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Dens and camps

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Many of us either helped to build dens and camps or used them. We had several around the alleyways in Kingstanding. When I say alleyways they were like small country lanes at the back of the 1930s houses. I believe most are still there, but gated off for safety reasons I suppose.

But back in the 1950s/60s they gave us kids a place to roam. I never actually built a den, but saw them built - well THAT was boys work of course - and using anything you could get your hands on. The starting point was find a cluster of dense shrubs. There were plenty of these along the alleyways. I like to think they went back many, many years or were at least the descendants of the old hedgerows lining the fields predominant in the area before the massive1930s housing development.

Many sheds and (if you were lucky enough, a garage) would be raided for boxes, cardboard, well anything really to set up camp. Wooden boxes were perfect, but cardboard ones were a good second best. These items added that little bit of luxury instead of sitting on bare earth and twigs, Problem was all all this wood and cardboard usually ended up on the bonfire in November. But that meant an opportunity for new camps.

When I think back it all seems a bit “Famous Five” but these are the things we really did do to occupy our time. Don’t think it nurtured any future architects but it certainly gave us lots of fun, at no cost, with plenty of fresh air and a place to call ‘ours’.

How and where did you build your dens and camps ? Viv.
 
I didn't actually build a den but yes, there were lots of great gullys between the back gardens to explore behind the 1930's houses in Perry Barr too!
 
I too was an avid den builder, old doors, tin baths, corrugated iron sheets and bit of carpet were all good den building materials.

There was a disused sandpit in Jerrys Lane Erdington, a super place to build dens as was the allotments where Jarvis Road is now.
 
When the new shopping parade was built in Sheldon, on the north side of Coventry Road, from Coalway Avenue, there was virtually unrestricted access to the building site, or at least to its brick piles.

Some of us hollowed out one pile right next to Coalway Avenue and used a site notice board as a roof. There was another brick pile that stretched along the gulley behind Goldthorne Avenue, about four foot high. We converted that into a long castle with a walkway on top and with battlements on either side.

The builders must have had similar thoughts to those farmers who found that their hay bales had been re-arranged by children!
 
When the site of The Arden Oak in Sheldon was waste ground it was criss-crossed with many trails between the clumps of bushes. There was one group of bushes that formed a small ring, creating a miniature clearing in the middle.

One day we were surprised to find a small group of men in our 'secret' place sitting down and playing cards. I expect they were playing for money.
 
We specialized in two types of den, one made of bricks the other made primarily of old fence pairings or whatever we could find.

I had a friend who lived over the PDSA close to where Hamstead Rd and Soho came together on the Soho side.
Behind that was a bombed out building, webuilt our den inside of the building from bricks complete with a fireplace. For some reason someone was vandalizing it over and over and accordingly decided to set a booby trap using bricks. Got into big trouble for that!
Where I lived were four flats and small gardens, behind the gardens was a shelter and behind that some landlocked open space. We built our wooden den there out of pretty much with mostly pailings which apparently we still in use complete with fireplace made from bricks. We kept our boss doing arrows there.

Happy days, did not need any money just string, a pen knife and matches!
 
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