a pub on the vale again my memory fails on the name of it at the min but i do recall drugs being sold there which of course was a thing of the times then as it is now unfortunately...
lyn
sandracoley
master brummie
i lived in the private 3 storey flats on park lane /st mawgan close in 1968....
sandracoley, you must have been the first owner in 1968, we lived there on the top floor in 1986, although only three stories tall, we had a good view of the city center of a night from the front, and during the day a lovely view from the rear, of the countryside towards Wishaw.
sandracoley
master brummie
yes valeboy we were the first to move in ...the people who lived in the top right hand side flat were called dot and george the bottom right hand flat a woman called barbara and her family lived there she had twins .i cant remember the others names .i saw a tiny little boy knocked down and killed by a lorry on park lane was horrendous .ill never forget his mothers screams.we sold our flat around 1962 as i was expecting my 3rd child and needed a bigger place .a friend of mines husband fell from the high storey flats while painting the outside. he worked for the council and the chain on the cradle snapped and he fell to the ground and died instantly .i used to love the single decker bus that ran to sutton coldfield .im sure there have been lots of changes since i left castlevale .i have good and bad memories of the vale
Hi, I lived on Castle Vale between 1988 and 93 in one of the 'centre 8'; Cosford Tower. Like most other people, I have good and bad memories of the Vale- 99% of the people I remember were just ordinary people trying to get by, but the other 1% really seemed to make themselves a nighmare to live near. I remember putting 3 locks on the front door and reinforcing the frame with steel to prevent burglary- many of the people in the block had been burgled at one time or another.
I also remember Birmingham Cable (before it became Virgin Media) installing cable TV to the flats...a dish on the roof of the block complete with amplifiers in a 'locked' cupboard in the main entrance. Needles to say, we didn't have cable TV for very long!!!
But apart from that, I had a whale of a time on the Vale and made some good friends when I was there. Many evenings would be spent in neighbours' flats and beer and bottles of wine... you get the picture. I remember the Artful Dodger was a really popular pub, although to be honest, I never went in.
It all looks so different now. The old shopping centre became really run down before I left. I remember asking if there were any vacancies in the old Kwik Save, and being told the the only one available was as a security guard...I wanted to keep my teeth so I didn't go for it!
I also remember the kerfuffle when the HAT took over... and when we were asked to vote, a Birmingham housing inspector saying that it would be the best thing if the HAT took over the Vale...and looking at it today, it looks as though he was right!
I also remember Birmingham Cable (before it became Virgin Media) installing cable TV to the flats...a dish on the roof of the block complete with amplifiers in a 'locked' cupboard in the main entrance. Needles to say, we didn't have cable TV for very long!!!
But apart from that, I had a whale of a time on the Vale and made some good friends when I was there. Many evenings would be spent in neighbours' flats and beer and bottles of wine... you get the picture. I remember the Artful Dodger was a really popular pub, although to be honest, I never went in.
It all looks so different now. The old shopping centre became really run down before I left. I remember asking if there were any vacancies in the old Kwik Save, and being told the the only one available was as a security guard...I wanted to keep my teeth so I didn't go for it!
I also remember the kerfuffle when the HAT took over... and when we were asked to vote, a Birmingham housing inspector saying that it would be the best thing if the HAT took over the Vale...and looking at it today, it looks as though he was right!
I lived in Filton Croft around the mid to late seventys, even had the odd pint in the Trees !
Just done my sums, I reckon I lived on the Vale with my parents from around 77-78, I left in 1982. It was pretty rough around that time and I probably didn't help my own cause much by continuing to go to Hodge Hill Comp. I remember getting home in my Hodge Hill Uniform was a bit like running the Gauntlet on Gladiators at the time ! Trees became my local from about 80 to 82, and then I became legal and it opened up a whole new world of pubs. Used to go the Navi at Minworth and there was a pub just over the road up a dead end that backed on to the canal which i cant recall the name of !
Dave M
Pheasey Born Bumper
Pewter two pubs in Minworth, the Hare and Hounds, and the The Boat to be found up the dead end, which used to be the main road
Yes, I'm afraid the vale lads were not too welcoming of what they saw as strangers, particularly after dark. The Hare and Hounds had a small contingent of Vale lads in the bar, as did the Boat. The gaffer of the boat mid/late 70s was a guy surnamed Cregan, his daughter Liz worked behind the bar.
Life got easier after a year or two once one of the local thugs got expelled from the Vale Comp and ended up coming to Hodge Hill with me : )
Yes, the number of pupils in my class at the Comp (1971-1976) changed weekly as various individuals were wisped off to various correction institutions.
Lived on the Vale in various locations.77/8 Vulcan house 79/80 Cadbury Drive before moving back to Kingstanding.Came back 83/6 living in Pioneer House before once again moving back to Kingstanding.Have cousins who have lived in Kenrick croft since about 71.
Loved the place, always felt it had a reputation it didn't deserve.
Loved the place, always felt it had a reputation it didn't deserve.
